7 Events

A picture of Cuba with the text "Cuban Missile Crisis at 60"

Bennett Craig

Conference - Open to the Public

Cuban Missile Crisis at 60: Lessons of the Past and Relevance for the Present

Fri., Oct. 14, 2022 | 8:30am - 5:00pm

Barker Center - Thompson Room

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 continues to stand as the single most dangerous event of the nuclear age, when the world came closer than ever before or since to the prospect of nuclear annihilation. Scholars and analysts continue to revisit the CMC to learn its lessons in order to avoid nuclear dangers in the future. A number of recent accounts have shed new light on the various aspects of and incidents within the CMC, providing us with a better understanding of the dynamics of the crisis. As the world marks 60 years since those fateful events, the risk of nuclear conflagration is once again on the rise. Russia, a major nuclear power, is waging a war against Ukraine, a state supported by the United States and NATO, a nuclear-armed alliance. What were the most dangerous moments of the CMC? What contributed to and what ameliorated the risks of a nuclear conflagration? What can we learn from the CMC that is pertinent for preventing a conventional war in Ukraine from crossing the nuclear threshold? MTA brings together historians and political scientists to discuss the state of the art of history and politics of the Cuban Missile Crisis and gauge its relevance for the war in Ukraine and for future crises and conflicts. 

In-person Registration (Click Here)        Zoom Registration (Click Here)

 

UN HQ in New York

Brian Godfrey via Wikimedia Commons

Conference - Open to the Public

Atomic Backfires: How Great Power Nuclear Policies Fail

Thu., Aug. 11, 2022 | 10:00am - 12:00pm

The Tenth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will take place from 1 to 26 August 2022 at the United Nations' in New York.

On Thursday, August 11, from 10am-12 pm, the Project on Managing the Atom will host an in-person only conference side-event titled "Atomic Backfires: How Great Power Nuclear Policies Fail" in Conference Room B.

This panel discussion will launch a book by the same name. Moderated by Francesca Giovannini, the panel will include the following speakers: David M. Allison, Sarah Bidgood, Hyun-Binn Cho, Stephen Herzog, and Ariel F. W. Petrovics.

For questions regarding event attendance and logistics, please contact Project on Managing the Atom's Project Coordinator, Marina Lorenzini, at mlorenzini@hks.harvard.edu. We are unable to provide badges to members of the public to enter the conference.

Conference - Open to the Public

MTA Deterrence Network Kickoff

Tue., May 10, 2022 | 9:00am - 1:00pm

Online

The Project on Managing the Atom is excited to announce the launch of a research network, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, focused on engaging with and re-examining the role of nuclear deterrence.  The deterrence network will bring together geographically and intellectually diverse people and organizations to examine one of the most critical security issues facing the world.

To kick off the event, we will introduce foundational ideas and key actors to the start of the network. We will also feature a keynote from Dr. John P. Holdren, the Teresa and John Heinz Research Professor of Environmental Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and former Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under President Obama.

Preliminary Schedule: 

9:00-10:00am - Introduction the Deterrence Network and foundational partners

10:00-10:15am - Break

10:15-11:45am - Remarks by Deterrence Network Working Groups

11:45am-noon - Break

noon-1:00pm - Keynote address by Dr. John P. Holdren

 

While this virtual event is on the record, the event organizers prohibit any attendees, including journalists, from audio/visual recording or distributing parts or all of the event program without prior written authorization.

A journalist checks radiation levels near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2012.

AP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno, Pool

Conference - Open to the Public

Nuclear Safety and Security After Chernobyl and Fukushima: Lessons Learned and Forgotten

Wed., Mar. 3, 2021 - Fri., Mar. 5, 2021

Online

The Project on Managing the Atom will host a three-day virtual conference March 3-5 to mark the 10th and 35th anniversaries, respectively, of the Fukushima Daiichi and Chernobyl nuclear disasters. Experts and officials from around the world will provide reflections on progress made in nuclear safety, security, and governance in the years after these accidents and highlight evolving challenges in these crucial areas. The conference will feature a special session with IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

The Project on Managing the Atom is proud to present this conference as part of its 25th year of activities.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, left, American President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major, extreme right, sign the Budapest Memorandum on Dec. 5, 1994.

Marcy Nighswander/Associated Press

Conference - Open to the Public

Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament: 25 Years After the Budapest Memorandum

Fri., Dec. 6, 2019 | 8:30am - 5:30pm

The Charles Hotel

Registration for this event has now closed, but the livestream will be available below.

The Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom will host a conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum on security assurances to Ukraine in connection with its accession to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state.

The conference, which is co-sponsored by the Center for US-Ukrainian Relations (CUSUR) and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), will take place at the Charles Hotel on Friday, December 6th, 2019. 

Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Dialogue with Students

White House

Conference - Open to the Public

Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Dialogue with Students

Fri., Sep. 30, 2016 | 10:30am - 4:00pm

Taubman Building - Nye A, 5th Floor

The U.N. Security Council 1540 Committee and the U.N. Office of Disarmament Affairs collaborated with the Stimson Center to create an international essay competition for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The winners will be announced, and some will be presenting their ideas at this event. The goals of the competition were to involve the younger generation in understanding and addressing the important issue of proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), i.e., chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and to solicit innovative student approaches to implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) to support the Council’s Comprehensive Review of the resolution this year.

event

Conference - Open to the Public

Nuclear Disarmament, Non-proliferation, and Energy: Fresh Ideas for the Future

The Netherlands government, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University, and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, will jointly organize an Academic Symposium at the start of the 2015 Review Conference, to take place at the UN Headquarters in New York City on April 28th.