Four former U.S. defense secretaries issue a warning about China and a wake-up call to Americans on artificial intelligence.

Following President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, Belfer Center experts discussed the impact on America, our allies and adversaries, and the region.

As the epicenter of emerging technology research, the United States must lead the way, shaping new technologies in accordance with our values.

In a country worried about its own internal divisions, public figures are increasingly calling for a return of the military draft, or at least some kind of mandatory national service. Wouldn’t it be good, they often reason, to reinforce for today’s young people the sense of common cause that animated the Greatest Generation? Universal service is a commendable effort to deepen citizenship that should appeal to all Americans. But a closer look at these ideas suggests deep flaws, writes former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

As someone who served in the Pentagon’s top three jobs, Ash Carter says he has seen the good, bad, and ugly of defense program management. The good news is that, contrary to old tales of $640 toilet seats and $435 hammers, discipline in the DoD’s spending and procurement has come to be the rule and not the exception. 

The Technology Factsheet Series offers a brief overview of the technical aspects of salient technologies and their policy relevance for Congressional members and their staff. 

Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ Technology and Public Purpose Project (TAPP) and Harvard Business School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship co-hosted Reimagining Investing in Frontier Technology on May 15, 2019. This workshop convened over 70 investors (Limited Partners and General Partners), entrepreneurs, technologists, and others investing in and building frontier technologies in areas including artificial intelligence, genome engineering, advanced computing technologies, and more. The workshop explored the challenges investors and entrepreneurs face in bringing products to market in ways that maximize their benefits to society while minimizing harms.

What can an enterprising young technologist working in the United States today do for his country? Ash Carter lays down three reasons why he thinks Googlers should work with the Department of Defense.

The twenty-fifth Secretary of Defense takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, its vital mission, and what it takes to lead it.