Blog Post
As we approach the end of the century, and the beginning of a new millennium, the Belfer Center continues to strengthen its capabilities and expand its programs. This summer saw two major programmatic changes at the Center that will significantly enhance our competence and capacity.
KSG alumnus Greg Carr''s great generosity helped establish the Human Rights Initiative at the Belfer Center last year. This summer, Greg further demonstrated his confidence in our abilities by making a major gift to transform the initiative into the new Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. We are extremely proud that an initiative born and nurtured in BCSIA has blossomed into a Center of its own! For the year ahead, the Carr Center will be housed at BCSIA as it emerges as a sibling Center in its own right.
We have also added an important fifth pillar to our core programs. A new Intrastate Conflict, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution Program now joins our established research units. The product of a partnership with the World Peace Foundation -- a 90-year old institution that has an enviable reputation for research and policy work in peace studies -- the new WPF Program will expand Center research on issues of conflict and peace in today''s uncertain world.
As we start the new academic year at Harvard, we also welcome a record number of new fellows. New arrivals of note include Stephen Walt, the Kennedy School''s new Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs; Jessica Stern, a noted terrorism expert who will join us as a Senior Fellow; Bob Zoellick, a former Undersecretary of State who will be a Research Scholar; and Calestous Juma, a leading Kenyan specialist on science, technology, and biological diversity, who will be joining us as a STPP Research Fellow.
As we welcome new fellows and staff to the Belfer Center, we also pause to say farewell to some esteemed colleagues. In particular, I would like to say a personal word of thanks to Fiona Hill, Associate Director of the SDI Project, who is leaving us after eight years to join the Eurasia Foundation.
This issue highlights several ways Center analysts seek to communicate findings to policymakers. A Congressional commission chaired by BCSIA board member John Deutch produced a major report on combating proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The report complements the work that STPP Assistant Director Matthew Bunn and I have done with former Senator Sam Nunn on a CSIS task force to address the problems of "loose nukes."
We also applaud former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry''s review of U.S. policy towards North Korea. Along with BCSIA''s Ashton Carter and others, he made a historic trip to North Korea to meet with leaders there in a search for a more coherent U.S. policy towards North Korea.
On other fronts, STPP Director John Holdren chaired a ground-breaking study for the President''s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology which calls for targeted increases in federal spending to promote clean, sustainable energy systems.
As Russia enters its fateful year of presidential and legislative elections, BCSIA researchers are closely following the main candidates and parties. We are pleased to offer a special free publication, Russian Election Watch, which you can receive by email upon request. This report includes the latest polls, summaries of the campaign, and interpretations of key events. We hope more of you choose to receive this valuable bulletin.
-Graham T. Allison