<![CDATA[CISAC · Storify]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISACNodeJS RSS ModuleSat, 18 May 2013 18:50:38 GMT<![CDATA[Thirteen Days and 50 Years Later: The Cuban Missile Crisis]]>

Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union and the United States stood on the brink of nuclear war. People around the world held their breath and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis. A distinguished panel convened at Stanford on Monday, Oct. 22, to reflect on those 13 days.

Storified by CISAC · Sun, Oct 28 2012 08:59:32

What have we learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis 50 years later? · Stanford CISAC
Screen Shot 2012-10-18 at 1.15.29 PM · CISAC Photo Archive

Panelists are Stanford's David Holloway and Scott Sagan; Strobe Talbott, president of Brookings Institution, and Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund.

Kennedy addresses the nation on the Cuban Missile Crisis · forquignon

   Watch the panelists live on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/stanford-cisac


Ustream Channel · CISAC Photo Archive
Strobe Talbott | Brookings InstitutionStrobe Talbott | Brookings Institution
Strobe Talbott is president of the Brookings Institution. Talbott, whose career spans journalism, government service, and academe, is a...
Joseph Cirincione | Ploughshares Fund
Joseph Cirincione is President of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. He is the author of Bomb Scare: The History and Futu...
Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A ...Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A ...
Scott Sagan and Kenneth Waltz: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed ... Scott Sagan, Professor of Political Science at Stanf...
David Holloway - CISAC
David Holloway is the Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History, a professor of political science, and an FSI senior fello...
Cuban missile crisis myth constrains today's diplomatic standoffsCuban missile crisis myth constrains today's diplomatic standoffs
Global Focus: Fifty years after the superpowers were poised to annihilate each other over nuclear missiles sent to Cuba, the myth prevails that President Kennedy forced Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to back down by threatening to unleash nuclear war.

Our own Reid Pauly wins Harvard Belfer Center contest on Lessons Learned from missile crisis.

Cuban Missile Crisis -- 50th Anniversary | Harvard Kennedy ...
Winners of the lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis contest will be announced live ... Harvard Kennedy School&#39;s Belfer Center for Sc...
On anniversary of Cuban missile crisis compromise ruled the day ...
5 days ago ... On anniversary of Cuban missile crisis compromise ruled the day, argue scholars Add to ... PETER ORSI. HAVANA, CUBA — Th...
Wikimedia
Meeting Sheds New Light on Cuban Missile Crisis - New York Times
''For the first time, we have had the history of Soviet foreign policy told in a new way,'' said William Taubman, an academic specialist ...
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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/thirteen-days-and-50-years-later-the-cuban-missilehttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/thirteen-days-and-50-years-later-the-cuban-missileSun, 28 Oct 2012 15:59:32 GMT<![CDATA[CISAC's Summer Reading List]]>

Who doesn't like to put up their feet and read a good book during the summer? Here is a list of what our faculty, scholars and staff are reading in their downtime during the break in the academic year.

Storified by CISAC · Wed, Aug 01 2012 13:26:21

Blogspot

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Read by Robert Forrest, Postdoctoral Fellow

"I just read In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, a nonfiction book about the American ambassador's family in Hitler's Berlin. I find Larson can make some normally dry history very interesting with very well researched personal accounts of characters first hand experience of larger historical events."
In the Garden of Beasts - Reading Guide - Book Club Discussion ...In the Garden of Beasts - Reading Guide - Book Club Discussion ...
Our Reading Guide for In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson includes Book Club Discussion Questions, Book Reviews, Plot Summary-Synops...

World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig

Read by Larry Wein, Affiliated Faculty Member

"A wonderful firsthand look at life in Europe during 1880-1940 told by a Zelig-type character who seemed to know every artist and politician in Europe."

Amazon.com: The World of Yesterday: An Autobiography ...Amazon.com: The World of Yesterday: An Autobiography ...
I asked for one thing for Christmas, Stefan Zweig&#39;s book The World of Yesterday. Jacques Barzun, in his book From Dawn to Decadence...

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Read by Martha Crenshaw, Senior Fellow

"It's wonderful for airplane travel. I got the idea from a NYT travel reporter writing about how to survive air transport these days."
Authors@Google: George RR Martin · atgoogletalks

The Passage of Power by Robert Caro

Read by Liz Gardner, Associate Director for Administration & External Affairs

"The Passage of Power is the fourth volume in Robert Caro's magisterial biography of Lyndon Johnson.  Covering 1958 to 1964, it's largely an examination of how power passed out of Johnson's hands as vice president and horribly, suddenly, back into his hands on November 22, 1963."
&#39;The Passage of Power&#39; - NYTimes.com&#39;The Passage of Power&#39; - NYTimes.com
May 17, 2012 ... Readers respond to Bill Clinton&#39;s recent review of Robert Caro&#39;s latest book about Lyndon Johnson.

