"Despite the steep budget cuts imposed by the new conservative-led government, British foreign aid is being maintained so that Britain can retain its influence in the world, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, told a Harvard Kennedy School audience."

Negotiation 101 tells would-be mediators: Don't dictate the outcome to the parties, and keep your own opinions to yourself. But Martti Ahtisaari shared some counterintuitive tradecraft when he accepted The Great Negotiator Award at Harvard University in September.

Leaders of the Science, Technology and Public Policy (STPP) program at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center brought together about 80 of the nation's top policy makers and entrepreneurs for a two-day conference in September to brainstorm ideas for a new HKS initiative on technology and governance.

Calestous Juma, professor of the practice of international development at the Harvard Kennedy School, wears many hats in his work at the Belfer Center. He is director of the Science, Technology and Globalization Project, and principal investigator for the Agricultural Innovation in Africa project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also is a member of the Belfer Center board of directors. His latest book, on agricultural innovation in Africa, will be published by Oxford University Press in December.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy is appealing for public patience to give American forces in Afghanistan time to make more progress on the ground and to train Afghan forces to take over the battle against Taliban insurgents. Flournoy, a former Belfer Center research fellow, was the keynote speaker at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on Tuesday evening, Nov. 16. Joining her in the event titled "Women on War and Peace" were Meghan O'Sullivan, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School and a Belfer Center board member, and Belfer Center adjunct senior fellow Paula Dobriansky, both of whom also held top U.S. government security positions in the last decade.

John P. Holdren, President Obama's chief science and technology advisor, draws a grim picture of our world at the end of this century if we fail to start slashing greenhouse gas emissions that are ravaging the global climate. In a lecture at MIT, Holdren issued a call to action, arguing for a package of integrated measures to protect the environment. Holdren is on leave from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, where he was director of the Science and Technology Public Policy program.

Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Joseph S. Nye, Jr., received an honorary doctorate this week from Keio University, the oldest institute of higher education in Japan, in recognition of what the university described as his central his role in redefining U.S.-Japanese relations, both as a U.S. government official and as a leading academic thinker on political power in Asia.

A new report by a study group from the Center for a New American Security is calling for a dramatic and ambitious expansion of ties between the U.S. and India. The study group was co-chaired by former Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, who heads the Future of Diplomacy Project in the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Olli Heinonen, who joined the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs as a senior fellow last month, has received the Scientist of the Year Award in his native Finland.

Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his serial successes in helping to defuse several of the world's thorniest conflicts, shared a number of surprising trade secrets as he accepted The Great Negotiator Award at Harvard University this week.