19607 Items

Topol-M at Red Square during May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow

Wikimedia Commons

News - The Insider

Putin's recent nuclear deployment aimed at fueling “nuclear anxieties” in the West and tightening control over Belarus, experts say

| Mar. 27, 2023

Dr. Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center:

The announcement of Russia’s decision to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus is the continuation of Russia’s tactic to use nuclear saber-rattling to induce nuclear anxieties in the West. In terms of military utility, Russian nuclear deployments to Belarus don’t change anything. Russia has plenty of bases, delivery systems and nuclear weapons deployed on its own territory, some of them very close to the Ukrainian border, that could serve the same mission as anything deployed to Belarus. So the move is purely political.  

Dr. Stephen Herzog, Senior Researcher, ETH Zurich, Center for Security Studies:

Putin's statement about moving Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus is, of course, concerning. The forward deployment of nuclear weapons to regions close to conflict zones increases risks of escalation, nuclear weapons use, and misperception. Although, there is no evidence yet that the Kremlin has moved any of its arsenal to Belarus. But I expect to see reports from open-source intelligence analysts in the near- to medium-term future tracking any potential movement of warheads from Russia to Belarus.

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

The Significance of the Good Friday Agreement, a Q&A with John Bew

Mar. 27, 2023

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Shannon Felton Spence spoke with John Bew, 10 Downing Street Head of Foreign Affairs and Integration Review Policy Unit. Professor Bew works across foreign affairs, defense and Northern Ireland policy as Special Advisor to the British Prime Minister. He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his is father is Lord Bew was a key figure in advising Nobel Peace Prize winner and unionist leader David Trimble.

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Analysis & Opinions

Harvard-Tsinghua Joint Statement on Carbon-Neutrality Pathways for China and the United States

January 2022

Teams from Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) have been working together on how to maximize the likelihood that the carbon-neutrality goals announced by the United States and China for around mid-century can be met. This statement by senior members of the two teams conveys key findings from the first phase of the collaborative project. 

ARCADE cohort at Arctic Frontiers Conference

Jonny Yau

News

‘Deeply Enriching’: Kennedy School Students Build Leadership Skills, Connections at Arctic Frontiers

| Mar. 24, 2023

In January, Harvard Kennedy School students Jonny Yau (MPP 2024) and Stirling Haig (MPP 2024) traveled to Tromsø, Norway, for a week-long intensive workshop hosted by the Arctic Academy for Social and Environmental Leadership (ARCADE). As part of the workshop, Yau and Haig joined Arctic Initiative team members at the 2023 Arctic Frontiers Conference, an annual meeting of scientists, policymakers, and business leaders focused on sustainable development in the Arctic.

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Blog Post - perspectives-on-public-purpose

Basic Science Research as the Pillar for NDD Drug Development

| Mar. 24, 2023

In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) in the United States, affecting approximately 10.5 million individuals. This number is predicted to triple in the next 30 years.1 However, in comparison to other disease areas such as oncology, the approval of NDD drugs has been relatively limited. Our team has explored the NDD drug development ecosystem from three perspectives: stakeholders, funding, and policy. This article summarizes our key findings and presents a case study to suggest that the scarcity of new drug development may be attributable to insufficient basic scientific research. Finally, we outline our objectives for the upcoming semester.

a "For Rent" sign is taped to a storefront window in the coal town of Welch, W.Va

AP Photo/David Goldman

Policy Brief - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

The Persistent Consequences of the Energy Transition in Appalachia’s Coal Country

    Author:
  • Eleanor Krause
| Mar. 24, 2023

How have Appalachia’s coal-dependent communities adjusted to historical and contemporary declines in demand for coal, and how do these shocks – and their consequences for the educational composition of affected communities – influence the capacity for future generations to adapt to new challenges? In this policy brief, Eleanor Krause presents estimates of how Appalachia’s coal country has adjusted to recent declines in coal mining employment (“coal shocks”), and demonstrates how this adjustment process is, in part, dictated by the persistent consequences of historical employment shocks in Appalachia.

Xi and Putin shaking hands at their meeting in Moscow, 2023.

Mikhail Tereshchenko | AP

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

| Mar. 23, 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to visit Moscow this week in his first trip abroad since his reelection comes as no surprise to those who have been watching carefully. When one steps back and analyzes the relationship between China and Russia, the brute facts cannot be denied: Along every dimension—personal, economic, military, and diplomatic—the undeclared alliance that Xi has built with Russian President Vladimir Putin has become much more consequential than most of the United States’ official alliances today.

Analysis & Opinions - Hoover Institution Press

China Brokers Diplomacy Between Iran and Saudi Arabia: Implications for the US Role in the Middle East

| Mar. 23, 2023

For over a decade, American officials have been touting the wisdom of a strategic “pivot” away from the Middle East in order to face the threat of a rising China. During that same period, Beijing has identified the Middle East as a primary arena for great power competition with the United States.