As Ukraine’s military advances and Putin threatens to conduct nuclear strikes, President Biden said last week: “For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if in fact things continue down the path they'd been going.”

Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School and granddaughter of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, David Ignatius, foreign affairs columnist at The Washington Post, and Graham Allison (AB '62 PhD '68), Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, will review lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis that illuminate the challenges the US now faces and can inform the choices President Biden is now considering.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 continues to stand as the single most dangerous event of the nuclear age, when the world came closer than ever before or since to the prospect of nuclear annihilation. Scholars and analysts continue to revisit the CMC to learn its lessons in order to avoid nuclear dangers in the future. A number of recent accounts have shed new light on the various aspects of and incidents within the CMC, providing us with a better understanding of the dynamics of the crisis. As the world marks 60 years since those fateful events, the risk of nuclear conflagration is once again on the rise. Russia, a major nuclear power, is waging a war against Ukraine, a state supported by the United States and NATO, a nuclear-armed alliance. What were the most dangerous moments of the CMC? What contributed to and what ameliorated the risks of a nuclear conflagration? What can we learn from the CMC that is pertinent for preventing a conventional war in Ukraine from crossing the nuclear threshold? MTA brings together historians and political scientists to discuss the state of the art of history and politics of the Cuban Missile Crisis and gauge its relevance for the war in Ukraine and for future crises and conflicts. 

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As the United States faces alignment between a violently resurgent Russia and a full-spectrum competitor in China, join the Belfer Center's Applied History Project for an open session of our Applied History Working Group. Its members—distinguished historians and public servants—study the past to illuminate the most pressing challenges we face today.

The evolving situation between the Ukraine and Russia is drawing focused attention to the current European security environment as the world awaits Russia's next steps.  As we consider what those options are, we also must consider what the future security environment in Europe looks like.  What are potential options for NATO to deter Russian aggression and what does the future of NATO look like?  What potential impacts does Russia's actions have on the future security environment?  

Please join the Defense Project in a discussion moderated by Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government and  General Christopher G. Cavoli, the Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.  General Cavoli is a Foreign Area Officer with a concentration on Eurasia and European Security Studies.  He will discuss European security, the current situation involving the Ukraine and Russia, and NATO. 

For limited in-person attendance, please sign up below. If selected, you will receive a confirmation email a few days before the event: 

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To join via zoom please register here: 

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As the U.S. and the world struggle to surmount the twin health and economic disasters sparked by COVID-19—and as forward-looking leaders contemplate how to avoid making similar mistakes in future crises—join the Belfer Center’s Applied History Project for an open session of our Applied History Working Group. Its members—distinguished historians and public servants—study the past to illuminate the most pressing challenges we face today.

Join Russia Matters and the Applied History Working Group for a discussion with Fiona Hill, the Robert Bosch Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council.

As the world marks the 30th anniversary of one of the 20th century's most earthshaking developments—the collapse of the Soviet Union—join the Belfer Center's Applied History Project for an open session of our Applied History Working Group. Its members—distinguished historians and public servants—study the past to illuminate the most pressing challenges we face today.

Artificial intelligence is changing our world. While AI applications promise great advances from new medical treatments to radical solutions to the climate crisis, they will likely also bring challenges ranging from autonomous weapons to supercharged surveillance states.

Please join the Future of Diplomacy Project for a discussion on the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response’s (IPPPR) recent report "COVID-19: Make It the Last Pandemic" with Panel members Dr. Joanne Liu, former International President of Doctors Without Borders; David Miliband, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Rescue Committee; and Ambassador Anders Nordstrom, Head of Secretariat of the IPPPR. The IPPPR was established by the World Health Organization Director-General to provide an evidence-based path to ensure that countries and global institutions effectively address health threats. This discussion will be moderated by Professor Graham Allison.

In its report, published May 2021, the Independent Panel found weak links at every point in the chain of preparedness and response. Preparation was inconsistent and underfunded. The alert system was too slow—and too meek. The World Health Organization was under-powered. The response has exacerbated inequalities. Global political leadership was absent.

In response, the Panel presents a package of recommendations that seek to learn from this crisis, and plan for the next one. These include committing to clear targets, additional resources, new measures and elevating health threats to the highest levels of political leadership. The Panel also calls for immediate actions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic through more just and strategic vaccine distribution as well as national-level measures to address ongoing waves of transmission.

Join the Belfer Center for a conversation with Rebecca Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper on their new book, An Open World, which charts a new grand strategy of openness for U.S. foreign policy. The United States global leadership crisis is not a passing shock created by the Trump presidency or COVID-19, but the product of forces that will endure for decades, argue the authors. Amid political polarization, technological transformation, and major global power shifts, they write that an openness strategy would counter authoritarian competitions by preventing the emergence of closed spheres of influence, maintaining access to the global commons, supporting democracies without promoting regime change, and preserving economic interdependence. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and Prof. Graham Allison will serve as a discussant. 

Please click here to register and receive the Zoom meeting link.