More than 2500 years ago, Thucydides, the Athenian historian and general, wrote his history of the Peloponnesian War. In his oft-quoted summary, he concludes: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable.” In a forthcoming article, Graham Allison writes that “the defining question about global order for this generation is whether China and the U.S. can escape Thucydides’ Trap.”

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, has been named a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, where he will lead a major research effort on possibilities and impacts of a new strategic relationship between China and the United States. In addition, he will be a Visiting Fellow with Harvard's Institute of Politics, beginning in February 2014.

When Lee Kuan Yew speaks, who listens? Presidents, prime ministers, chief executives, and all who care about global strategy.

Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill, two leading strategic thinkers, asked Lee Kuan Yew the toughest questions that matter most to thoughtful Americans weighing the challenges of the next quarter century. The result is their new book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World – published today by MIT Press.

The Spring 2011 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 issue highlights the Belfer Center’s continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe – an effort that began in the 1950s. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen global debate on critical issues: God’s Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye.

Joseph Nye, a Harvard distinguished service professor and member of the Belfer Center’s board of directors, offers an insightful analysis of the changing nature and use of power in his new book, The Future of Power. In the book, he describes two types of power shifts occur­ring in this century—power transition and power diffusion.

The Winter 2010/11 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 issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

"The purpose of the exercise was to illuminate the possible evolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis over the next year based on policy choices made by concerned countries.... Several participants offered their takeaways from the exercise."

On September 24, 2009, the Belfer Center hosted a seminar to discuss Ernest May's unique ability to serve as a bridge between history and policy. A member of the Belfer Center's board of directors until his death in June 2009, Ernest May was a world renowned historian of international relations and foreign policy and a member of the Harvard faculty for over 50 years. During the seminar, "Reflections on Ernest May: A Rare Bridge Between History and Policy," a number of May's colleagues, students, friends, and family members reflected on Ernest (Ernie) May, the man, and on his "extraordinary" contributions.

Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, former under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs under President George W. Bush, will join Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs as a senior fellow, Belfer Center director Graham Allison announced today.