Science, Technology, and Public Policy

Study Group Leader: Joel Clement, Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative

The Arctic Knowledge Systems Study Group will explore ways to collaboratively employ indigenous and scientific knowledge to improve resilience in the Arctic. It will consist of 6 sessions in which we will discuss inclusion of indigenous perspectives and how to improve for the future. All sessions will be held on Tuesdays beginning September 15 from 12:00pm - 1:00pm (ET).

Space is limited! To apply to join the study group please email Brittany Janis your resume and 100 words on why you are interested in participating. 

Speakers: Giles David Arceneaux, Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

Kyungwon Suh, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science, Syracuse University

The deterrent capacity of a state's nuclear forces is dependent upon the platforms and delivery systems that constitute the arsenal. The mere possession of nuclear weapons does not provide a robust deterrent and nuclear states cannot credibly deter potential adversaries with nuclear threats in the absence of adequate delivery capabilities. The project presents a new dataset that measures the possession of seven nuclear delivery platforms across all nuclear powers from 1945–2019, including: submarine-launched missiles, strategic land-mobile missiles, strategic solid-fuel missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, long-range ballistic missiles, and tactical nuclear weapons.

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcsf-6uqTwoHdZZJ3qqoP1Ohy78rsXBc5en

Moderator: Joel Clement, Senior Fellow, Arctic Initiative

Speakers: Gunn-Britt Retter, Head, Arctic and Environmental Unit, Saami Council

Deenaalee Hodgdon, Student, Brown University; Indigenous Activist

Raina Thiele, Founder and President; Thiele Strategies

Join the Arctic Initiative for an engaging and illuminating conversation with three indigenous leaders: Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit of the Saami Council; Deenaalee Hodgdon, Brown University student and indigenous activist, who is a Deg Hit'an Athabaskan and Supiaq woman from the villages of Anvik and South Naknek, Alaska; and Raina Thiele, Founder and President of Thiele Strategies who was born and raised in Alaska and is Dena'ina Athabascan and Yup'ikas.

Please RSVP to Brittany_Janis@hks.harvard.edu.

Each year the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative sends a delegation of students to attend the world’s largest Arctic gathering, the Arctic Circle Assembly. This year, after a competitive application process, four students were selected to represent Harvard at the Arctic Innovation Lab. Come and hear their presentations before they leave for Iceland to pitch their ideas for a changing Arctic. 

Lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP to brittany_janis@hks.harvard.edu by October 2 to secure your seat.

A one day workshop will be hosted by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. The event will focus on creating fairer data markets, exploring new business and governance models to harness personal and non-personal data, and enabling competitive forms of governance to benefit the needs of local businesses and people in all countries regardless of their level of development.

The workshop has limited places available, to express your interest to attend the meeting, click here.

This year, the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative is selecting a small group of 2–3 Harvard students to present their ideas at the Arctic Innovation Lab in Iceland. The Lab takes place at the world's largest Arctic gathering, the Arctic Circle Assembly, from October 10–13, 2019.  The trip for students selected for the Lab is funded by the Arctic Initiative. Before traveling to Iceland, students are expected to attend three, 1-hour, group sessions which will support students in the process of developing their ideas. Students are also required to set up office-hours with members of the Arctic Initiative team as they work independently to hone their pitch.

Students interested in applying to be an Arctic Innovator should fill out this application form by September 6 to be considered for the program: https://forms.gle/yxCWGpW4xqrhVnjX6.

Speaker: Sébastien Philippe, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

Most successful nuclear weapons programs have benefited from significant foreign assistance for the acquisition of nuclear materials, sensitive equipment, and know-how. Such assistance is often kept secret, even after states decide to put an end to their nuclear weapons programs or ambitions. This seminar will discuss the policy and verification implications of this source of opacity on the reconstruction of past nuclear military activities as part of non-proliferation or denuclearization agreements.  It will build upon an historical and technical analysis of nuclear assistance between France, Israel, and South Africa and conclude by discussing the impact of discovering previously hidden information on existing policies and ongoing diplomatic processes.

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

Speaker:  Cameron Tracy, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

States often spend vast sums on weapon production, yet have trouble mustering the resources necessary to eliminate stockpiled weapons for arms control and disarmament purposes. Stockpile reductions have proven particularly challenging with respect to weapons of mass destruction, for which weaponizability is embedded in materials rather than assembled devices. Their elimination commonly requires expensive, technologically demanding processes. U.S. chemical weapon and weapons plutonium stockpile reduction efforts provide useful case studies for investigation of the factors governing the success of reductions programs, as they faced similar challenges yet yielded divergent outcomes. This project involves comparative analysis of both reductions programs, focusing on the technical, organizational, and sociopolitical contexts that aided or hindered elimination.

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

Speaker: Frank O'Donnell, Postdoctoral Fellow, U.S. Naval War College

The speaker will detail the arguments of his recent book, India and Nuclear Asia: Forces, Doctrine and Dangers. The book explores the post-1998 evolution of Indian nuclear thought, its arsenal, the triangular rivalry with Pakistan and China, and New Delhi's nonproliferation policy approaches. The speaker argues that emerging trends in all three states are elevating risks of regional inadvertent and accidental escalation. These include the forthcoming launch of naval nuclear forces within an environment of contested maritime boundaries; the growing employment of dual-use delivery vehicles; and the emerging preferences of all three states to employ missiles early in a conflict. These dangers are amplified by the near-absence of substantive nuclear dialogue between these states, and the growing ambiguity of regional strategic intentions. To mitigate these trends, the speaker recommends that the three states initiate a trilateral strategic dialogue, and that India institute a strategic defense review to resolve the growing ambiguities around its conventional and nuclear deterrence and improve public confidence in them.

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

Co-Sponsored by Project on Managing the Atom

Speakers: 

• Mr. Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India
• Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi; India
• Prof. Johannes Urpelainen, Founding Director, Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP), Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C.
• Mr. Ranjit Bharvirkar, Principal and India Program Director, Regulatory Assistance Project, Vermont

Moderated by Professor John P. Holdren,  Co-Director,  Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

The seminar will begin with an introduction of the Science, Technology, & Public Policy Program and its focus on India's energy decarbonization and then each speaker will present for 15 minutes. This will be followed by a panel discussion and question and answer session moderated by Prof. John P. Holdren.

Coffee & Tea will be provided.

Co-sponsored by the Consortium of Energy Policy Research