Nuclear Issues

114 Items

Presidential Power: President Barack Obama speaks as China’s President Xi Jinping (right) and France’s President Francois Hollande listen during a P5+1 multilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 1.

(AP Photo)

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

Next Steps to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

Summer 2016

During the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, Belfer Center experts published reports and provided commentary and analysis on successes and continuing challenges in nuclear security around the world. Following are some actions they believe are needed to improve the security of nuclear facilities and reduce the possibility of nuclear theft and terrorism.

[Some recommendations are edited for space.]

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

Belfer Experts Work to Strengthen Nuclear Security

| Spring 2016

In the months and weeks before the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., Belfer experts promoted a series of ideas to strengthen measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons or the essential ingre­dients to make them.

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan discusses the need for intelligence and the CIA at a JFK Jr. Forum moderated by Center Director Graham Allison.

Martha Stewart

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

Tackling Issues from Intelligence and Wars to Cyber Governance and Campaign Funding

Summer 2015

“The CIA, more than any other agency, [has been] instrumental in stopping terrorism and bringing terrorists to justice,” Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan said during a JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School in April.  “Will we make mistakes in the future? Probably. But the Agency is a wonderful organization and…I am frustrated with its image because it doesn’t comport with reality.”

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

Decoding the Iran Nuclear Agreement for Leaders in Washington and Beyond

| Summer 2015

As one of the most far-reaching accords in recent memory, the framework agreement reached by P5+1 and Iranian negotiators over Tehran’s nuclear program in Switzerland on April 2 generated no shortage of opinions from pundits. Balanced, in-depth assessments were scarcer.

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

Points of Progress

Spring 2015

Our faculty and fellows are immersed in studying and solving some of the world's toughtest policy challenges. Amid that sobering work, they sometimes spot positive developments. We asked them to share these findings in this new feature.

Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottmoeller discusses the importance of cooperation on global security issues.

Belfer Center

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

U.S.-Russia Conference Aims to Reduce Tensions

Spring 2015

For two days in October, Russian and American experts met at the Belfer Center to discuss the state of U.S.-Russia relations and look for glimmers of hope.

Unfortunately, few were seen. The conflict in Eastern Ukraine is only the most urgent manifestation of a deeply troubled relationship between Russia and the West—in particular the United States. As one Russian participant stated, “We should deal first with the problems that existed even before Ukraine.”

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

What if the Iran Negotiations Fail?

Spring 2015

The Belfer Center’s Iran Project and the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) co-sponsored a luncheon panel on the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the scenarios for the potential breakdown of current international talks on Iran, entitled “And Then What? Imagining the Middle East if Nuclear Negotiations with Iran Fail.”

Matthew Bunn (standing, left) and John P. Holdren (right) brief President William Clinton in May 1995 on nuclear security in Russia.

White House

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

Q&A: Matthew Bunn

Spring 2015

Matthew Bunn is a professor of practice at Harvard Kennedy School and co-principal investigator for the Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom. Bunn’s research focus is on nuclear theft terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and innovation in energy technology. During the Clinton administration, Bunn served as an advisor to the White House Office of Science Technology Policy, where he played a major role in U.S. policies related to the control and disposition of weapons-usable nuclear materials in the United States and the former Soviet Union. We asked Bunn about the current crisis in U.S.-Russian relations and its impact on nuclear security.

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

Brandon Parker: From Bombers to Nonproliferation

    Author:
  • Isabella Gordillo
| Spring 2015

As a young man in the small city of Ogden, Utah, Brandon Parker found himself increasingly interested in the U.S. Air Force, a service where his step-father had made his career. Recruited by the Air Force Academy to play basketball, Parker didn't initially want to become a pilot. But after his initial flight-screening program, he called his mother out of excitement to let her know that he had found exactly what he was meant to do. Until recently, Lieutenant Colonel Parker commanded a nuclear bomber unit based in North Dakota. This year, Parker a research fellow with the Center's International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, is conducting research on nuclear nonproliferation.

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

Fall/Winter 2014-15 Belfer Center Newsletter

| Fall/Winter 2014-2015

The Fall/Winter 2014/15 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This edition highlights discussions at the Belfer Center about Iran and its nuclear program. Former U.S. National Security Advisor and Center Senior Fellow Thomas Donilon and former Israeli National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror added their voices to Center debate on this issue during a Harvard Kennedy School forum on a possible deal to prevent development of nuclear weapons in Iran.

In "Stopping ISIL," a number of Belfer Center security experts weigh in on what must be done in the next year to stop the spread and brutality of the Islamic State (ISIL). Graham Allison, Nicholas Burns, Chuck Freilich, Nawaf Obaid, Ariane Tabatabai, Payam Mohseni, David Petraeus, Gary Samore, and Barak Mendelsohn suggest solutions to this strategic challenge.

And much more...