Analysis & Opinions

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, launching the nuclear age. On the 75th anniversary of that somber event, Belfer Center experts reflect on the event and its aftermath. 

Rebecca Davis Gibbons writes that having a full appreciation of the consequences of nuclear weapons and their place in society means learning from the stories of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—but also from the stories from other survivors of nuclear explosions: those who lived and worked adjacent to testing sites in Algeria, French Polynesia, Australia, the United States, France, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Western China, and Kazakhstan.

Rebecca Davis Gibbons and Stephen Herzog provide an update on current efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons. 

It is time to reform not just how we remember the events of August 1945, but how we consider nuclear weapons as a broader component of a nation’s security. 

Joseph Nye writes that the world is increasingly obsessed with the ongoing power struggle between the United States and China. But the technology-driven shift of power away from states to transnational actors and global forces brings a new and unfamiliar complexity to global affairs.

In this week’s update on COVID-19 and Economic Diplomacy: U.S. GDP fell 9.5 percent in the second quarter, and Congress has yet to negotiate a relief bill before August recess begins next week. Argentina reaches a deal with creditors while Europe shows signs of economic recovery.

Arctic Innovator Jenna Stark recommends closing the crisis-related collaboration gap in the polar region. Greater communication between emergency response specialists is needed both for the Arctic to weather the current coronavirus crisis and also to prepare for and mitigate future disasters, such as assuring food security for remote communities in the event of a wildlife disease outbreak.

In an interview with WIRED, former national intelligence official Sue Gordon discusses Russian election interference and other digital threats to democracy.

Arctic Innovator Bert de Jonghe, a landscape architect, proposes a virtual innovation platform that seeks to capture Greenland's public imagination to start a critical discussion that propels the future of habitation in Greenland.

The Security and Global Health Project is proud to present a weekly web series with Security Mom Juliette Kayyem and Medicine Mom Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux. Each week our experts will answer your questions from quarantine and give you advice on staying sane and sanitary in a global crisis. We hope you'll join our Moms every Tuesday and if you have a question that you want answered tweet with #QuestionsFromQuarantine.