Asia & the Pacific

Ambassador and Belfer Center Senior Fellow Wendy R. Sherman, the former U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, will lead HKS’s Center for Public Leadership and become a professor of the practice of public leadership in January. Sherman, who negotiated with the North Koreans and the Iranians on nuclear issues, is the author of Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence.

"Belfer Center Newsmakers" highlights members of the Belfer Center community who have been featured recently in the news.

Research conducted by Torrey Taussig, a postdoctoral fellow in the International Security Program, has found that in Russia and China, domestic political consolidation has been accompanied by more assertive foreign policies.

Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 until 2017, has been named to a joint faculty appointment at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School. 

A sampling of articles in the Spring 2016 issue of the Belfer Center's journal International Security.

The Summer 2016 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming Center activities, along with research and analysis of critical global issues by members of the Center community. This issue features Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz’s address at Harvard Kennedy School on the significance of merging science and international affairs. Secretary Moniz used as an example the recent Iran nuclear agreement, in which he played a central role.

Contribution and consequence. That’s how Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter described the “magic” of Harvard Kennedy School’s spirit of public service during a JFK Jr. Forum here in December. Carter, a former Kennedy School professor and Belfer Center director, joined Graham Allison and a forum full of students, faculty, and service members for a homecoming conversation on topics ranging from ISIS and the South China Sea to cyber threats and innovation at the Department of Defense.

Call it the fall heard round the world.

The dramatic decline in oil prices—from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to below $30 this year—has been one of the most disruptive and least expected developments in global energy markets since the 2008 financial crisis.

With the continuation of high oil production and low prices, the Belfer Center’s Khalid Alsweilem, Calestous Juma, David Keith, Henry Lee, Leonardo Maugeri, Meghan O’Sullivan, and Robert Stavins offer insights, predictions, and recommendations based on their research and varied perspectives.

The Fall/Winter 2015-2016 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming Center activities, along with research and analysis of critical global issues by members of the Center community. This issue highlights visits by Secretary of State John Kerry, who answered questions from an audience of more than 500 Harvard students and faculty in an event hosted by the Belfer Center, and by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who spoke to students and faculty as part of the American Secretaries of State Project, an initiative of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School.

Belfer Center at IDEASpHERE 2014

Incisive questions and ambitious answers marked Harvard Kennedy School’s IDEASpHERE celebration in late spring. Belfer Center thinkers shared their big ideas in more than a dozen sessions, ranging from China's rise to nuclear weapons.

Below is a sampling of notable thoughts from those sessions. For more, including summaries and video highlights, see belfercenter.org/ideasphere2014.