The Lower River by Paul Theroux

Read by Beth Duff-Brown, Public Affairs Manager

"As a former Peace Corps Volunteer in the Congo, I could not wait to start this story about a former PCV who returns to the village in Malawi where he was a teacher some 40 years earlier. Theroux himself was a volunteer in Malawi and I suspect, as I read on, he will be saying: You cannot go home again."
images-1 · CISAC Photo Archive

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Read by Karl Eikenberry, Affiliated Faculty Member and 2012-2013 William J. Perry Fellow:

"An inspirational book brilliantly describing Washington's successful efforts to control ambition & ego and ultimately serve our nation so well; a timely work for all Americans as we face growing political crisis."
Books of The Times - In &#39;Washington - A Life,&#39; Ron Chernow Adds ...Books of The Times - In &#39;Washington - A Life,&#39; Ron Chernow Adds ...
Sep 27, 2010 ... Washington: A Life,” by Ron Chernow, draws on newly unearthed papers and other material to amplify and reshape percept...

Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul by John and Stasi Eldredge

Read by Tracy Hill, Administrative Associate
"I'm enjoying it between the tears. Very spiritually healing."

&#39;The Heart of a Woman&#39;--interview with John and Stasi Eldredge ...&#39;The Heart of a Woman&#39;--interview with John and Stasi Eldredge ...
John and Stasi Eldredge, co-authors of &#39;Captivating,&#39; explain what women want. BY: Interview by Laura Sheahen. In 2001, John El...

The Comanche Empire by Pekka Hamalainen

Read by James Fearon, Affiliated Faculty Member

"It gives a very different and very interesting perspective on native American-European engagement in the 19th century southwest from the standard story of Western conquest."

The Rise And Fall Of The Comanche &#39;Empire&#39; : NPR
May 20, 2011 ... Quanah Parker, considered the greatest Comanche chief, was the son of Cynthia Ann Parker, a white pioneer woman kidnap...

George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis and Bossypants by Tina Fey

Read by Reid Pauly, Research Assistant to Scott Sagan

"Tina Fey's Bossypants is an unconventional memoir that, through snarky and self-deprecating humor, tells the story of an awkward kid who never changed."
George F. Kennan - An American Life - By John Lewis Gaddis ...George F. Kennan - An American Life - By John Lewis Gaddis ...
Nov 10, 2011 ... The debate in America between idealism and realism played itself out inside George F. Kennan&#39;s soul.
5 Things We Learned Reading Tina Fey&#39;s &#39;Bossypants&#39; | PopEater.com5 Things We Learned Reading Tina Fey&#39;s &#39;Bossypants&#39; | PopEater.com
Apr 11, 2011 ... Reading Tina Fey&#39;s &#39;Bossypants&#39; comes with the predictable consequence that you&#39;ll laugh out loud (and...
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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/cisac-s-summer-reading-listhttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/cisac-s-summer-reading-listWed, 01 Aug 2012 20:20:29 GMT<![CDATA[Strengthening Refugee Communities]]>

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) approached Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) to collaborate on ways to better protect and support more than 42 million refugees, internally displaced and stateless people worldwide. Follow project updates here.

Storified by CISAC · Fri, Mar 01 2013 17:25:25

Waterwiki
After nearly a year of collaboration, four Stanford students head to Africa this month to visit refugee camps along the Sudanese border. They will meet with UNHCR workers at the camps, as well as the International Rescue Committee in Ethiopia and test out their prototypes in four project areas: improving camp communications, food security and economic self-sufficiency; host communities relations; and spaces that are shared by refugees and local communities. You can follow their trips here once they get underway. Click on the link below to read the story:
 

After a year of collaboration, CISAC-UNHCR project moves to the field for research and engagement.

— Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) · Fri, Mar 01 2013 16:41:00
Screen Shot 2013-02-24 at 3.16.42 PM · CISAC Photo Archive
Rescue and Refugee Support | International Rescue Committee (IRC)Rescue and Refugee Support | International Rescue Committee (IRC)
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world&#39;s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild ...
CISAC, UNHCR, NGOs, professors and students at the Institute of Design at Stanford, as well as physicians, architects and other professionals from across the globe have joined the volunteer redesign project in a series of Stanford workshops. Some have joined via Skype chats and Google hangouts. In this video, CISAC's co-director Tino Cuéllar discusses the key challenges from the sidelines of the workshop that launched the project in June 2012:
CISAC: Why Refugee Issues Need a New Approach · Stanford CISAC
"Innovation is highly relevant to refugees in at least two areas: the emergency phase, in which alternative resources may be available across humanitarian sectors (water and sanitation, health, shelter, and internet and communications technology, for example) and protracted situations, in which innovation may provide ways to move beyond encampment through creating livelihood opportunities and self-sufficiency."
- Alex Betts, former CISAC Fellow and Director of the Humanitarian Innovation Project at Oxford
Somali Refugees in Dolo Ado, Ethiopia · UNICEF Ethiopia

Question: How can we construct a settlement that will allow a single mother of five children to live in a safe shelter where she can access the relevant services she needs for her family? 

