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JUNE 19, 2025 |
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Harvard Kennedy School | | | |
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A drone is launched in late May in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via AP) | | |
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International Relations & Security |
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Autonomous weapons are changing modern warfare—an HKS security expert explains the issues |
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Ukraine’s bold drone attack on Russia on June 1, called Operation Spider’s Web, demonstrated how relatively inexpensive technology can catch a larger adversary off-guard. In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, HKS Senior Lecturer Eric Rosenbach explains the significance—and dangers—of increased drone use in modern warfare. Rising use of autonomous weapons poses a threat to global security, he says, although current technology is still limited in terms of range and sophistication. “True fully autonomous weapons would mean that a terrorist or nation-state could simply program targets, launch the killer drones, and then escape,” Rosenbach says. “Because that technology is still several years from being fully mature, the likelihood of this right now is low.”
Learn more about International Relations & Security at HKS » | | |
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Honoring Two HKS Alumni |
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HKS pays tribute to Melissa Hortman MC/MPA 2018 and Miguel Uribe MC/MPA 2022, both victims of presumed political violence. | | |
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International Relations & Security |
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Belfer Center experts share their perspectives on the conflict between Israel and Iran |
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With the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifying, and Israeli Defense Forces targeting nuclear facilities in Iran, HKS security experts from the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs shared their initial takes on the situation late last week. “In my judgment, the probability that Iran will have nuclear weapons ten years from now is higher now than it would have been without the strikes,” wrote Professor Matthew Bunn, an expert on nuclear security issues. “That would be a dramatic blow to both Israeli and American security and to the global effort to stem the spread of nuclear weapons.” Read the full set of Belfer Center expert “Quick Takes” with analysis from Bunn, Francesca Giovannini, Barak Sella, and Amos Yadlin.
See also: Professor Bunn on how Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system could put the United States at risk.
Learn more about International Relations & Security at HKS » | | |
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What we're Doing |
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The Greater Boston Applied Field Lab in the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at HKS is celebrating its 20th year. The lab has placed nearly 600 Harvard graduate students in projects with 40 local government partners over the past two decades. Students have contributed to more than 100 projects with goals ranging from increasing affordable housing to assisting small businesses during COVID-19. | | | | | |
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Public Leadership & Management |
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Setting cities up for success in cross-sector collaborations |
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Researchers at the Bloomberg Harvard Center for Cities have found that, in addition to tackling tough policy issues, mayors often face public management challenges. “One big challenge that cuts across policy issues is how you bring the parties together that that are required to do the work—diagnosing the problem, coming up with a better approach to it, implementing it, and delivering results,” says Jorrit de Jong, director of the center. He and his co-researchers examined factors that can lead to effective collaborations, including building on prior relations, relying on trusted participants, engaging with the community, using data and evidence, and deliberately investing in joint problem-solving. “Succeeding doesn’t necessarily require a lot of resources or a specific organizational setup,” says de Jong, “but it does require certain leadership behaviors and an intentional approach to problem-solving.”
Learn more about Public Leadership & Management at HKS » | | |
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Media |
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Journalist Christiane Amanpour on journalism and democracy |
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Award-winning international journalist Christiane Amanpour, who addressed this year’s HKS graduates as Class Day speaker last month, joined HKS PolicyCast to share her thoughts on journalism and today’s political landscape. The London-based host of nightly shows on both CNN and PBS discussed the role of journalism in democracy, the ways in which the traditional media landscape is changing, her own experience covering war zones, and threats to democratic values around the globe. Amanpour recommended that journalists be trained, as many other groups of professionals are in their own fields, in how to produce quality journalism, which she says is “neither a value of left or right—it’s a value of truth, honesty, and empirical facts.”
Learn more about Media at HKS » | | |
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