23 Items

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, October 20, 2015.

Kremlin.ru

Analysis & Opinions - Moscow Times

Russia Must Abandon Assad to Fight Terrorism

| November 13, 2015

"The key to a solution to both — the quagmire that has unfolded in Syria and the threat posed by Islamic terrorism — is to deprive the terrorist groups of their main propaganda tools and to form a new Syrian government that excludes Assad (and his foreign Shiite allies) but includes representatives from all of the non-fundamentalist groups involved in the civil war."

Analysis & Opinions - Real Clear Defense

How an Iran Hawk Lets IS Off the Hook

| August 22, 2014

"Iran...may not have been the United States' best friend in the past three and a half decades, but it remains a legitimate nation-state. It has a political system with a series of checks and balances and some level of accountability and debate. Importantly, Iran can be deterred. Ideology is certainly a driver behind Tehran's decision-making, but its national interests dictate much of its actions. These interests in turn do not always converge with those of the United States, nor do they always conflict."

Analysis & Opinions - Power & Policy Blog

What's the Most Critical and Under-appreciated Issue in International Security? World Peace

| February 7, 2013

"...[I]t is clear that the international community possessed neither the analytic tools nor the institutional capabilities to deal with a world order in which ethno-religious groups, and not nation-states, were the primary operative actors. Which brings us back to the question: what if organized state violence and warfare is the exception rather than the rule in international security?"

Discussion Paper - Managing the Atom Project, Belfer Center

A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East: Creating the Conditions for Sustained Progress

| December 2012

How can the states of the Middle East begin to create the political conditions for achieving sustained progress toward the elimination of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons? This paper examines the challenges and obstacles that the parties of the region will need to overcome to bring a WMD-free zone into force, and recommends near-term steps for improving regional security.

A family from southern Somalia arrive in a refugee camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, Aug. 4, 2011. The UN says famine will probably spread to all of southern Somalia within a month and force tens of thousands more people to flee into the capital Mogadishu.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Atlantic

Famine in Somalia: What Can the World Do About It?

| August 2, 2011

"The international community can also do things beyond Somalia, and indeed beyond the exigencies of emergency food aid. Rich nations, including the United States, can start by delivering the support they have promised to build Africa's own food-production capabilities. Small farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa need help to boost their productivity....What these farming communities need, above all else, is increased public investment in rural roads, electrical power, irrigation, clinics, schools, and agricultural research."

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Quarterly Journal: International Security

Belfer Center Newsletter Spring 2011

| Spring 2011

The Spring 2011 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 the Belfer Center’s continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe – an effort that began in the 1950s. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen global debate on critical issues: God’s Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye.

Border Security Force soldiers patrol the border with Pakistan in Gujarat, Nov. 25, 2009. Indian PM Manmohan Singh raised fears about Pakistani Taliban forces moving into the heart of Pakistan, which threatens both Pakistan's government and India.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Daily Star

Pakistan and India Should Consider Collaborating This Time

| December 4, 2009

"At every stage of the lengthy conflict that has brought the US into the region, Pakistan has sought to limit Indian influence in Afghanistan. Indeed, India's growing influence and investment in Afghanistan is disturbing to Pakistan's national security apparatus. Ultimately, the dynamics of Afghan politics will determine Afghanistan's fate. But a collaborative Indian-Pakistani effort to stabilize the country could work wonders."

An army soldier passes by the main gate of the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Oct. 10, 2009. Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan's army headquarters.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Deciphering the Attack on Pakistan's Army Headquarters

| October 11, 2009

"This was neither the first attack on an army structure in the country nor the most deadly — but it is unprecedented given the extent of the breach of the GHQ security, the confusion that it created in its initial stage (raising concerns about the safety of army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani), and its timing vis-à-vis the planned launch of a ground military operation in South Waziristan. It could be a transformational event for the army — cementing its resolve against local militants, bridging internal divisions and forcing a review of its intelligence estimates. However, jumping to conclusions without a thorough investigation and reacting rashly based on preconceived notions would be highly counterproductive. Additionally, though Pakistan's nuclear installations are not in the immediate vicinity of GHQ, the nature of the attack raises questions about how security agencies would react if a future attack targets any of the nuclear weapons facilities."

A contingent of Pakistan's Air Force during a ceremony to mark Pakistan Defense Day at the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Sep. 6, 2009, in Karachi. Pakistan celebrates Defense Day to mark the 1965 war with India over Kashmir.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Obama's AfPak Metrics Miss the Mark on Pakistan

| September 21, 2009

"It is quite striking that framers of the metrics have avoided the merest mention of Pakistan-India relations as a factor in understanding which way the wind is blowing in Pakistan's security environment. While the Obama administration has every right to wish that Pakistan delink its rivalry with India in the Kashmir region from its policy towards Afghanistan (and consequently in Federally Administered Tribal Areas), one cannot ignore the prevailing ground realities."