Winter is coming: Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan · UNHCR
Brainstorming · CISAC Photo Archive

The End Goal: To help UNHCR design, build and support refugee communities so they are safer, more integrated with host countries, and more supportive of refugee self-sufficiency.

Syrian Expatriates Organization Issues Plea Urging the UN Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance and UNHCR to Strengthen Aid to SyriaSyrian Expatriates Organization Issues Plea Urging the UN Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance and UNHCR to Strengthen Aid to Syria
SEO urges the UN Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance to extend their assistance programs and implement a long-term food, medical,...

"There was some trepidation, as we have worked with some universities. Sometimes they have wonderful ideas, but they aren't complementary or appropriate for the context that we're working in. So one of the issues and challenges will be how you can help us think outside the box, but also think appropriately. This definitely is not one-size-fits-all. Mali and Thailand are very different, for example, so it becomes more complicated because you're dependent on local customs." - Paul Spiegel, deputy director of UNHCR's Division of Program Support and Management, told the June workshop via Skype from Geneva.

UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner T. Alexander Aleinikoff estimates that in the last two years the UNHCR has seen, on average, an additional 2,000 refugees every day, making it one of the most challenging periods the global organization has faced in decades.

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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/building-a-better-refugee-camphttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/building-a-better-refugee-campSat, 02 Mar 2013 01:25:25 GMT<![CDATA[CISAC Honors Students 2012]]>

Twelve Stanford seniors are poised to change the world as they graduate. CISAC's Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies celebrated their accomplishments with their families and CISAC mentors in an intimate graduation ceremony.

Storified by CISAC · Tue, Jul 31 2012 14:44:02

CISAC Honors Students 2012 · CISAC Photo Archive
FSI Director Coit Blacker hugs honors student Clay Ramel · CISAC Photo Archive

Coit D. Blacker, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute, gives the CISAC honors students five pieces of advice: "Be useful; remember the importance that this institution attaches to the concept of utility. Be humble; we all have things to be humble about. Act honorably in everything you do as it's the glue that holds society together. Remember to do good, even as you do well in the world. And finally, hold your families close and cherish your friends."

Joshua Alvarez

Major: International Relations
Thesis: The Grand Strategy of the Republic of Turkey
Adviser: Professor David Holloway
CISAC Honors Student Joshua Alvarez (Photo: Rod Searcey) · CISAC Photo Archive
Should America Be Worried About China? - The Stanford Review
by Josh Alvarez on March 10, 2012. The People&#39;s Republic of China&#39;s meteoric rise has taken America by storm, and Stanford Univ...
"It's such a combination of emotions today. I'm very proud; but I'm also very sad. A chapter is closing and he will be leaving us soon," says Josh's mother, Claudia Rueda-Alvarez. Josh is headed to Istanbul to take up a new job as content manager and contributing writer at Kalem Journal, an online geopolitical magazine. "We are so proud of him for taking risks, but as a mom, we're always hoping that he'll come back home."
CISAC Honors Program TA David Blum · CISAC Photo Archive

K. Afia Bonner 

Major: International Relations; minor in Economics. 
Thesis: Dangerously Stagnant: Assessing American Policy towards Hamas and Hizballah
Adviser: Professor Martha Crenshaw
CISAC Honors Student Alfia Bonner (Photo: Rod Searcey) · CISAC Photo Archive
"Four years has gone by quickly; my little kid is all grown up," says Afia's father, Kofi Bonner. "I thought her choice of a thesis topic; it just shows you how much she's matured." Afia will work at the State Department's foreign service for several years, then plans to return to Stanford for a Master's in Public Policy. Crenshaw wrote of her thesis: "With impressive command of the facts and scrupulous objectivity, Ms. Bonner concludes that the U.S. should move toward more engagement and that in fact the `Arab Spring' has opened a window of opportunity that might permit the U.S. to transcend the inherited rigidities of past policy." 
Proud CISAC families · CISAC Photo Archive

Stephen Craig

Major: Political Science and winner of Stanford's Firestone Medal for Excellence in Research
Thesis: Tamed Tiger or Restless Beast? German Foreign Policy in the Post-Unification Period
Adviser: Christophe Crombez, Ph.D.

