20 Projects

Africa Futures Project

Driving debate and research on critical issues of African politics and governance; climate security and the energy transition; conflict and security; and geopolitics, as they shape our global future.

Applied History Project

Applied History is the explicit attempt to illuminate current challenges and choices by analyzing historical precedents and analogues.

Arctic Initiative

Addressing the challenges and opportunities created by rapid climate change in the far North. 

Asia-Pacific Initiative

The Asia-Pacific Initiative is dedicated to studying opportunities and challenges facing one of the most diverse, complex, and pivotal regions of the world. Leveraging the resources and expertise at Harvard University, the initiative seeks to analyze issues that have increasingly defined the broader Asia-Pacific as the emerging economic, technological, and geopolitical center of gravity in the 21st century, and to develop constructive approaches to promote peace and prosperity in the region.

Cyber Project

The Cyber Project investigates how developments in the field of cybersecurity will shape international conflict

Defending Digital Democracy

The Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) is not currently active. Stay tuned for Belfer Center updates.

Directed by Eric Rosenbach, the aim of the Defending Digital Democracy Project is to develop strategies, tools, and recommendations to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks.

Defense Project

The Defense Project has become the Defense, Emerging Technology, and Strategy Program. Learn more about the program’s publications and events at the Belfer Center here.

The Defense Project seeks to increase the Belfer Center’s visibility and capacity to advance policy relevant knowledge in defense and international security areas and help prepare future leaders for service in those fields. Through a robust seminar series featuring visiting senior military officers and DoD civilian leaders, this initiative links defense professionals with Belfer researchers, faculty, and students, to facilitate better policy-making in the field and enrich the education of fellows and students about security issues.

Economic Diplomacy Initiative

The Economic Diplomacy Initiative is not currently active. 

Stay tuned for Belfer Center updates on this Initiative that aims to provide analysis and recommendations to policymakers on challenges at the intersection of economic policy and national security. 

 

Future of Diplomacy Project

The Future of Diplomacy Project is dedicated to promoting the study and understanding of diplomacy, negotiation and statecraft in international politics today. The Project aims to build Harvard Kennedy School’s ability to teach in this area, to support research in modern diplomatic practice and to build public understanding of diplomacy’s indispensable role in an increasingly complex and globalized world.

Geopolitics of Energy Project

The Geopolitics of Energy Project explores the intersection of energy, security, and international politics.  The project, launched in 2011, aims to improve our understanding of how energy demand and supply shape international politics – and vice versa.  It also endeavors to inform policymakers and students about major challenges to global energy security and, where possible, to propose new ways of thinking about and addressing these issues.  The project focuses both on conventional and alternative energies, as both will influence and be influenced by geopolitical realities.

Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements identifies and communicates scientifically sound, economically sensible, and politically pragmatic public policy options for addressing global climate change. The Harvard Project's research focuses on policy architecture, key design elements, and institutional dimensions of international and domestic climate-change policy—and draws upon leading scholars and policy practitioners from around the world.

Homeland Security Project

The Homeland Security Project explores the challenges and choices surrounding the unique aspects of protecting the American homeland.

Intelligence Project

The Intelligence Project seeks to build a new generation of intelligence practitioners prepared to serve in a rapidly changing world and to help future policymakers and intelligence consumers understand how best to interact with intelligence to gain a decision advantage. Building on multi-disciplinary research being conducted at the Belfer Center, from history to human rights and cyber technologies, the Intelligence Project links intelligence agencies with Belfer researchers, Faculty, and Kennedy School students, to enrich their education and impact public policy.

Korea Project

The goal of the Korea Project is to foster a deeper understanding of rapidly evolving security challenges on the Korean Peninsula and to develop creative approaches to effectively address them.  

Managing the Atom

The Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) conducts and disseminates policy-relevant research on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The project supports an international group of pre- and post-doctoral fellows and other experts working on these issues and helps to advance their research work through seminars, workshops, and conferences.

Middle East Initiative

The Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School is dedicated to advancing public policy in the Middle East by convening the world's foremost academics and policy experts, developing the next generation of leaders, and promoting community engagement on campus and in the region.

Security and Global Health

The Security and Global Health project brings together leading experts and practitioners to generate policy recommendations for a range of critical issues at the nexus of health and security, including health intelligence, bioterrorism, pandemics, armed conflict, climate-related disasters, and mass migration.

Technology and Public Purpose

Working to ensure that emerging technologies are developed and managed in ways that serve the overall public good. 

US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism

The US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism aims to encourage U.S.-Russian cooperation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and stop acts of nuclear terrorism. Building on existing efforts to understand and prevent nuclear terrorism, this initiative seeks a joint US-Russian assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism to develop concepts, strategy, and actions to prevent a successful nuclear attack by terrorists.