FEATURE

OP-ED

"The Intervention Dilemma"

Joseph Nye on when the world should step in to halt bloodshed.

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OP-ED

Democracy Promotion after the 'Jasmine Revolution'

Sarah Bush examines Tunisia's democratic transition.

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June 2012

Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA

By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program

This report marks the culmination of a two-year research project that examined all aspects of the mandate and operations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, from major programs on safeguards, safety, security, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to governance, management, and finance.

AP Photo

June 7, 2012

"The Pentagon is Stopped from Going Green"

Boston Globe

By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy

"Fuel convoys are particularly subject to attack by hostile forces, and half of the Marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq were supporting fuel transportation. Oil and water are the two commodities we import the most to the battlefield; the long line of a supply chain is a welcome mat for every IED and enemy. The biggest cost driver in the Pentagon's shrinking budget is oil; fuel increases in 2011 and 2012 cost the government an extra $3 billion."

Spring 2012

"Targeting Top Terrorists: How Leadership Decapitation Contributes to Counterterrorism"

International Security, issue 36, volume 4

By Bryan C. Price

New evidence suggests that states featuring the tactic prominently in their counterinsurgency strategy, including the United States and Israel, may be on the right track.

Spring 2012

"Does Decapitation Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Targeting in Counterinsurgency Campaigns"

International Security, issue 36, volume 47-79

By Patrick B. Johnston, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2010–2011: International Security Program/Intrastate Conflict Program, 2009–2010

A recent, data-driven study suggests that leadership targeting in counterinsurgency campaigns is a surprisingly effective tactic. Successful leadership decapitation can decrease campaign length, improve campaign success rate, and lessen the intensity of conflict and the number of terrorist attacks. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that possible negative effects, such as the "martyrdom effect" and decentralization, outweigh the benefits of successful decapitation. Although leadership decapitation is not a silver bullet, it is an effective technique that should be considered carefully in counterinsurgency strategy.

June 6, 2012

"Obama's 'Secret Wars' Against America's Threats"

By David E. Sanger, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

David Sanger, senior fellow at the Belfer Center and adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, was interviewed on NPR’s “On Point” about his new book on President Obama’s foreign policy efforts, including a cybercampaign against Iran’s nuclear program. Sanger’s book, Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, was published this week.

June 3, 2012

"Breaking the Negative Feedback Loop"

Reuters

By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor

In a recent op-ed, Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary and economic adviser to President Barack Obama, writes that “With the past week’s dismal U.S. jobs data, signs of increasing financial strain in Europe, and discouraging news from China, the proposition that the global economy is returning to a path of healthy growth looks highly implausible,” however, “it is more likely that negative feedback loops are again taking over as falling incomes lead to falling confidence, which leads to reduced spending and yet further declines in income.”

May 31, 2012

"Iran's Growing Stockpile"

Foreign Policy

By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

“The latest chess match between Iran and six major powers in Baghdad ended last week without any declared breakthrough. This is not entirely surprising. Talks were unlikely to make significant headway with Iran offering to sacrifice a pawn -- 20 percent enriched uranium -- in exchange for the queen -- the lifting of oil sanctions,” Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the IAEA and senior fellow at the Belfer Center, writes in a Foreign Policy op-ed. “In the meantime, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report on Iran, released May 25, reveals new information, most notably the presence of uranium particles enriched to 27 percent, well above the declared 20 percent enrichment level at the Fordow underground enrichment plant. Right now, the key question that the IAEA is trying to answer is how much uranium was enriched to 27 percent and over what period of time the enrichment took place.”

May 22, 2012

"IAEA Inspections in Perspective"

By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Olli Heinonen, senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, presented  the paper "What the IAEA Could do to Detect Clandestine Nuclear Activities" at a conference focused on "Reassessing the Assumptions Driving Our Current Nuclear Nonproliferation Policies," hosted by the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC) on May 21, 2012.

May 24, 2012

"Two challenges that college graduates will inherit"

Boston Globe

By R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School

Professor Burns discusses the challenges of citizenship and governance that this week’s college graduates will inherit.

AP Photo

May 24, 2012

"US Should Not Continue to Insist on Sanctions against Iran"

GlobalPost

By Mansour Salsabili, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

"Here the vital task is clarifying and resolving in this case the inherent tension between the Non-Proliferation Treaty's prohibition on proliferation and provision of the right to nuclear energy. This is not an easy job."