The Summer 2010 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 involvement with the Nuclear Security Summit, which was organized by Center alumni Gary Samore and Laura Holgate.

"Belfer and Carr Center fellows and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students have been busy since fall supporting the work of the Joint Staff 's Afghanistan-Pakistan Coordination Cell (PACC). The PACC, created by General Stanley McChrystal and directed by Brigadier General John Nicholson, plays a crucial role in supporting counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan."

As the U.S. debates an economy-wide CO2 cap-and-trade policy, the transportation sector remains a significant oil security and climate change concern. A new Belfer Center study-"Analysis of Policies to Reduce Oil Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector"-concludes that significant reductions in these areas will require much stronger policy initiatives than are currently under  consideration. Two of the authors answer questions about their report. Henry Lee is director of the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program and Kelly Sims Gallagher is senior associate of the  Belfer Center and associate professor of energy and environmental policy at Fletcher School, Tufts University's graduate school of international affairs.

"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."

"At a time when most major challenges facing the international community cannot be resolved by military force, nations will need to rely more on their ability to negotiate, communicate, and resolve differences through diplomacy. In response to this need, the Belfer Center is completing plans for a full-scale program-the Future of Diplomacy Project-that will make diplomacy a major focus of the School's teaching and research. This month, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics Nicholas Burns, who will head the new effort, announced Ambassador Marc Grossman as the first Future of Diplomacy Fellow."

"In July, 2009, President Obama announced the first Global Nuclear Summit to 'develop steps that can be taken together to secure vulnerable materials, combat nuclear smuggling and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism.' ... Because the goals and objectives of the summit mirror a long-time focus and effort of the Belfer Center, it is not surprising that a number of current and former Center experts are involved in various aspects of summit planning and nuclear terrorism prevention efforts."

The Spring 2010 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 current and former Center members who have informed planning for the Global Nuclear Summit to develop steps worldwide for securing materials and preventing nuclear terrorism. Another article describes a Center-organized simulation game that illuminated the possible evolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis over the next year. The newsletter also features views of Center International Council member Paul Volcker on preventing another financial crash.

The Spring 2010 newsletter also highlights: the launch of the Center's U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism; discussion of a new Center study concluding the need for much higher gasoline prices and stronger regulations in the transportation sectorto reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; Center contributions to the Pentagon's Af/Pak efforts; selection of career diplomat Marc Grossman as the first Future of Diplomacy fellow; and a discussion of why individuals and communities radicalize. In addition, this issue announces the selection of México City Metrobús as recipient of the 2009 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnerships and looks at how a successful reconstruction program in a New Orleans neighborhood provides valuable lessons for Afghanistan.

News briefs related to activities of Belfer Center faculty, fellows, and staff.

As the debate continues over actions the U.S. and international community should take to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon - or using it if built - experts from the Belfer Center and Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer their analyses and advice.

Climate and energy policy, economic reforms, and defense planning - these are among the plethora of issues Belfer Center colleagues are currently tackling in Washington, D.C. Following is a sampling of work underway by John P. Holdren, Lawrence Summers, and Michèle Flournoy. For more about Belfer colleagues in Washington, see http://belfercenter.org/governmentappointees.