News & Announcements

On April 28, the Project on Managing the Atom joined the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, The Netherlands government, and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in convening nuclear nonproliferation experts from around the world at the United Nations to participate in a Symposium on the 2015 Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

In this “Conversation in Diplomacy" with former NATO Secretary-General and 2015 spring Fisher Family Fellow, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Future of Diplomacy Project Director R. Nicholas Burns discusses NATO's collective security issues, Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the destined leadership of the U.S. in the liberal democratic global community.

The Future of Diplomacy Project kickstarted 2015 with an array of impressive world-class speakers for its annual Europe Week, featuring former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen; former Secretary-General of NATO and Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen; and former Trade Commissioner of the European Union, Karel de Gucht. Their public seminars offered Harvard Kennedy School students and faculty an opportunity to grapple with the geopolitical issues at play in Europe concerning NATO, the EU, trade, and the "Nordic way."

Former Prime Minister of Denmark and former Secretary-General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, delivered an address titled “America and Europe: Quo Vadis?” in March for the Future of Diplomacy Project's annual Europe Week. Prime Minister Rsamussen led a discussion with students, fellows, and faculty on the need for a stronger transatlantic alliance and American leadership to build a “global alliance of liberal democracies” in the 21st century. Prime Minister Rasmussen examined topical issues ranging from unrest in regional hotspots in the Middle East and Ukraine, to threats to liberal democracy, to challenges to U.S. supremacy.

Talking to CNN's 'The Lead,' former U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities and the Future of Diplomacy Project's former Fisher Family Fellow Farah Pandith criticized the ideological narrative constructed to recruit muslim youths in her response to the recent Paris attack on "Charlie Hebdo" cartoonists.

In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Farah Pandith, former U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities and the Future of Diplomacy Project's former Fisher Family Fellow, reflects on the Paris massacre of 12 individuals associated with the "Charlie Hebdo" satirical French magazine. Pandith argues that the reprisal is not an isolated incident and that there has been a history of violent attacks against artists seen to be criticizing or satirizing elements of Islam.

The ninth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be held at the UN Headquarters in New York from April 27-May 22, 2015. This is the fourth such conference since the indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995. Participating governments will discuss nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy with a view to arriving at consensus on a number of issues.

Washington Post Opinion Writer and Senior Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project, David Ignatius, delivered an address entitled “Covering the Obama Administration in the Fog of Foreign Policy” and led a breakfast seminar with experts, students, and fellows on September 18. He explored current trends in the Middle East, critical factors at play in the negotiations with Iran, the West’s relationship with Russia and positive developments in the US-China relationship.

Belfer Center Senior Fellow Robert Zoellick, chairman of Goldman Sachs' International Advisors, was the lead U.S. Negotiator in the Two Plus Four process for Germany’s unification, serving under Secretary of State James Baker. The German government awarded Zoellick the Knight Commanders Cross for his work on unification. In this Q&A with Belfer Center Director of Communications Josh Burek, Zoellick shares lessons from the fall of the wall 25 years ago and the crucial diplomacy that followed.