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ISIS terrorist group potential threat to US, Crenshaw says
News / July 10, 2014
Terrorism expert Martha Crenshaw says the terrorist group known as ISIS poses a danger to the U.S. if it grows more powerful. But that organization, she adds, may be overreaching in its ruthlessness and religious zealotry.
Hegghammer explores the motivations behind ISIS demand for Islamic state
News / July 8, 2014
CISAC Consulting Professor Thomas Hegghammer writes in this Lawfare foreign policy essay that the move by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to declare itself an Islamic State with a caliphate as its leader in Iraq is a "bold and unprecedented" move.
Felter: Insurgents attack aid programs to undermine governments
News / July 2, 2014
Research by CISAC Senior Research Scholar Joe Felter shows that insurgents try to derail government-delivered aid programs in poor areas because they fear successful programs will boost the government's credibility. Preventive measures include providing greater security around aid projects and limiting advance knowledge about them.
CISAC's Anja Manuel talks to former British Foreign Secretary Miliband
News / July 2, 2014
CISAC affiliate Anja Manuel interviews the new president of the International Rescue Committee, former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, about the most pressing refugee crises today, including those in Syria, Iraq and South Sudan.
Should the US Be Bullish or Bearish on China?
Commentary / June 20, 2014
CISAC Co-Director Amy Zegart writes in The American Interest that a strong and rising China, as well as a weak an unstable one, should concern the United States. But perhaps most troubling is the uncertainty about which scenario will eventually play out, and Washington’s strategic orientation toward Europe and the Middle East.
Zegart: Should the US be bullish or bearish on China's rapid rise?
Commentary / June 20, 2014
CISAC Co-Director Amy Zegart writes in The American Interest that a strong and rising China, as well as a weak and unstable one, should concern the United States. But perhaps most troubling is the uncertainty about which scenario will eventually play out.
White House reappoints Ewing to nuclear waste review board
News / June 20, 2014
The White House has reappointed CISAC's Rod Ewing as chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, which oversees the Department of Energy activities related to the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
Cyber fellow Jonathan Mayer takes the true interdisciplinary path
News / June 18, 2014
Jonathan Mayer's education path is unusuall: He has earned a Stanford law degree while working on his Ph.D. in computer science. His research on the NSA claims sensitive information about Americans can be gleaned in "metadata" gathered by the spy agency.
Stanford Global Development and Poverty initiative awards $4.6 million for research aimed at alleviating poverty
News / June 18, 2014
Fourteen Stanford researchers addressing global poverty through a range of academic disciplines are receiving the money from the university-wide Global Development and Poverty initiative. The initiative is part of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies and is administered in partnership with Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
FSI scholars call advances of Islamic militants in Iraq stunning
News / June 17, 2014
Karl Eikenberry tells ABC News (Australia) that the advances of the Islamic militants in Iraq in the last week have been stunning. And Martha Crenshaw joins a panel on public radio program KQED Forum to talk about who the militants are and the caliphate they envision.
Farewell to our 12 honors students, who are off to do great things
News / June 16, 2014
Congratulations to the CISAC Honors Class of 2014. They spent the year tackling some of the world's most pressing security issues and are now off to do great things. One is going to Harvard Law School; another to Duke Law. Some are going to valley tech firms; others to fellowships or graduate work.
CISAC scholars urge continued US-Russia collaboration
News / June 13, 2014
CISAC's Siegfried Hecker and Peter Davis advocate the continued U.S.-Russia collaboration on nuclear weapons safety and security, despite frosty relations between the two superpowers.
Felter: Development projects don't always win 'hearts and minds'
News / June 12, 2014
CISAC senior research scholar Joe Felter provides evidence that the strategy of "winning hearts and minds" with development projects can backfire in some conflict zones where insurgents are suspicious of government intent.
Casper awarded for service to American Law Institute
News / June 11, 2014
The American Law Institute's distinguished service award was presented to Gerhard Casper by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Casper, Stanford's ninth president and a senior fellow at FSI, was recognized by his longtime friend as a “prominent and uncommonly successful leader in the academic world.”
Lexie Ross accepts Director's Cup on behalf of Stanford athletes
News / June 10, 2014
Lexie Ross, research assistant to CISAC co-director David Relman, accepts 2014 Director's Cup on behalf of all Stanford athletes. You can listen to her acceptance speech and learn about the Marble Monday tradition.
Military fellow Tracy Roou reflects on meeting with Donald Rumsfeld
News / June 6, 2014
U.S. Army Col. Tracy Roou, a senior military fellow at CISAC this year, recently met with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to discuss military cooperation as a tool of foreign and defense policy.
Tehran Times does rare Q&A with Hecker on nuclear cooperation
News / June 2, 2014
In a rare and exclusive interview in the Tehran Times, Siegfried Hecker tells Iranian journalist Kourosh Ziabari that the only way forward for the country's nuclear program is through international cooperation.
Why the US should keep cooperating with Russia on nuclear security
Commentary / May 30, 2014
In this commentary in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, CISAC's Siegfried Hecker and Peter Davis argue that the United States should continue cooperating with the Russians on nuclear security despite worsening ties over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. They argue it is in the best interest of both countires to prevent the proliferation of nulcear weapons and global nuclear terrorism.
Hecker and Davis: Keep collaborating with Russia on nuclear security
Commentary / May 30, 2014
In this commentary in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Siegfried Hecker and Peter Davis argue the United States must continue cooperating with the Russians on nuclear security despite worsening ties over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.
Jonathan Mayer talks to CBS about his MetaPhone app on personal data
News / May 30, 2014
CISAC cybersecurity fellow Jonathan Mayer talks to CBS News about the Android app he created, which asks volunteers to volunteer their phone records to learn what could be uncovered by metadata collected by the NSA.
Eikenberry: Afghans must take charge of their own destiny
Q&A / May 29, 2014
In this Q&A, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry says it's time for Afghanistan to take charge of its own destiny and agrees with President Obama's timeline for the drawdown of U.S. troops.
The American Calculus of Military Intervention
Commentary / May 28, 2014
Military interventions have traditionally been a source of controversy in the United States. But America’s appetite for the dispatch of armed forces has been diminished greatly by factors that have primarily emerged in the 21st century. These include, most painfully, the protracted campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq that have made US political and military leaders more cautious about waging wars to end tyranny or internal disorder in foreign lands.
The American Calculus of Military Intervention
Commentary / May 28, 2014
Debates on military intervention are complicated by a network of political, security and economic interests that must be balanced when contemplating this option. In this IISS commentary, CISAC's Karl Eikenberry talks about how four factors heavily influence the current calculus.
Microsoft VP Scott Charney discusses privacy and security
Commentary / May 19, 2014
Scott Charney, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group, addresses a CISAC seminar about the evolving pursuit of security and privacy. You can watch the entire talk here.
DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar: We are catalyst for innovation
News / May 14, 2014
DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar says the responsibility of the Defense Department agency is to raise issues, engage in dialogue and be a catalyst for innovation. Listen to her talk and learn more in this social media piece.