Nuclear Issues

Putin and his government seek respect, stability from next U.S. administration, panel says.

As visitors step through the doors of the Kennedy Memorial Library for events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, they will find on display Picasso's 1963 Rape of the Sabine Women - on loan from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The connection between Picasso's painting and what is widely accepted as the most dangerous moment in human history was brought to light for many by Malcolm Wiener, a member of the Belfer Center’s International Council and the person for whom Harvard Kennedy School’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy was named.

On the 50^th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and Foreign PolicyMagazine invited policymakers, scholars, students, and members of the public to propose 300-word lessons for today’s leaders from the 13 days in 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Today, the Belfer Center and Foreign Policy are pleased to announce the winners of the Cuban Missile Crisis lessons contest.

Osama bin Laden gave them the perfect opening. Just before President Bush welcomed Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to the White House for last week's summit, a Pakistani newspaper quoted the Al Qaeda leader claiming to have "chemical and nuclear weapons" and "the right to use them."

President Bush has warned the world that Osama bin Laden is ''seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction.'' To meet this threat, the United States and Russia should take the lead in establishing an Alliance Against Megaterrorism. What should have been a crowning achievement of this week's summit was sadly a missed opportunity.

An interview with Dr. Ashton B. Carter; Carter discusses the prospects for an American National Missile Defense system.

Despite a decade of effort, the risks of loose nukes are larger today than they were when these efforts began. U.S. programs have had positive results, but declines in Russia's economy and in the government's ability to control anything--from money to nuclear materials--has had larger negative consequences. The good news is that Russians are ready to engage in more joint efforts to secure Russia's nuclear materials.