15 Events

Jökulsárlón, Iceland

UnSplash/Roxanne Desgagnés

Seminar - Open to the Public

"Together towards a Sustainable Arctic": An Earth Day Dialogue with Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Arctic Council, H.E. Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson

Thu., Apr. 22, 2021 | 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Online

Join the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and the Polar Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for an engaging Earth Day dialogue with Iceland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, about  Iceland’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council on what is next. 

Seminar - Open to the Public

The History of Cyber and Intelligence Operations

Mon., Feb. 27, 2017 | 5:15pm - 6:30pm

Taubman Building - Nye A, 5th Floor

Please join us for a panel discussion with Command Historian Dr. Michael Warner and Historian of GCHQ Professor Richard Aldrich, moderated by the International Security Program's Dr. Calder Walton and the Cyber Security Project's Director Dr. Michael Sulmeyer. This event is open to the public, but seating and admittance will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

Seminar - Open to the Public

Cooperating to Compete: The Role of Regional Powers in a U.S.-Led Global Nuclear Order (New Date and Location)

Wed., Jan. 29, 2014 | 10:00am - 11:30am

Littauer Building - Fainsod Room, 324

Multilateral institutions are proliferating in seemingly every sphere of international cooperation. From the environment to economics, from security to the nuclear realm, a growing number of institutions at the regional, transnational and bilateral levels are complementing the work of already established global institutions. But what drives this phenomenon, and more importantly, who stands to gain from it and why? The central argument of this MTA seminar is that institutional proliferation should be read both as a functional and a strategic phenomenon.

Coffee and tea provided. Please join us - Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. NOTE - NEW DATE AND LOCATION.

Gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment recovered from the <em>BBC China</em> in Italy, en route to Libya, in 2003. They were later taken to the Y-12 complex in the USA where this photo was taken (with a Y-12 guard also in the photo).

DOE Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

The Problem with "Mixed" Strategies: Revisiting Libya's Decision to Give Up its Nuclear Program

Thu., Nov. 7, 2013 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

Libya's decision to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions has been interpreted by most observers as support for the idea that mixed strategies are good policy. Although they disagree over which particular tools of influence were most important, most agree that some mixture of coercion and inducements explains Gaddafi's decision to disarm. This is not, however, supported by the evidence.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, gestures to chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi after unveiling a 3rd generation of domestically built centrifuge for Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology in Tehran, Apr. 4, 2009

AP Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

Can Sanctions Prevent the Spread of Nuclear Weapons?

Thu., Feb. 24, 2011 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Taubman Building - Kalb Seminar Room, Room 275

Economic sanctions have long been derided as ineffective instruments of foreign policy and yet continue to remain a principal tool for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons across nations. This seminar will analyze the impact of sanctions on nuclear programs based on case studies of Taiwan, Iraq, Libya, and Iran. It offers an understanding of the limits and possibilities of sanctions, showing that they can sometimes play a critical role in coercing nuclear aspirants.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Miners walk near the Toromocho copper project of the Chinese company Chinalco in Morococha, Peru, July 19, 2008. Chinese trade with Latin America has grown more than tenfold since 2000.

AP Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

The Dragon in the Room: China and the Future of Latin American Industrialization

Wed., Feb. 9, 2011 | 6:30pm - 8:30pm

China's growing appetite for primary products, and the ability of Latin America to supply that demand, has played a role in restoring growth in Latin America, both in the run-up to the global financial crisis and in its aftermath. However, China is simultaneously out-competing Latin American manufacturers in world markets. China is rapidly building the technological capabilities necessary for industrial development, whereas Latin American technology innovation and sophistication lags considerably.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED.

The seats of the U.S. delegation are vacant during the ceremony marking the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition of landmines at Geneva, Switzerland, on Mar. 1, 1999. The U.S. did not sign or ratify the convention.

AP Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

Big Sticks and Contested Carrots: A Theory of International Security Institutions

Thu., Mar. 11, 2010 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

Why are some regulatory arrangements such as the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and Landmines Convention weak, while others like the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) more robust? In this seminar, the speaker suggests that while states negotiate institutions for a variety of purposes, only those institutions built by powerful states to regulate the behavior of weaker states are likely to be strong and effective in changing state behavior. The speaker tests his theory with a brief overview of security institutions in different issue areas selecting cases to provide variation in institutional strength — spread of nuclear weapons, use of land mines, use of force in post–Cold War Europe (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and missile defense during the Cold War (ABM Treaty).

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, speaks during the U.S. Africa Command Unified Command Activation Ceremony, Oct. 1, 2008, at the Pentagon in Washington.

AP Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

AFRICOM: A New Model for Civil-Military Cooperation and the Modern U.S. Combatant Command

Thu., Feb. 18, 2010 | 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Littauer Building - Room 150

Mr. Saxton will elaborate on the mission of AFRICOM, which entails coordinating the kind of support that will enable African governments and existing regional organizations to have greater capacity to provide security and respond in times of need. Mr. Saxton will discuss the interplay between security and development in Africa and how a new model for civil-military cooperation can contribute to both.

Please join us! Everyone is welcome!

President George W. Bush takes part in the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony for, from left, former British PM Tony Blair, former Australian PM John Howard, and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Jan. 13, 2009.

AP Photo

Seminar - Open to the Public

Agglomeration: Sneaking up on the Balance of Power?

Thu., Nov. 12, 2009 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

This seminar explores the concept of agglomeration as a means of building agreements incrementally, actively excluding potential obstructionist powers, and then inviting them to join the agreement as a fait accompli. It employs the Concert of Europe, the European Union, and the Proliferation Security Initiative as case studies.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.