Newsletters

Friends and Colleagues,

As the 2022-23 academic year nears an end, the Belfer Center community is reflecting on our efforts to develop ideas on policy solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems at the intersection of science and international affairs, and we’re looking to the future as we prepare for our leadership transition. In July, we will welcome a new Director, Meghan O’Sullivan, to whom I will hand the reins of the Center.

It has been an honor to lead the Center for the past six years alongside the highly talented faculty, staff, students, and others who make up the Belfer Center family. I plan to devote my time to teaching and running a project that will develop US security strategy for key areas of emerging technology.

In this newsletter, read about our recent guest, South Korean President Yoon, whose historic visit to Harvard was co-planned by our Korea Project. Learn how Center experts assess the war in Ukraine and Putin’s nuclear threats, what our research shows about the future of the energy transition and the significance of climate change governance, and how to navigate deepfakes and make technology, such as AI, work for and not against the public good. Also watch a Q&A with Meghan O’Sullivan and hear her thoughts about the Belfer Center’s impact. There’s much more. Click here to see the full newsletter.

Eric Rosenbach, Co-Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The Belfer Center is not a passive observer of the war in Ukraine. Our community of diplomats, national security analysts, intelligence officials, and generals, along with nuclear, energy, and cyber experts have been working non-stop to advance policy-relevant insights.

As you’ll see in our latest newsletter, this is an all-hands effort that shows the distinctive value of the Belfer Center’s multi-faceted research. I have a deep personal connection to this conflict. In the 1990s, I helped dismantle nuclear missile silos in Ukraine as part of the Nunn-Lugar program. That remarkable bipartisan effort grew from important work at the Belfer Center.

Amid scenes of brutal destruction in Ukraine today, our mission to advance research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world has never been more urgent. There’s much more in this newsletter about vital work the Center is doing in other critical areas.

Ash Carter

Few things will affect coming decades more than U.S.-China relations. The rivalry between these global giants will be contested across virtually every domain: technology, economics, diplomacy, and military might. At the same time, Beijing and Washington have a unique opportunity—and a solemn responsibility—to work together on global challenges, none more important than climate change. As you’ll see in our latest newsletter (Fall 2021), the Center is working to advance insight on this issue and many more at the intersection of science, technology, and international affairs.

Ash Carter
Belfer Center Director