Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Economics of national security

Correspondence: The Role of Hierarchy in International Politics

Paul MacDonald and David A. Lake — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:05:23 -0500

Paul MacDonald responds to David Lake's Summer 2007 International Security article, "Escape from the State of Nature: Authority and Hierarchy in World Politics."

PDP Co-Director Carter Participates in Harvard Oil Shockwave Simulation

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:54:15 -0500

PDP Co-Director Carter participates in a high-profile crisis simulation examining the economic and security implications of America’s dependency on oil.

United States Hegemony and the New Economics of Defense

Jonathan D. Caverley — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500

This paper proposes an alternate theory of technological hegemony that explains the U.S. policy of massive R&D investment in both the late Cold War and the current era of American preponderance. Modern weapons' complexity and economies of scale tend to produce monopolies, and the value chain for the production of these monopolistic goods is dominated by the systems integration techniques of prime contracting firms. In turn these prime contractors remain largely enthralled by U.S. market power. The United States gains international influence by controlling the distribution of these weapons. Put simply, technology with international political effects is likely to have international political origins.

Tend to Turkey

Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall's article in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.

The Day After: Action Following a Nuclear Blast in a U.S. City

Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Dr. William J. Perry and Dr. Michael M. May — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Failure to develop a comprehensive contingency plan, such as the one proposed here, and inform the American public, where appropriate, about its particulars will only serve to amplify the devastating impact of any nuclear attack on a U.S. city

Time to Heal U.S.-Turkey Wounds

Graham Allison — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Sunday's elections give a fresh opportunity to fix a terrible collapse in bilateral ties. Imagine a stable, prosperous, secular Muslim democracy in the Middle East. The dream of just such an outcome was the worthiest, albeit least likely, of President Bush's stated aspirations for the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the way in which the administration has pursued this objective has damaged what remains the best hope for a successful moderate Muslim democracy in the region: Turkey.

The Lobster Summit

Graham Allison — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush's decision to award President Vladimir Putin the unique distinction of a weekend in Kennebunkport with two American presidents flummoxed supporters and critics alike. Over the past year, no international leader has been more critical of the president than his Russian guest.

All Hail America? Book Review of Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America by Cullen Murphy

Joseph S. Nye — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

"...Murphy sees six interesting parallels: focus on the capital city, reliance on military instruments, privatization of public goods, parochial attitudes toward the outside world, problems with borders, and growing complexity."

The Day After: Action in the 24 Hours Following a Nuclear Blast in an American City

Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Dr. William J. Perry and Dr. Michael M. May — Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500

May 31, 2007

The Preventive Defense Project convened a workshop of leading federal government civilian and military officials, scientists, policy experts, and journalists in Washington, D.C. to address "The Day After: Action in the 24 Hours Following a Nuclear Blast in an American City."

Decontamination and Remediation after a Dirty Bomb Attack

Jennifer C. Bulkeley — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Article in The Nonproliferation Review

Situation in Iraq and the Administration's Strategy

Dr. William J. Perry — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Dr. William J. Perry's testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on the situation in Iraq and the administration's strategy.

Buffett's Gamble Tips the Odds Toward Nuclear Nonproliferation

Graham Allison — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0600

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy famously predicted that "by 1970, there may be 10 nuclear powers instead of four and, by 1975, 15 or 20." Today, there are just 8. Why?

The Case for Alliances

Dr. Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on U.S. Alliances in the Joint Forces Quarterly

Globalization and its Effects: Introduction and Overview

Richard N. Rosecrance, Etel Solingen and Arthur A. Stein — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0500

"Globalization has the effect of incapacitating states as autonomous units."

Why Not Involve Iran in Effort To Establish Order in Mideast?

Abbas Maleki — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0500

The world faces different crises all the time, and each generation feels its crises to be the biggest.

G8 Global Report Card on Preventing Nuclear Terrorism

Graham Allison — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Graham Allison creates a report card on global efforts/non-efforts on preventing nuclear terrorism.

Finishing the War on Terrorism

Bob Graham — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0500

THE US SENATE has just completed a contentious and partisan debate on when and under what conditions America should withdraw its troops from Iraq. Within hours of the debate's end, the White House indicated it was developing a plan to draw down troop levels in Iraq, beginning as early as this fall. Iraq was a distraction from our primary threats. Our country has paid a high price in lives, national honor, and resources for that mistake.

The Myth of Energy Insecurity

Philip Auerswald — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

The Forgotten Homeland: A Century Foundation Task Force Report

Juliette Kayyem — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

June 29, 2006

Nearly five years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, has the government adequately protected its citizens against terrorism and catastrophic disaster?

Assessing the India Deal

Dr. Ashton B. Carter — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500

April 26, 2006

Dr. Ashton B. Carter testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

A Fuel-Cycle Fix

Dr. Ashton B. Carter and Stephen A. LaMontagne — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0600

A new international regime could stop nations before they enter the proliferation “red zone.”

Preventing a Nuclear 9/11

Matthew Bunn — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600

November 30, 2005

Action/Reaction: U.S. Space Weaponization and China

Hui Zhang — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0600

"Chinese officials have expressed a growing concern that U.S. space and missile defense plans will stimulate a costly and destabilizing arms race...."

The India Deal: Looking at the Big Picture

Dr. Ashton B. Carter — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600

November 2, 2005

Dr. Ashton B. Carter testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the Implications for U.S. Nonproliferation Policy of the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement between President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India

The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0600

October 31, 2005

The Nuclear Campus

Matthew Bunn — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500

October 20, 2005

Transforming the Intelligence Community: Improving the Collection and Management of Information

Elaine Kamarck — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500

In the years since the end of the Cold War, the intelligence community (IC) has engaged in much soul searching but with little action. That is beginning to change in the wake of intelligence failures surrounding September 11, 2001, and in Iraq. But the solutions enacted so far, especially the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, do not get to some of the real problems in the community. The community was built to follow the Soviet monolith, and it needs fundamental reforms in the ways ordinary intelligence officers work to meet the new threats of the 21st century.

A War by Any Other Name

Juliette Kayyem — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0500

July 28, 2005

It was President Bush himself who insisted on calling it a global war on terror. He wanted to indicate that this was not just another piddling law enforcement action, but an all-out, full-scale military response to Sept. 11 that would involve U.S. troops around the globe. But now, apparently, a decision has been made that the language of war isn't working for him anymore. So in recent days, the "global war on terror" has been shelved in favor of the "global struggle against violent extremism."

Worst Weapons in Worst Hands: U.S. Inaction on the Nuclear Terror Threat Since 9/11, and a Path of Action

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0500

July 20, 2005

The gravest threat facing Americans today is a terrorist detonating a nuclear bomb in one of our cities. The National Security Advisory Group (NSAG) judges that the Bush administration is taking insufficient actions to counter this threat.

Commentary on Part VI (A New Energy Security Strategy)

John P. Holdren — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0500

For more than a century, energy and its procurement have been central to the U.S. position as a world power.