Nuclear Issues

A sampling of articles in the Fall 2017 of the Belfer Center's journal International Security.

International Security is America’s leading journal of security affairs. The International Security journal is edited at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and published quarterly by the MIT Press. Questions may be directed to IS@harvard.edu.

In 1994, through the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, Ukraine gave up thousands of nuclear weapons in return for a promise by the U.S. and Russia not to use force against this post-Soviet republic as well as to respect its sovereignty within its existing borders.

In 2014, Ukraine gained the world's attention again as Russia annexed Crimea and protests flared in Ukraine.

A timeline highlights major events and Belfer Center comments on Ukraine.

With attention focused on the mostly bad news coming from Ukraine, the good news is that nuclear weapons are not part of the story. In 1993, Ukraine had 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads aimed at targets in America. Today, Ukraine has zero. Four years ago, there remained at risk in Ukraine enough highly enriched uranium for 15 nuclear weapons. The amount today? None. And there’s another bit of good news. As U.S.-Russian relations chilled significantly in March, a group of high-level retired intelligence and military officials from both countries met and issued a statement that the crisis “should not interrupt the joint efforts of the U.S. and Russian Federation to protect our shared strategic interests.” The Elbe Group, established in 2010 by our own Kevin Ryan, is keeping priorities straight. Read more on page 8 of this newsletter.

New and notable books from the Belfer Center.

Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs under President George W. Bush, and Sir John Gieve, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, have joined the Belfer Center as senior fellows.