Across the Middle East, the security sector has exercised substantial influence over media, education, and religious institutions, often to the detriment of their societies and American interests. Could they instead become a force for positive reform, and what role might their American allies play in helping them? Please join the Intelligence and Defense Projects for a seminar with Middle East expert Joseph Braude, who will discuss these issues and provide a number of policy suggestions.

Climate Change, Intelligence, and Global Security is a half-day conference co-sponsored by the Intelligence Project and the Environment and Natural Resources Program at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs along with the Center for Climate and Security. 

Headlined by John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the conference will directly follow the April 22/23 Earth Day Leaders Climate Summit, and will emphasize the critical need for international cooperation and global leadership to collectively address the security threats posed by the climate crisis. We will convene senior climate experts, current and former intelligence officers, and leaders in the private sector and academia to facilitate productive dialogue and innovative solutions for combating the climate crisis. The four panels will examine climate change from a security perspective, discuss the role of the intelligence community in monitoring and mitigating the threats posed by climate change, explore new ways of thinking about international intelligence cooperation, and examine the role and contributions of the private sector.

This conference is virtual, open to the public, and free to attend.  Advanced registration is required. Please register individually for each session. 

Please join the Intelligence and Defense projects for a session with former National Directorate of Security Director Rahmatullah Nabil and Former Associate Deputy Director of the CIA for Operations (ADDO) Bruce Valentine. Rahmatullah and Valentine will discuss the Afghan peace process, Istanbul conference, the implications of plans for full U.S. troop withdrawal by Sept. 11, 2021, and the future of Afghanistan. The discussion will look at building the service from scratch post 9-11, general liaison activities/operations during the conflict, and the confluence of intelligence service activities, allied and adversary, across Afghanistan. This talk will be moderated by Belfer Center Intelligence Project Director Paul Kolbe.

The Belfer Center's Intelligence Project will host a discussion on international cooperation on securing supply chain vulnerabilities and 5G issues with cyber and intelligence leaders from the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada on Wednesday, April 7th from 10:00am-12:15pm.

This event will be open to the public. Advance registration for both sessions is required. 

The Intelligence Project will host a seminar with Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, an international collective of researchers, investigators, and citizen journalists using open-source and social media investigation to probe some of the world’s most pressing stories.

The Intelligence Project will host Dr. Fiona Hill, Brookings Senior Fellow and Former National Security Council Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs, for a conversation on the state of Russia’s relations with the United States and the West. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 17th from 12:00-1:00pm and will be open to the public. Advance registration is required. 

The Intelligence Project will host Ben MacIntyre, best selling author and Writer at Large and Associate Editor at The Times, to speak about his latest book, Agent Sonya, on Wednesday, March 3rd from 12:00-1:00pm. 

This event will be on-the-record and open to the public. Please note, while this virtual event is on the record, our policy prohibits any attendees, including journalists, from audio/visual recording or distributing parts or all of the event program without prior written authorization.

The Belfer Center's Intelligence Project will host a conversation on the legacy of Black Americans in national security and intelligence with Remi Adeleke and Asha Castleberry-Hernandez on Wednesday, February 24th from 11:00am-12:00pm.

This event will be open to the public. Advance registration is required. 

Please join the Intelligence Project and Homeland Security Project for a panel discussion with Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Professor Juliette Kayyem, and Paul Kolbe on the intelligence and security failures which preceded and enabled the Capitol riot on January 6th and what this means for the future of countering domestic extremism.

This event is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday February 10th from 1:00-2:30pm via Zoom. Advance registration required. 

The Belfer Center's Intelligence and Cyber Projects will co-host a discussion on the recent Solarwinds Orion hack with David Sanger, Camille Stewart, Priscilla Moriuchi, and Dr. Erica Borghard on Wednesday, February 3rd from 12:00-1:15pm.

This event will be open to the public. Advance registration is required.