Middle East & North Africa

The secret to Maugeri’s analysis? An original, bottom-up, field-by-field analysis of most of the world’s oil exploration and development projects.

Morgan Kaplan, a research fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program, researches the international politics of rebellion with a focus on how insurgent groups use international diplomacy to solicit third-party support.

An interview with MEI Faculty Affiliate Asim Khwaja on his work at the Center for International Development's Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) program with the Saudi Ministry of Labor on labor market policy as well as EPoD's Smart Policy Design and Implementation methodology and implications for the future of informed, iterative policymaking.

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.

It is an undeniable fact that the Middle East is undergoing one of the worst periods of crisis in recent history. Civil war, regime collapse, mass emigration, and terrorism are but a few of the numerous problems facing the region. Moreover, the United States’ alliance with Israel has experienced its most turbulent period since the Suez Crisis of 1956 due to profound policy disagreements on the Iran nuclear agreement. Despite this strain, both American and Israeli officials emphasize that the need for close secu­rity cooperation between the two nations is more important than ever.

“I know Vladimir Putin well,” General Colin Powell said during a recent appearance at Harvard University. “He’s KGB through and through.” Powell, a former secretary of state, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and national security advisor, was on campus on October 30 to participate in Harvard’s American Secretaries of State Project."

In my 2012 study “Oil, the Next Revolution”, I stressed something that no one was seeing at that time (and much later as well). As summed up by the opening sentence of the study:

“Contrary to what most people believe, oil supply capacity is growing worldwide at such an unprecedented level that it might outpace consumption. This could lead to a glut of overproduction and a steep dip in oil prices.”

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 Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and published quarterly by the MIT Press.

In March 2003 the United States invaded Iraq. In March 2013, on the 10-year anniversary of the war’s commencement, a number of Belfer Center faculty and affiliates reflected on the war and its legacy. Below is a sampling of those viewpoints.