Articles

When struggling against an oppressive regime, or otherwise seeking to bring about crucial social change, what would your strategy be? If you think violent resistance increases your odds—guess again. In this interview about her new co-authored book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Erica Chenoweth turns this old bit of prejudice on its head—as it turns out, nonviolent civil resistance is usually the more successful and effective option.

In the first generation of the online revolution, the question would have seemed absurd. In his new book The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age, Belfer Center Senior Fellow David Sanger addresses why that question has become less outlandish.

Though President Trump says he is not convinced that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine said Monday that he and his colleagues on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is probing the matter, have “no doubt whatsoever” of Moscow’s involvement.

From sharply rising tensions with a nuclear North Korea and decertification of the Iran nuclear deal to China’s growing global assertiveness and the State Department pullback from projecting American values, such as democracy and human rights, around the world, the United States faces urgent national security challenges.

In a panel discussion Monday evening at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) moderated by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, former members of President Obama’s cabinet described what they see as a fraying of alliances, a loss of credibility with allies and enemies, a stepping back as a leader on human rights and democracy, and a relinquishment of diplomacy as a critical component of national security.