Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

The Belfer Center
Named after	Robert A. Belfer
Formation	1973
Type	Think tank
Headquarters	79 John F. Kennedy Street
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Director	Meghan O'Sullivan
Parent organization	Harvard Kennedy School
Website	belfercenter.org

The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States.

From 2017 until his death in October 2022, the center was led by director Ash Carter, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and co-director Eric Rosenbach, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense. Its current executive director is Natalie Colbert. The current director is Meghan O'Sullivan.

About

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.

Impact

Making a Difference Through Government and Academia

A core tenet of the Belfer Center’s mission is to educate and train the next generation of experts and leaders in science and international affairs. In the decades since the Center's inception, more than 1000 fellows, graduating students, faculty and staff have moved on to influential positions in government, academia, and other sectors in the U.S. and abroad.  A significant portion of Belfer Center alums stem from the International Security Program, the oldest and largest of our fellowship cohorts.

Center faculty, fellows, and staff have been called to serve in administrations within the United States and internationally. Among those in the current Biden administration are Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, Nicholas Burns, Ambassador to China; Samantha Power, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); and Bonnie Jenkins, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. Former fellows serving in government and policy-related research centers in other parts of the world include Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada; Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Culture, Community and the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation; National Energy Authority; and Halla Logadóttir, Director-General of Iceland’s National Energy Authority.

In the global academic arena, Center alumni sit on faculties and lead departments in prestigious and influential academic institutions and security-focused programs around the world.

Securing Nuclear Weapons in Former Soviet Republics

Following the coup attempt against Soviet leader and reformer Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, Belfer Center security experts shaped signature U.S. legislation to secure nuclear weapons following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Belfer Center experts produced the first comprehensive analysis of what could happen to the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons and how to control the fate of that arsenal. Soviet Nuclear Fission: Control of the Nuclear Arsenal in a Disintegrating Soviet Union (1991) became known simply as the “Harvard Report.”

On November 19, U.S. Senators Sam Nunn (D) and Richard Lugar (R) invited then Center Director Ash Carter to give a briefing on the Harvard report and asked him to help draft legislation. With unprecedented speed, Congress passed the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991 (Nunn-Lugar Act) on November 26, 1991, authorizing $400 million to help the Soviet Union move, disable, or destroy many of its nuclear weapons.

Ash Carter, along with the Center’s Graham Allison, Elizabeth Sherwood (Randall), and Laura Holgate were later called to Washington to put the plan into action.

Introducing Soft Power as a National Strategy

Few topics in international politics are discussed as widely and intensely as the uses and expressions of power. Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Joseph S. Nye, also a former Belfer Center director, is connected worldwide with “soft power,” a term he coined in the late 1980s and refined in his books, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (1990), and Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004).

Soft power, Nye wrote, “depends on the currency of attraction rather than force or payoffs; soft power depends in part on how we frame our own objectives.”

Leaders from China to Europe often cite the term in their public narratives and policy strategies; it has become a feature in national strategies across several U.S. administrations.

Helping New Orleans Recover from Katrina

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina raised serious policy questions about how effective disaster recovery management is conducted. “Clearly, there was a leadership role in New Orleans for the Kennedy School,” said Doug Ahlers, then a Belfer Center Senior Fellow who conceptualized and led the Center's Broadmoor Project: New Orleans Recovery. The Project was launched in 2006 to work with residents of New Orleans’ hard-hit Broadmoor community to design and implement a strategy for their post-Katrina recovery.

Graduate students from the Kennedy School and other parts of Harvard put their governance and planning skills into action. They trained and assisted Broadmoor residents in preparing plans to rebuild their community, tracking displaced residents, and writing funding proposals. The Project helped bring the community back to life and facilitated opportunities for Broadmoor leaders to enhance their skills through Kennedy School executive education programs, including LaToya Cantrell, who headed the Broadmoor Neighborhood Association and is now Mayor of New Orleans.

The highly successful initiative has been recognized as a model for best practices in disaster recovery and emulated elsewhere throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Securing 2020 Elections Against Cyber and Misinformation Attacks

Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which raised serious concerns about the security of the 2020 elections, the Belfer Center launched the Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) to identify and recommend strategies, tools, and technology to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks. The Project prepared and trained election officials across the country to secure their procedures and processes against attacks. D3P also helped shape election security legislation in 2018 and put many of its alumni into the cyber security space.

D3P was led by Eric Rosenbach, along with Co-Directors Robby Mook and Matt Rhoades, former campaign managers for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.  Through a series of playbooks and tabletop exercises designed for state and local election officials and political campaigns, D3P developed practical guidance to improve election security and integrity across the U.S.

