152 Events

U.S. President Gerald Ford and Soviet Communist Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev sign the joint communiqué at the conclusion of their two days meeting near Vladivostok, Nov. 24, 1974.

AP/CB

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Escaping MAD: Technology, Politics, and U.S. Nuclear Strategy

Thu., Mar. 14, 2024 | 12:15pm - 1:45pm

One Brattle Square - Room 350

Speaker: David Kearn, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

The book project seeks to explain the divergence of views of within the strategic community after the signing of the SALT I Accords and the subsequent shift in U.S. strategic nuclear policy away from "assured destruction" to "nuclear warfighting" throughout the 1970s and culminating in the Reagan administrations "prevailing strategy."

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

President Jimmy Carter along with George M. Seignious, right, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency briefs community leaders on SALT II at the White House in Washington, Oct. 12, 1979.

AP/Charles Tasnadi

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

A Strange Arms Debate: Legitimation, Essential Equivalence, and Carter's Nuclear Strategy

Thu., Feb. 1, 2024 | 12:15pm - 1:45pm

One Brattle Square - Room 350

Speaker: Colleen Larkin, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

President Jimmy Carter entered office committed to reducing the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. foreign policy. He espoused the logic of mutually assured destruction and hoped for major arms control progress. Yet by the end of his presidency, he had embraced a competitive nuclear posture and accelerated the arms race. What explains this shift in Carter’s strategy? 

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

A phone screenshot with notifications from a Ukrainian air raid app.

Mariana Budjeryn

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Impressions from a Journey to Ukraine

Thu., Jan. 25, 2024 | 12:15pm - 1:45pm

One Brattle Square - Room 350

Speaker: Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom

What is it like living in a country at war? How does the war imprint itself on everyday life, on holidays and celebrations, on work and art, even far away from the active front line, in the deep rear? Mariana Budjeryn traveled to visit her family in Lviv, western Ukraine, over the holiday break. She shares her impressions and reflections on life amid Christmas carols and air raid sirens and on how ordinary people contribute to the war effort and cope with the losses and grief it inflicts, amid uncertain prospects for its conclusion.

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee &Tea Provided.

Image of French nuclear weapons testing

Pierre J. on Flickr, under creative commons

Seminar - Open to the Public

Atomic Voices: Redressing Nuclear Harm: Transitional Justice in the Nuclear Age

Fri., Dec. 1, 2023 | 10:00am - 12:00pm

Online

Redressing Nuclear Harm: Transitional Justice in the Nuclear Age

Nuclear deterrence and disarmament discussions often center on potential future use and threats of use of nuclear weapons. Attention is growing, however, on the harm that nuclear weapons have already done, mostly focused on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and on nuclear testing impacts. This seminar offers a nuclear justice lens derived from concepts of transitional justice (TJ).

Seminar - Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

The Security Imperative: Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence & Diplomacy

Thu., Oct. 19, 2023 | 10:00am - 11:30am

One Brattle Square - Room 350

Speaker: Ambassador Zamir Akram, Author, The Security Imperative: Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence & Diplomacy

Ambassador Akram will discuss his new book, which is an in-depth study of the evolution of Pakistan's nuclear program until it became a reality despite all the international pressures against it and the challenges along the way.

Open to Harvard ID Holders Only: Admittance will be on a first come–first served basis. Coffee, Tea, & Light Refreshments Provided.

event

Seminar - Open to the Public

MTA Seminar with Dmitry Stefanovich

Wed., Sep. 27, 2023 | 10:00am - 11:30am

Online

We welcome you to join us for the weekly MTA seminar with Dmitry Stefanovich.

Harvard and local affiliates are welcome to join us the One Brattle Building, room 401. All others are welcome to join via Zoom (registration link here).

Dmitry will present:

Hypersonic Weapons, Missile Defense and US-RUSSIA Strategic Stability  

An unarmed U.S. Air Force LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches at 4:36 a.m. PST during an operational test Dec. 17, 2013, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Public Domain/USAF Airman 1st Class Yvonne Morales

Seminar - Open to the Public

The Delicate Balance of Error: Perceived Counterforce Feasibility and the Nuclear Taboo

Thu., Mar. 2, 2023 | 12:15pm - 2:00pm

Online

Speaker: David M. Allison, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

As geopolitical and technological shifts challenge the underpinnings of nuclear deterrence, the implications of a nuclear taboo become increasingly important. Crucially, if the prohibition against nuclear use is binding, improved counterforce capabilities should have no effect on support for use. This seminar presents the results of a series of experiments designed to identify taboo believers and measure the durability of their commitment to nuclear non-use by increasing their perceptions of the military effectiveness of counterforce strikes. 

Everyone is welcome to join us online via Zoom! Please register in advance for this seminar: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvc-uorTkoG9C3zILDI0wrhkBFNJWCkWIU

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)

 

Shaheen-III and Ghauri missiles displayed during a military parade to mark Pakistan's National Day in Islamabad in March 2022

AP Images/ Anjum Naveed

Seminar - Open to the Public

Pakistan's Bomb: Development and Current Implications

Tue., June 7, 2022 | 11:00am - 12:15pm

Wexner Building - Room 434 A-B

Speaker: Dr. Mansoor Ahmed, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for International Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan

Discussants: Dr. Mayumi Fukushima, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom and the International Security Program, Belfer Center

Dr. Steven E. Miller, Director of the International Security Program, Belfer Center

The Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) hosts a reflective and policy-oriented discussion focused on Pakistan's development of its nuclear arsenal and implications for South Asian security today.

For members of the public (HUID and non-HUID holders), please register for the Zoom webinar event here. You will be able to watch the event live through Zoom.

For those who wish to attend in-person (HUID holders only), please register for a seat in the conference room here.

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.