CURRENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
The International Security Program (ISP) addresses the most pressing threats to U.S. national interests and international security. The program supports young scholars with its fellowship program and sponsors and edits the quarterly journal International Security, a leading peer-reviewed journal of security affairs that provides sophisticated analyses of contemporary security issues and discusses their conceptual and historical foundations. ISP also created and continues to publish a book series, the Belfer Center Studies in International Security, to provide an outlet for policy-oriented research and analysis in the field of international security.
Science, Technology, and Public Policy
The Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program (STPP) applies methods drawn from technology assessment, political science, economics, management, and law to study problems where science, technology, and policy intersect. Our goal is to develop and promote policies that expand the contribution of science and technology to human welfare.
Environment and Natural Resources
The Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) is the center of the Harvard Kennedy School's research and outreach on public policy that affects global environmental quality and natural resource management
The Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) conducts and disseminates policy-relevant research on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The project supports an international group of pre- and post-doctoral fellows and other experts working on these issues and helps to advance their research work through seminars, workshops, and conferences.
Energy Technology Innovation Policy
The Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group seeks to determine and promote the adoption of effective strategies for developing and deploying cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, primarily in three of the biggest energy-consuming nations in the world: China, India, and the United States.
Science, Technology, and Globalization
The aim of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project (STG) is to undertake research, conduct training, provide policy advice, and disseminate information on interactions between technological innovation and globalization, with particular emphasis on implications for developing countries.
Broadmoor Project: New Orleans
The Broadmoor Project: New Orleans Recovery is an effort initiated in 2006 to assist residents of New Orleans' hard-hit Broadmoor neighborhood in designing and implementing a strategy for post-Katrina neighborhood recovery. Launched and hosted by the Belfer Center, the project enables Kennedy School students to put their governance skills into action to help bring back one of America's great cities. The collaboration also creates the opportunity for local New Orleans leaders to build their leadership skills through intensive leadership courses at the Kennedy School.
Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements is an effort to help identify key design elements of a future international agreement on climate change, drawing upon the ideas of leading thinkers from academia, private industry, government, and advocacy organizations. The project aims to help develop a "scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic" plan to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
Agricultural Innovation in Africa
The Agricultural Innovation in Africa project (AIA) contributes to agricultural science and technology policy improvement through the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of Africa as part of the larger agenda to promote regional economic integration.
The US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
The US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism addresses the challenge set by Presidents Medvedev and Obama for our two nations to strengthen "their cooperation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and stop acts of nuclear terrorism." [July 2009] Building on existing efforts to understand and prevent nuclear terrorism, this initiative seeks a joint US-Russian assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism in order to develop concepts, strategy, and actions to prevent a successful nuclear attack by terrorists. Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is teamed with US and Russian institutions including the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the USA-Canada Institute, the Institute of World Economy & International Relations and the PIR Center for Policy Studies.
The Middle East Initiative is engaged in providing effective and innovative professional development and training programs; promoting research related to the region; hosting film series, speaker series and other events related to the Middle East region. We cordially invite you to participate through one of these programs with the hope that you will find our work a useful resource for deeper engagement with the peoples and cultures of the Middle East.
The Future of Diplomacy Project
Diplomacy is a vital resource for the United States and other countries in our increasingly globalized world. At a time when most of the major challenges facing the international community cannot be resolved by military force, nations will need to rely more on their ability to negotiate, communicate and resolve differences through diplomacy. There are, in fact, few American universities that have focused on the study and practice of diplomacy. Our mission should be to make the Kennedy School the premier place for the study of diplomacy in the United States.
The India & South Asia Program fosters awareness and engagement with the South Asian region. Through speaker events, institutional partnerships, professional development programs, and scholarly research, the India & South Asia Program promotes an understanding of the region at a time when its geopolitical dynamics are of critical importance to the world.
Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy
The Information and Communications Technology & Public Policy Project (ICTPP) investigates ICT at the intersection of major policy arenas. From innovations in geospatial technology to smart phones to nanotechnology, across policy arenas from e-government to broadband, cybersecurity to development, and education and health to safety, ICTPP explores the impact of ICT on society and the choices ahead.
The Geopolitics of Energy Project
The Geopolitics of Energy Project explores the intersection of energy, security, and international politics. The project, launched in 2011, aims to improve our understanding of how energy demand and supply shape international politics – and vice versa. It also endeavors to inform policymakers and students about major challenges to global energy security and, where possible, to propose new ways of thinking about and addressing these issues. The project focuses both on conventional and alternative energies, as both will influence and be influenced by geopolitical realities.
Defense and Intelligence Project seek to increase the Center’s capacity to advance policy relevant knowledge in defense and intelligence areas and help prepare future leaders in those fields. The initiative builds on the defense and intelligence related research already being done at the Belfer Center and adds new research to fill knowledge gaps. The initiative links defense and intelligence agencies with Belfer researchers, faculty, and Kennedy School students, to facilitate better policy-making in the field and enrich the education of fellows and students about defense and intelligence.
