Belfer Center Regions

The Trump/Vance Unilateralist Delusion

Belfer Center — Jul 25, 2024

Jul 25, 2024

Stephen Walt argues that if Trump and Vance win in November, it will do enormous long-term damage to America's global position.

Building a Durable Peace in Ukraine

Belfer Center — Jul 16, 2024

Jul 16, 2024

In June, Ukraine’s most powerful backers met at the G7 summit before attending Ukraine’s peace conference in Switzerland, which hosted representatives from nearly eighty countries. For one week, they met to discuss Volodymyr Zelensky’s ten-point peace plan, announced a plan to fund Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, and introduced a U.S.-Ukraine bilateral security agreement. As the United States and its allies are working to put Ukraine in the best position possible for eventual ceasefire negotiations, what should their top priority be?

Five Questions for the Secret Service

Belfer Center — Jul 15, 2024

Jul 15, 2024

The agency had one job—to protect a major political figure from physical harm—and failed, writes Juliette Kayyem. Five questions must guide inquiries into the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.

A Failure of Security and Democracy

Belfer Center — Jul 13, 2024

Jul 13, 2024

Juliette Kayyem writes that politicians and security experts, especially those focused on the upcoming conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago and future political rallies, must now reckon with the evident mismatch between what we know about political violence—it is pervasive and indiscriminate, according to the FBI—and how we plan for it.

Biden's Frailty Doesn't Endanger America

Belfer Center — Jul 11, 2024

Jul 11, 2024

Stephen Walt writes that doubts about Biden’s ability to do the job over the next six months must be balanced against the qualities that Trump exhibited when he oversaw U.S. foreign policy. Insider accounts of Trump’s first term portray him as erratic, mercurial, uninterested in details, and incapable of giving most foreign-policy problems sustained attention.

Database on U.S. Department of Energy Budgets for Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration (1978–2025R)

Belfer Center — Jul 8, 2024

Jul 8, 2024

The July 2024 update to our database on the U.S. government investments in energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (ERD3) through the U.S. Department of Energy.

Land Use Policy and Climate Change: A Conversation with Charles Taylor

Belfer Center — Jul 8, 2024

Jul 8, 2024

The ways in which land use and environmental policies intersect with natural resource sustainability and climate change was the focus of discussion in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program” featuring Charles Taylor, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.

Heat Pumps Can Help Meet Climate Goals but Can Hurt Pocketbooks

Belfer Center — Jul 4, 2024

Jul 4, 2024

Massachusetts has set aggressive targets for heat pump installations for over 100,000 homes by 2025 and over 500,000 homes by 2030. But the high price of electricity in Massachusetts — the fourth highest in the nation — relative to natural gas or oil makes achieving these targets very challenging unless there is a major change in electricity policy.

Space Technology Advances: Catalysts for Conflict or Pathways for Human Progress?

Belfer Center — Jun 28, 2024

Jun 28, 2024

Ensuring that space remains a domain for peaceful exploration and mutual benefit rather than a new frontier for conflict will significantly depend on the global community's ability to navigate the complex interplay of technological advancements, regulatory frameworks, economic opportunities, and geopolitical challenges.

This paper was written for the final assignment of IGA-250, a Harvard Kennedy School course on emerging technology: security, strategy, and risk.

Opportunities for Cost-Effective Residential Heat Pump Adoption in Massachusetts

Belfer Center — Jun 26, 2024

Jun 26, 2024

The first-ever town-level spatial analysis of the effect of heat pump adoption on residential heating bills finds that air-source heat pump adoption will increase heating costs for approximately half of all Massachusetts households due to high electricity prices, challenging the state’s ability to achieve its recently announced ambitions for heat pump adoption.

Heat Pump Adoption Not Cost-Effective for Majority of MA Households, Says New Study

Belfer Center — Jun 26, 2024

Jun 26, 2024

Air-source heat pump adoption will increase heating costs for approximately half of all Massachusetts households due to high electricity prices, according to a new town-level spatial analysis by researchers at Harvard University. Concerns around increased energy bills could challenge Massachusetts’ ability to achieve its ambitions for decarbonization of buildings across the state.

What the United States Can Learn From China

Belfer Center — Jun 20, 2024

Jun 20, 2024

Stephen Walt argues that Americans who are deeply worried about China's rise should reflect on what Beijing has done well and what Washington has done poorly.

Reducing Nuclear Dangers

Belfer Center — Jun 20, 2024

Jun 20, 2024

Matthew Bunn argues that governments need help from scientists and engineers both in understanding the dangers that nuclear weapons continue to pose and in finding paths to reduce them.

International Trade and Climate Change Policy: A Conversation with Robert Lawrence

Belfer Center — Jun 18, 2024

Jun 18, 2024

The rise of political populism and economic protectionism are serious barriers impeding efforts to combat global climate change. Robert Lawrence, the Albert Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment at Harvard Kennedy School, expressed those concerns in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.”

What the West Can Learn From Singapore

Belfer Center — Jun 5, 2024

Jun 5, 2024

When asked whether the U.S. government works, most Americans say no. According to recent polling by Ipsos, more than two-thirds of adults in the United States think the country is going in the wrong direction. Gallup reports that only 26 percent have confidence in major U.S. institutions, such as the presidency, the Supreme Court, and Congress. Nearly half of Americans aged 18 to 25 say that they believe either that democracy or dictatorship “makes no difference” or that “dictatorship could be good in certain circumstances.” As a recent Economist cover story put it: “After victory in the Cold War, the American model seemed unassailable. A generation on, Americans themselves are losing confidence in it.”

When Foreign Countries Push the Button

Belfer Center — Jun 3, 2024

Jun 3, 2024

Is there a norm against using nuclear weapons? Many policymakers believe that allied countries would severely condemn a state’s nuclear use. But survey research in the United States and India finds high absolute support for nuclear use, and that the public supports nuclear attacks by allies and strategic partners as much as those by the public’s own government.

Remembering Memorial Day: We Must Avoid World War III

Belfer Center — May 24, 2024

May 24, 2024

We must avoid the successor to the grand reapers of the past century: World War I and World War II. We must avoid World War III. We should reflect on this during this Memorial Day.

Trump's Assassination Fantasy Has a Darker Purpose

Belfer Center — May 23, 2024

May 23, 2024

Juliette Kayyem argues that Trump's stories of his own victimization make violence by his supporters far more likely.

US-China Cooperation Remains Possible

Belfer Center — May 6, 2024

May 6, 2024

Joseph S. Nye advocates for identifying areas for cooperation between the United States and China such as climate change and public health.

What America's Palestine Protesters Should and Shouldn't Do

Belfer Center — May 6, 2024

May 6, 2024

Stephen Walt advises protesters that people who haven't made up their minds yet are usually attracted by facts, logic, reason, and evidence. In his experience, they are turned off by anger, rudeness, intolerance, and especially by anyone who interferes with their own desire to learn more.