Middle East & North Africa

When it comes to U.S.-Iran relations, Iran’s nuclear program, and all of its implications, think tanks like the Belfer Center are at times of vital importance in assisting policymakers in conducting thorough investigations of key issues, Sahar Nowrouzzadeh says.

Ghalehdar’s research focuses on a subject that has been especially relevant since the Arab Spring: U.S. pursuit of regime change. As a research fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program, he is investigating the role of emotion in U.S. decisions to pursue regime change.

When Ben Buchanan received his first computer 17 years ago, he could not have known that the technical skills he acquired would prove vital to understanding today's cybersecurity dilemma.

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.

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.

With the successful implementation of the historic nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1, a new chapter has opened between Iran and the international community, including the United States. Nevertheless, the future path of bilateral relations between the United States and Iran is uncertain and many challenges exist as the two countries attempt to formulate new terms of engagement. What should U.S. policy be towards Iran after the nuclear agreement? Can the agree­ment open the door to effective collaboration on areas of mutual interest, especially given the rising security challenges and rapidly changing dynamics of the Middle East? Or, will strategic rivalries between Iran and the United States con­tinue to shape and impede cooperation?

“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."

The Belfer Center’s Iran Project and the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) co-sponsored a luncheon panel on the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the scenarios for the potential breakdown of current international talks on Iran, entitled “And Then What? Imagining the Middle East if Nuclear Negotiations with Iran Fail.”

The Fall/Winter 2014/15 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 edition highlights discussions at the Belfer Center about Iran and its nuclear program. Former U.S. National Security Advisor and Center Senior Fellow Thomas Donilon and former Israeli National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror added their voices to Center debate on this issue during a Harvard Kennedy School forum on a possible deal to prevent development of nuclear weapons in Iran.

In "Stopping ISIL," a number of Belfer Center security experts weigh in on what must be done in the next year to stop the spread and brutality of the Islamic State (ISIL). Graham Allison, Nicholas Burns, Chuck Freilich, Nawaf Obaid, Ariane Tabatabai, Payam Mohseni, David Petraeus, Gary Samore, and Barak Mendelsohn suggest solutions to this strategic challenge.

And much more...