Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is the hub of Harvard Kennedy School's research, teaching, and training in international security and diplomacy, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy.
belfercenter.org
- On Feb. 5, New START, the last treaty limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arms, will expire—a dark milestone. President Trump has an opportunity to put off nuclear competition and explore whether new accords can help avoid it, argues Professor @matthew-bunn.bsky.social for @thehill.com.
- 🚨New book: Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail is a sobering edited volume on how efforts to reduce nuclear weapons dangers may sometimes wind up exacerbating them. In a field fixated on finding solutions, Atomic Backfires provocatively takes the opposite tack.
- ⌛One week left to apply! If you’re looking to deepen your expertise, expand your professional community, and contribute to policy-relevant research, now is the time to submit your application for a Belfer Center Fellowship — the deadline is December 1. Learn more: www.belfercenter.org/fellowships
- [Not loaded yet]
- “China is a status quo power concerned with regime stability,” three East Asia scholars write in a provocative new piece for @intsecurity.bsky.social, “and it remains more inwardly focused than externally oriented.” @polgreen.bsky.social writes for the @nytimes.com.
- The Thucydides Trap Is Coming for America www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o.... @mitpress.bsky.social @drjlhazelton.bsky.social
- 🚨 Now Published: Middle Power Case Studies Amidst great-power rivalry between the U.S. and China, a growing group of “Middle Power” countries are rising in prominence and potential, challenging the international order. Through the Belfer Center's Middle Powers project, we interrogate this trend.
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🖋️Critical Mineral resource management, supply chain dynamics and international policy development are some of the most strategic geopolitical issues of our time. From powering clean-energy transitions to advanced tech, these are the raw materials that modern economies—and national security—rely on.
- [Not loaded yet]
- 📖 The energy weapon has returned - and it's changing the rules of global power. In a new Foreign Affairs article, Meghan O'Sullivan, Director of the Belfer Center, and co-author Jason Bordoff argue that the necessary policy responses could provide a powerful boost to the clean energy transition.
- Belfer Center Fellowships are open for application through December 1, 2025. @mbudjeryn.bsky.social, Senior Researcher at MIT and Associate with the @managingtheatom.bsky.social, reflects on her time at Harvard Kennedy School as "life changing."
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🚨Belfer Center Fellowship applications for the 2026-27 academic year are now open! Supporting academic & professional tracks, our fellowships are open to doctoral candidates, recent Ph.D. recipients, and practitioners from the public and private sectors. More info: www.belfercenter.org/fellowships
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🛰️What counts as a "novel space activity?" Why do these activities matter for industry and policy? And how does a new Executive Order, released by the White House in August, aim to close these regulatory gaps? Read a new Belfer Center explainer by space experts: www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...
- New: The Task Force on Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. National Security today published its final report urging the U.S. to strengthen its strategy to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and safeguard national security. Convened by the @carnegieendowment.org, @nti.org and the Belfer Center.
- 💡New, by Rabia Akhtar, Associate of the Belfer Center's Managing the Atom Project - what does the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement signed by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan yesterday actually mean for the global nuclear security landscape?
- The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School is pleased to announce that Ambassador Ivo Daalder has joined the Center as a Senior Fellow.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Political anxieties have piled up and put an end to an era of public optimism, writes International Relations Professor @stephenwalt.bsky.social for @foreignpolicy.com.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🚨 New: Open access for one week only: Social Cohesion and Community Displacement in Armed Conflict, an award-winning article published by the International Security Journal.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Professor Matthew Bunn, Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Principal Investigator of the Project on Managing the Atom, comments on the Israel-Iran conflict.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Erica Chenoweth, Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, discusses Harvard today, historical and contemporary strategies for protesting, democratic backsliding, global comparisons and more in a new episode with @chrislhayes.bsky.social.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 📺 Watch: What are the new geopolitical realities America is facing as its power in the world fluctuates? Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, former Deputy Secretary of State and Joint Fellow with Belfer and the Center for Public Leadership, spoke at the Institute of Politics' Forum on Tuesday.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- In a new @foreignaffairs.com article, Rana Mitter--Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations at @harvardkennedy.bsky.social--offers a compelling analysis of China's political trajectory under Xi Jinping.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🚨 New: Professor Meg Rithmire has published a report with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, co-authored with Chamber President Michael Carney and David Fagan. The report offers a data-driven view of U.S. companies' perceptions of geopolitical risk, and offers a framework to manage this.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- 🚨Introducing the first-ever Cyber Strategy Scorecard!🚨 A groundbreaking new report by our Defense, Emerging Technology, and Strategy Program assesses national cybersecurity strategies across key global players, benchmarking best practices in protecting people, infrastructure, and digital economies.
- The Harvard Kennedy School has announced Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor, will be joining as inaugural Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order, and as Belfer Center Faculty Affiliate. Read the full announcement: www.hks.harvard.edu/announcement...
- Three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. is now aggressively pushing both countries to reach a ceasefire deal. But at what price? Belfer Center Senior Fellow and former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, is interviewed by the Harvard Gazette.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Are China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea forming a lasting axis, or just a tactical marriage of convenience? Join us for a high-stakes conversation on this evolving partnership live from the Munich Security Conference tomorrow. 📅 Feb 15, LIVE from #MSC2025 ⏰ 12:30pm ET 📍 Munich Security Conference
- [Not loaded yet]
- The deadly crash over the Potomac River "follows a long string of alarming near collisions at airports across the country—a pattern suggesting that the aviation-safety systems upon which human life depends are under enormous strain." @juliettekayyem.bsky.social writes for The Atlantic today.
- Today, the Senate will vet Tulsi Gabbard for the role of Director of National Intelligence. But what does the DNI do, and why does this process matter? Intelligence experts from the Belfer Center break down the role's history and key responsibilities in a new explainer.
- It is an honor to welcome back Ambassador Nick Burns to the Belfer Center and Harvard Kennedy School.
- [Not loaded yet]
- "Neither side won... Until Palestinians and Israelis agree on how to divide or share the territory they cohabit, violence, suffering, and injustice will continue." @stephenwalt.bsky.social, Professor of International Affairs, and more experts offer reactions to Israel and Hamas' ceasefire agreement.
- Today, President Biden announced Ash Carter as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civilian honor. Former Belfer Center Director Ash Carter devoted his life to making the nation safer, serving as 25th U.S. Secretary of Defense and across both administrations.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- How can the U.S. prepare for a new world of state-led sabotage? "The sabotage earlier this year of Hezbollah’s communications devices, apparently by Israel, was undoubtedly spectacular, but, as a matter of espionage, it was anything but new," writes Calder Walton for @foreignpolicy.com.
- The end of the Assad regime – after 50 years of rule – will have massive reverberations in the Middle East. Belfer Center Experts including Director Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Senem Aydin Duzgit, Graham Allison and Stephen Walt weigh in on what's next for Syria. www.belfercenter.org/quick-take/f...
- [Not loaded yet]
- We are pleased to announce the appointment of former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as a Senior Fellow. Kuleba, who served as Ukraine’s chief diplomat during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is internationally recognized as one of the most influential diplomats of his generation.
- [Not loaded yet]