Informing Congress on the Iran Nuclear Deal

Belfer Center experts informed U.S. congressional leaders with balanced assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.  The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- an agreement between Iran and the U.S., U.K., EU, China, France, Germany, and the Russian Federation -- was designed to place restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and include monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities.

To provide Congress with a concise review of the complex agreement and the accompanying UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the Belfer Center compiled and published The Iran Nuclear Deal: A Definitive Guide and distributed it to all members of Congress.

Led by Gary Samore, then Executive Director for Research at the Center, the team of experts who prepared the guide included Democrats, Republicans, independents, and internationals. Samore said in 2024, “I remember passing out copies at a closed briefing for the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Some senators eventually voted in favor of the deal; others opposed, but all appreciated having a clear and comprehensive analysis of the agreement to guide their vote.”

Learning from Rapid Climate Change in the Arctic

Recognizing that climate change is happening faster in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world and determining that it required further study, the Belfer Center created the Arctic Initiative in 2017. Since its launch, the Initiative has established itself as a pivotal player in tackling the challenges of Arctic climate change and its implications for the rest of the world.

One of the specific areas our Arctic Initiative team is tackling is permafrost thaw, which is accelerating global warming and requiring much greater reductions in human emissions to stabilize the Earth's temperature. In April 2022, we launched Permafrost Pathways, in conjunction with two other organizations, with the goal of informing and developing adaptation and mitigation strategies that address the local and global impacts of Arctic permafrost thaw.

Along with its research and policy engagement, the Arctic Initiative is helping train the next generation of Arctic leaders. The Initiative has established Harvard Kennedy School courses on the Arctic, student-oriented Arctic Innovation Labs, and workshops that specifically focus on Indigenous youth.

Avoiding Great Power Wars through Competition and Collaboration

Professor Graham Allison, who heads the Avoiding Great Power Wars Project, met in March 2024 with China’s President Xi Jinping. Allison’s primary purpose in meeting with Xi was to discuss how to avoid a war that neither country would survive. President Xi and his team had expressed special interest in Allison’s book Destined for War: Can the U.S. and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? which argues that “an irresistible rising China is on course to collide with an immovable America.” The likely result of this competition would be war, according to the historian Thucydides.

The Belfer Center's Avoiding Great Power War Project conducted a major study on the competition between China and the U.S. over the past 20 years.  They study was published in 2021 and 2022 as a four-part discussion paper series titled “The Great Rivalry: China vs. the U.S. in the 21st Century,” delving into the technology, military, economic, and diplomatic arenas.

The ideas presented in the Great Rivalry publications have had extensive influence, including informing President Joe Biden’s China policy and the U.S. negotiating agenda ahead of the November 2023 APEC Summit in San Francisco, in which Presidents Biden and Xi announced the resumption of communication between their militaries.

Influencing International Security Research

In 1976, Paul Doty and his team founded the journal International Security, the first academic journal to focus exclusively on international security. Since its founding, International Security has been one of the most cited scholarly journals in its field. International Security ranked 4th out of 96 international relations journals for Impact Factor in the Web of Science Journal Citation Reports. It has ranked in the top 5 every year since 1996, and has ranked 1st 10 times.

The journal has published numerous articles that have played important roles in scholarly and policy debates since the journal’s inception. A recent example is “Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion” by Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman (Summer 2019). The article drove a groundswell of new research and corrected the conventional wisdom: Interdependence has costs as well as benefits.

History

1970s

During the Cold War, Harvard biochemist Paul M. Doty was deeply concerned about the tense relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Doty collaborated with Soviet scientists who shared his worries about the potential for nuclear escalation. In the early 1970s, Doty recognized a significant gap in academic offerings—universities were not providing courses on arms control and international security, crucial for preparing future experts in these fields. Motivated by this, Doty envisioned a program at Harvard dedicated to research and education in arms control and related issues at the intersection of science and international affairs.

In 1973, Doty subsequently founded the Belfer Center as the Program for Science and International Affairs within Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Following a grant from the Ford Foundation soon after, the program was re-established as the Center for Science and International Affairs, becoming the first permanent research center at the newly formed School of Government.

1980s

Throughout the early 1980s, the Belfer Center intensified its focus on arms control and disarmament, with a growing emphasis on the militarization of space. Its researchers also delved into the security implications of competition over energy resources, highlighted by a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored workshop on energy and security. Additionally, they began exploring the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements.

