News & Announcements

Dr. Ian Bremmer, expert in political risk and founder of the Eurasia Group, gave a seminar sponsored by the the Future of Diplomacy Project on Thursday, November 9 at the Harvard Kennedy School, titled “Managing Risk in an Unstable World."

The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander offered his views on European security in a discussion moderated by FDP Executive Director Cathryn Cluver.

On September 23, His Excellency Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, visited the Kennedy School for a Future of Diplomacy seminar and expert lunch. During the seminar, titled "The Three Ages of NATO: An Evolving Alliance," Mr. Stoltenberg described the alliance as a responsive organization, capable of adapting to changes in the international security landscape but committed to the continuity of its founding values. In particular, he emphasized the necessity of maintaining a policy of absolute solidarity among member states, especially  in light of the exacerbating civil war in Syria and Russia’s aggressive stance toward countries to the East of NATO member state borders.

The Future of Diplomacy Project held its annual Europe Week during February inviting influential practitioners and experts on European affairs. Their public discussions offered Harvard Kennedy School students and faculty a unique opportunity to grapple with the intractactable geopolitical issues at play in Europe concerning NATO, the EU migration crisis, German leadership, and the rise of European populism.

The Project on Managing the Atom offers fellowships for pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and mid-career researchers for one year, with a possibility for renewal, in the stimulating environment of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. The online application for 2016-2017 fellowships opened December 15, 2015, and the application deadline is January 15, 2016. Recommendation letters are due by February 1, 2016.

The terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, which killed at least 129 people and injured hundreds of others, stunned the international community. In the days since, there has been renewed debate over a host of issues, including the strategy to defeat ISIS, the Syrian migrant crisis, and where the terrorist group might strike next. The attacks have also intensified the diplomacy surrounding the Syrian Civil War, and reopened the debate over the proper balance between security and privacy in the Western world.

Belfer Center experts have been weighing in on these and related topics. See our guide to their thoughts and insights.

Finance Minister of Ukraine and HKS alumna, Natalie A. Jaresko MPP 1989, participated in a conversation with Future of Diplomacy Project Faculty Director R. Nicholas Burns titled “Ukraine: Making Change Happen” on September 23. Minister Jaresko commented on the current state of economic reforms and debt restructuring in Ukraine, pairing her incisive analysis with descriptions of personal experiences working at a high-level in governments in both the US and Ukraine.

As part of the Future of Diplomacy Project's annual "Europe Week," Former EU Trade Commissioner and the program's 2015 spring Fisher Family Fellow, Karel De Gucht, addressed Harvard Kennedy School students in a public seminar entitled "Geostrategic Aspects of Trade" on March 4. Speaking with students and faculty, Mr. De Gucht examined the conflict between rival Chinese and American economic plans for the Asia-Pacific region, the ongoing difficulties behind TTIP negotiations, and the trade-related dimensions of the current Ukraine crisis.

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.