Science, Technology, and Public Policy

Speaker: Julius Weitzdörfer, Junior Professor of East Asian Law, Hagen University, Germany

Risks stemming from CBRN-terrorism (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) are characterized by relatively low frequency, yet extraordinary potential impact. To help reduce the enormous potential costs associated with radiological and nuclear terrorism, drawing on cases from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this seminar seeks to derive and improve recovery policies towards a well-rounded, holistic approach to mitigating the risks of nuclear and radiological terrorism.

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Register in advance for this meeting: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAoc-yhrjwrEtEXOUTdHqGhMvLscB5VO38u

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. 

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.

Speaker: Mr. Tommy Ahlers, Minister of Higher Education and Science, Kingdom of Denmark

Moderators: Professor John P. Holdren, Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program and Professor Daniel Schrag, Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

Please join us for an open discussion over breakfast on the usage and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and the legislative challenges that usage of such new technology entails. The minister will present the challenges that he is wrestling with in this field and afterwards open up the floor for discussion.

Please RSVP to patricia_mclaughlin@hks.harvard.edu by 4 PM, Tuesday, January 29, 2019.

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.

What happens to the foreign policies of states when they acquire nuclear weapons? This presentation will offer a new typology of the effects of nuclear weapons on foreign policy. The typology allows scholars to move beyond simple claims of “nuclear emboldenment,” and allows for more nuanced predictions and empirical examinations of the ways in which nuclear weapons affect the foreign policies of current and future nuclear states. In this seminar, MTA/ISP Research Fellow Mark Bell will demonstrate the utility of this typology using a “hard” case: the United Kingdom.

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.