Nuclear Issues

82 Items

A wide shot of President Yoon at right on the stage in the JFK Jr Forum. At left, the audience.

Martha Stewart

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Women in Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School

Belfer Center's Korea Project Co-Leads Planning for South Korean President's Historic Harvard Visit and Speech

| Spring 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Harvard on April 28 and delivered a major policy speech at Harvard Kennedy School’s JFK Jr. Forum. Following his speech, President Yoon joined Harvard Distinguished Service Professor Joseph Nye for a conversation about security and soft power derived from the country's cultural strength. He also took questions from the large audience of students and others attending the event in person and online.

The Belfer Center’s Korea Project worked closely with Harvard University colleagues and Korean Consulate General counterparts to arrange for the visit and the Harvard speech, the first for a sitting South Korean president. The Kennedy School's Institute of Politics and the Korea Project co-sponsored the historic speech. 

A Russian Tu-95 bomber, top, is intercepted by a U.S. F-22 Raptor off the coast of Alaska in this photo taken June 16, 2020. (North American Aerospace Defense Command via AP)

North American Aerospace Defense Command via AP

How Do U.S. and Russian Defense Sectors Influence Policies?

Fall 2021

Whenever Washington or Moscow unveils a new weapon, ears in the other capital perk up and analysts try to divine how the new system fits into U.S. or Russian military strategy—not least of all, strategy toward its Cold War-era nemesis. But how often do decisions related to national security arise because of institutional forces only tenuously related to states’ strategic planning? More specifically, how do the countries’ respective defense industries influence policy? The Belfer Center’s Russia Matters project asked two scholars—one American, one Russian—to investigate the latter question. Their articles, published in November, reveal fascinating differences (and similarities) in the way this influence is exercised in countries with vastly different political and economic systems.

In this June 14, 2019, file photo, South Korean army soldiers patrol while hikers visit the DMZ Peace Trail in the demilitarized zone in Goseong, South Korea. 

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

Implications of the 2020 Presidential Election on North Korea Policy

| Fall 2020

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Belfer Center’s Korea Project co-sponsored an event on October 6 with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Boston to explore the impact of the election outcome on North Korea policy. A group of diverse policy analysts drew on their collective experience serving in various administrations and conducting cutting-edge research on North Korea for a lively panel discussion.

Eric Rosenbach (left), Belfer Center Co-Director, moderates a JFK Jr. Forum event with former ROK Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan, former U.S. Ambassador to ROK Kathleen Stephens, and former U.S. Forces Korea Commander General Vincent Brooks.

Benn Craig (Belfer Center)

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Inaugural Summit Grapples With Changes in Korean Security Landscape

    Author:
  • Dong-hyeon Kim
| Summer 2019

The Belfer Center’s Korea Project convened the inaugural Harvard Korean Security Summit at Harvard Kennedy School in early April. The Summit featured a prominent gathering of Korean security scholars and practitioners and increased attention to the field of Korean security studies within the Harvard community. Built on the vision of the late Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, who first launched Korean security initiatives at the Belfer Center, the event reflected the two traditions that drive the Belfer Center’s work: bringing together leading scholars and senior practitioners to jointly diagnose policy puzzles; and mentoring the next generation of scholars and practitioners.

Wendy Sherman, Belfer Center Senior Fellow and forthcoming Director of the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, answers a question from a student during a JFK Jr. Forum focusing on Sherman’s career as a diplomat and negotiator.

Martha Stewart

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Q&A: Wendy Sherman

| Fall/Winter 2018-2019

Ambassador and Belfer Center Senior Fellow Wendy R. Sherman, the former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, will lead HKS’s Center for Public Leadership and become a professor of the practice of public leadership in January. Sherman, who negotiated with the North Koreans and the Iranians on nuclear issues, is the author of Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Q&A: John Park

| Summer 2018

Following the adoption of the Panmunjom Declaration by South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in April, in which they announced their interest in ending the Korean War and ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, the Belfer Center’s John Park spoke to the Harvard Gazette about the potential impact of their announcement. Park, Director of the Center’s Korea Working Group, discussed what’s driving the Panmunjom talks, the likely outcome of a possible accord, and what both sides will have to overcome to deliver lasting results. Following are excerpts from the interview.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Track-II Conference: Northeast Asia in Strategic Transition

| Spring 2018

On November 9-11, Executive Director for Research Gary Samore hosted a Track II conference on “Northeast Asia in Strategic Transition” with participants from the U.S., Republic of Korea, and China.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

North Korea: Expert Analysis on Nuclear Tests and Threats

Matthew Bunn, Nicholas Burns, Ash Carter, John Park, Gary Samore, and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall provide expert analysis on nuclear tests and threats from North Korea.

teaser image

Blog Post - Atlantic Council

A Strategy for Dealing with North Korea

| Sep. 12, 2017

New sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council on September 11 in response to North Korea’s latest nuclear test are “not significant enough,” according to R. Nicholas Burns, an Atlantic Council board member who served as undersecretary of state for political affairs in the George W. Bush administration.

Sanctions must be part of a “patient long-term strategy” that includes deterrence, working closely with allies, and negotiations, said Burns, laying out the United States’ options for dealing with the North Korean crisis.