Science, Technology, and Public Policy

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and Ploughshares Fund are pleased to invite you to the second in a debate series on a range of nuclear challenges and policy decisions the Trump administration will face in 2017. The debate series aims to provide a forum for in-depth exploration of arguments on both sides of key nuclear policy issues.  Additional topics and dates will be confirmed soon.

This book explores the sources and dynamics of social opposition to innovation. It:

• Explains the roots of resistance to new technologies - and why such resistance is not always futile
• Draws on nearly 600 years of economic history to show how the balance of winners and losers shapes technological controversies
• Outlines policy strategies for inclusive innovation to reduce the risks and maximize the benefits of new technologies

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The “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”—the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Iran—will enter the implementation phase within months. US policy makers must now consider how best to strengthen the accord as implementation approaches, and in how best engage Iran as implementation proceeds. In this discussion, nonproliferation experts William H. Tobey and Matthew Bunn discuss how to strike an effective balance between cooperation and confrontation in dealing with Iran on the nuclear agreement and beyond. The discussion was moderated by Martin B. Malin and followed by Q&A with the audience.

Coinciding with the conclusion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Bill and Melinda Gates talk about their “big bets” for the next 15 years in their Annual Letter this year. Among the questions they ask: How do we feed Africa, and ultimately the world? Their big bet is that Africa will feed itself and will be on the way to helping feed the world by 2030.

Calestous Juma, who heads the Belfer Center’s Agricultural Innovation in Africa project, supported by the Gates Foundation, agrees with the Gates’ bet. In his 2011 book The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa, he provides details on how Africa can feed itself in a generation. Here, he answers questions about what is needed for Africa to make huge strides in agriculture in the next 15 years.

"In a bold move, the UK Government has announced the creation of a £1 million prize for a new 'grand innovation challenge.'  According to Prime Minister David Cameron, the award would go to the next 'penicillin' or a plane that could fly carbon-neutral across the Atlantic....The prize will not only recognize those who come up with outstanding ideas, but it will also serve as source of inspiration for young people. Getting the youth to focus their creative energies on solving the world's pressing challenges needs to start early, especially in high schools."

This seminar examined the prospects for further nuclear arms reductions between the United States and Russia, including the possibility that negotiations might be expanded to weapons not limited by the New START Treaty. The seminar covered U.S. and Russian differences over missile defense and how those might be resolved to allow a cooperative NATO-Russia missile defense arrangement for Europe.