Diplomacy and International Politics

Hosting speakers such as US Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, President of Turkey Dr. Abdullah Gül, and China's Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, the Future of Diplomacy Project has had an amazing year in 2014, pursuing its mission to promote public understanding of modern diplomatic practice in response to complex international issues.

Ronak Desai discusses the problem that corruption poses to international companies looking to invest in India.

The Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School has appointed C. Raja Mohan as a fall 2013 Fisher Family Fellow. Mohan will be in residence for two weeks in October, teach a study group on India’s foreign policy and regional priorities and deliver a public address on October 31 titled “India and the U.S. pivot to Asia: Between Geopolitical Opportunity and Strategic Autonomy.”

The Belfer Center's India & South Asia Program and Future of Diplomacy Project and the Harvard South Asia Institute co-sponsored a “Future of Afghanistan” conference on April 4-5 that brought together some of the key actors shaping Afghanistan's transition. Senior officials from the Afghan government, top U.S. diplomats and military figures, and leaders of non-governmental organizations debated prospects for stability, security and economic growth after 2014.

Nicholas Burns writes, "It has been a big idea in American foreign policy for over a decade: The United States would align its interests with a rapidly rising and democratic India to balance China’s burgeoning power in the vital Asia Pacific region. But that ambitious strategic bet depended on the critical assumption that the chaotic, poor, and struggling India of today would develop into the vibrant, wealthier, and more stable India of tomorrow that many of its admirers think it may yet become.

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 Future of Diplomacy Project, the newest research initiative to be launched by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, announces its resident and non-resident research fellows for Fall 2010. "Our research fellows bring a blend of practical and academic expertise in diplomacy to the Harvard community, which is instrumental to the critical examination of international conflict resolution mechanisms today," said Future of Diplomacy Project Director Nicholas Burns.

"The Nobel Peace Prize Committee cited Obama's dedication to arms control and nonproliferation when announcing last Friday his selection as this year's laureate. If he creates a positive, mutually reinforcing dynamic in the way he presents and sequences the two treaties [NPT and CTBT], it will give momentum and coherence to follow-on negotiations and the agreements that they produce."