1990s

The Belfer Center played a pivotal role in efforts to dismantle and secure the hazardous nuclear, chemical, and biological remnants of the Soviet Union. The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act, a direct result of its work, became one of the most significant national security initiatives since World War II. Belfer supported the transition to a cooperative security order in the post-Cold War era, strengthened institutions within newly independent states, and worked to prevent nuclear terrorism.

In 1997, following further endowment, the center was renamed as the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in honor of Robert A. Belfer, founder of Belco Oil & Gas Corporation.

2000s

Following the September 11th attacks, they became an immediate resource for terrorism-related information and analysis for policymakers and journalists. Belfer Center experts were appointed to high-level security positions in the U.S. government and played leading roles on the 9/11 Commission.

2010s

In 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Ash Carter the 25th U.S. Secretary of Defense. A leading voice in national and international security, Secretary Carter spent his career at the Belfer Center and in public service, where he leveraged his expertise at the intersection of science and technology, global strategy, and policy. His appointment underscored the center's significant influence on U.S. defense and security policy.

2020s

Drawing on their historical focus on mitigating global security threats through rigorous research and policy recommendations, the Belfer Center emerged as a necessary voice in shaping the understanding of the war in Ukraine. In October 2022, they hosted President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking one of his first U.S. engagements following the Russian invasion, further underscoring its pivotal role in global affairs.

In 2023, the Belfer Center celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Board of Directors

The Belfer Center Board of Directors benefits from the experience of Harvard-affiliated scholars and senior-level staff, who guide their activities and mission to advance research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world.

Current Members

• Graham Allison, Former Director, Belfer Center, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
• Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Pierre Keller Visiting Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
• Lotem Bassan-Nygate, Assistant Professor of Public Policy
• Linda Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Matthew Bunn, James R. Schlesinger Professor of the Practice of Energy, National Security, and Foreign Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School (on leave)
• Albert Carnesale, Chancellor Emeritus, UCLA and former Harvard University Provost
• Erica Chenoweth, Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard Kennedy School
• William Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development, Harvard Kennedy School
• Dara Cohen, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• John M. Deutch, Emeritus Institute Professor, MIT and former Director of Central Intelligence
• Karen Dynan, Professor of Practice, Department of Economics, Harvard University
• Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard University
• Jeffrey Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth, Harvard Kennedy School
• Kelly Gallagher, Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, Fletcher School, Tufts University
• Nancy Gibbs, Lombard Director, Shorenstein Center and Visiting Edward R. Murrow Professor of the Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Susan Hockfield, Professor of Neuroscience and President Emerita, MIT
• John P. Holdren, Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Juliette Kayyem, Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security, Harvard Kennedy School
• Robert Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment, Harvard Kennedy School
• Henry Lee, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Jennifer Lerner, Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Management, Harvard Kennedy School
• Fredrick Logevall, Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
• Zoe Marks, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
• J. Michael McQuade, Director of the Program on Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement & Global Policy
• Steven Miller, Director, International Security Program, Harvard Kennedy School; Editor-in-Chief, International Security
• Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
• Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Research Professor of Technology and Public Policy, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Harvard Kennedy School
• Joseph Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University
• Meghan O'Sullivan, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
• Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School (on leave)
• Carmen Reinhart, Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System, Harvard Kennedy School (on leave)
• Meg Rithmire, F. Warren McFarlan Associate Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy, Harvard Business School
• Eric Rosenbach, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Anthony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
• Dan Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University
• Robert Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development, Harvard Kennedy School
• Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard Kennedy School; President Emeritus, Harvard University
• Roya Talibova, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman Assistant Professor of International Relations
• Stephen Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Former Members

• Lewis M. Branscomb, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Corporate Management
• Ashton B. Carter, Chair of International Relations, Security & Science faculty, physicist, who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense (until his death in October 2022)

International Council

The Belfer Center has an international advisory board of prestigious senior business leaders and former government officials who care deeply about - and financially support - its mission to advance research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world.

Former Members

• Michael Chertoff, Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
• Gregory C. Carr, Boston Technology Founder
• Tim Collins, Ripplewood Holdings Founder
• Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems
• Nathaniel Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild, Atticus Capital Co-chairman
• Stephen Biddle, theorist setting U.S. counterinsurgency policy
• Pierpaolo Barbieri, Author, Founder of Ualá
• Paul Volcker, Former United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Controversies

In 2012, the Stanton Foundation provided funds for a paid Wikipedian in residence at the Belfer Center. This became controversial due to links between the Belfer Center and the Stanton Foundation (the directors of each are a married couple) and public concerns about conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia. The center is organized into subgroups with specific areas of focus.

A 2021 investigative report by student group Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard found that many of the center's climate initiatives were funded in part by fossil fuel companies, and that the center had allegedly taken several steps to cover up that fact.

External links

• Official website