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Few figures provoke as much passionate debate as Henry Kissinger. Equally revered and reviled, his work as an academic, national security advisor, diplomat, and strategic thinker indelibly shaped America’s role in the 20th century. Kissinger’s counsel knew few boundaries. His advice was sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama. Yet the man and his ideas remain the object of profound disagreement.

Ambassador Tommy Koh, recipient of the 2014 Great Negotiator Award, discussed “Multiparty Deals: The Law of the Sea, the Rio Earth Summit, and the Future of Large Conference Negotiations” during an event in April honoring him for his many successful efforts in large-scale diplomacy. Koh, of Singapore, is the eleventh recipient of the Award, awarded jointly in 2014 by Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON) and the Belfer Center’s Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School.

Calestous Juma, professor of the practice of international development at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Globalization project, will have a dual role during the 2014-15 academic year. Juma has been appointed faculty chair of the Edward S. Mason Program at HKS and Dr. Martin Luther King Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and the Belfer Center joined together in March to host the China Public Policy Forum on the current and future state of U.S.-China relations.

During the past year, the Belfer Center and Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation have continued building on their years of work aimed at improving U.S.-China cooperation and exploring opportunities and challenges related to China.

Thanks to an endowment by the family of Roy M. Goodman, former New York state senator and CEO of the United Nations Development Corporation, Harvard Kennedy School has a new professorship focused on the role of diplomacy in international relations. The Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professorship of Diplomacy and International Relations will be held by a prominent member of the faculty or an international leader with demonstrated academic scholarship or exceptional professional experience.

A survey of recent books by Belfer Center affiliates.

The study of citizenship, what it means and what it entails, has always been a topic of considerable debate in international relations and political science. Discussions of citizenship usually occur from the perspective of those who are included within a particular community, yet accelerated changes in global migration flows over the past 60 years have shifted the discussion into new waters. Noora Lori is among those attempting to understand this changing relationship between the state, the citizen, and the migrant.

"Researching Asian security issues has never been more topical," Yvonne Yew said in discussing her work at the Belfer Center. Despite Asia's economic growth, she said, "simmering tensions, territorial disputes, nuclear proliferation concerns, and military skirmishes serve to potentially undermine the region's peace and prosperity. As a former Singaporean diplomat and representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yew is in a unique position to view security issues spurred by the momentous and ongoing rise of Asia."

“Debating the pros and cons of government policy, applying scientific methods to pressing national challenges and teaching the next generation...that’s ultimately what gets me out of bed in the morning” says Michael Beckley, a research fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program. According to Beckley, who expects to receive his Ph.D. from Columbia University later this year, “It is clear to me that public policy, both domestic and foreign, has a tremendous effect on people’s lives and that individuals armed with information, can and should work to improve those policies.”