Asia & the Pacific

Fifty years ago this October, as the Cuban Missile Crisis intensified, the world stood   on the brink of a nuclear war. During 13 terrifying days in October 1962, people around the globe watched as President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev searched for a way to move their countries—and the world—away from the nuclear cliff.

The Belfer Center commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October by encouraging fresh thinking on lessons learned from that dangerous confrontation—and how those lessons can be applied to crises encountered today.

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a former director of intelligence and counterintelligence at the Department of Energy, argues that despite not falling victim to a major terrorist event in the last 10 years, the United States must not be complacent in its counter-terrorism efforts. Mowatt-Larssen said in a Belfer Center seminar in September that he believes the possibility of a major attack is higher in the next 10 years than in the preceding decade.

The Spring 2011 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights the Belfer Center’s continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe – an effort that began in the 1950s. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen global debate on critical issues: God’s Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye.

International Security is America's leading journal of security affairs. It provides sophisticated analyses of contemporary security issues and discusses their conceptual and historical foundations. The journal is edited at the Belfer Center and published quarterly by the MIT Press. Questions may be directed to: IS@harvard.edu

International Security is America's leading journal of security affairs. It provides sophisticated analyses of contemporary security issues and discusses their conceptual and historical foundations. The journal is edited at BCSIA and published quarterly by the MIT Press.