CISAC Honors Student Stephen Craig (Photo: Rod Searcey) · CISAC Photo Archive
2012 winners of The William J. Perry Prize and the Firestone Medal for
Jun 5, 2012 ... @StanfordCISAC; Facebook; RSS. Publications. Send by email ... Stephen Craig: "Tamed Tiger or Restless Beast? Germ...
"Why did Germany give up its currency and monetary sovereignty? How did it overcome its reluctance to send troops abroad? Stephen finds answers in Germany's domestic politics and its relations with its EU neighbors. Stephen's thesis presents a clear analysis of these issues and contributes greatly to our understanding of German foreign policy post-reunification," his adviser, Blacker, writes of his thesis.
Stephen Craig
Stephen Craig. Number: 19. Age: 19. Height: 5&#39;10. Weight: 160. Hometown: Spokane, WA. Highschool: Lewis and Clark High School. Year...

Noura Elfarra

Major: Political Science
Thesis: Exploring Causes for Success and Failure in U.N. Peacekeeping Operations: East Timor, Somalia and Cambodia
Adviser: Professor Coit D. Blacker
CISAC Honors Student Noura Elfarra and family with Professor Martha Crenshaw, left (Photo: Rod Searcey) · CISAC Photo Archive
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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/cisac-honors-students-graduatehttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/cisac-honors-students-graduateWed, 20 Jun 2012 16:21:35 GMT<![CDATA[Following the Stuxnet Trail]]>

Open Source Weapon: The Stuxnet computer worm dissected by Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, social media and cybersecurity thought-leaders

Storified by CISAC · Fri, Jun 01 2012 10:58:38

Cyberimage1 · CISAC Photo Archive
The Stuxnet computer worm is perhaps the most complicated piece of malicious software ever built; roughly 50 times the size of the typical computer virus. It leveraged an array of new techniques to spread and conceal itself while attacking Iranian nuclear enrichment centrifuges. In this video produced by CISAC, Symantec Chief Architect Carey Nachenberg tells a Stanford audience how the Stuxnet worm spread, evaded detection and ultimately accomplished its mission.
Dissecting Stuxnet · Stanford CISAC
Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks ... - The New York TimesObama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks ... - The New York Times
11 hours ago ... How a Secret Cyberwar Program Worked ... Times Topic: Cyberattacks on Iran — Stuxnet and Flame · World Twitter Logo.

WASHINGTON — From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, participants in the program told The New York Times.

Flame Thrower - By Tim Maurer and David Weinstein | Foreign PolicyFlame Thrower - By Tim Maurer and David Weinstein | Foreign Policy
1 day ago ... Welcome to the new frontier of cyber-espionage, and remember this name: " Flame" -- a mysterious new cyber spy t...
"What makes Stuxnet particularly earth-shattering is that it was designed to take a never-before-seen leap from the digital world into the physical world."  
-- Symantec Stuxnet blog, http://goo.gl/NUu9y

Who Was Behind Stuxnet? Some say Israel, others the U.S. 

Stuxnet Worm Used Against Iran Was Tested in IsraelStuxnet Worm Used Against Iran Was Tested in Israel
The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel's never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where ...

"The biggest single factor in putting time on the nuclear clock appears to be Stuxnet, the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever deployed. In interviews over the past three months in the United States and Europe, experts who have picked apart the computer worm describe it as far more complex — and ingenious — than anything they had imagined when it began circulating around the world, unexplained, in mid-2009. 


Many mysteries remain, chief among them, exactly who constructed a computer worm that appears to have several authors on several continents. But the digital trail is littered with intriguing bits of evidence." 

-- The New York Times, January 2011

W32.Stuxnet Dossier | Symantec Connect CommunityW32.Stuxnet Dossier | Symantec Connect Community
Symantec helps consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against mo...
Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus · Patrick Clair
How Digital Detectives Deciphered Stuxnet, the Most Menacing ...How Digital Detectives Deciphered Stuxnet, the Most Menacing ...
Jul 11, 2011 ... Satellite image of the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in Iran taken in 2002 when it was still under construction. The...
Stuxnet first began to get attention in June 2010, when an antivirus company in Belarus noticed that a computer of one of its customers in Iran was stuck in a reboot loop. Soon after, security experts started to follow the trail. 
Stuxnet: How It Infects PLCs · symantec
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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/following-the-stuxnet-trailhttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/following-the-stuxnet-trailFri, 01 Jun 2012 17:58:38 GMT<![CDATA[North Korea Timeline]]>

North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test since 2006. Keep track of events here with Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation and the university's experts on the North.

Storified by CISAC · Thu, Feb 14 2013 16:33:31

Hecker takes hard look at North Korea's nuclear testHecker takes hard look at North Korea's nuclear test
North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test on Feb. 12, prompting President Barack Obama to call the detonation of a miniature nucl...
DPRK nuclear test - CTBTO press briefing 12.02.2013 · The Official CTBTO Photostream
World leaders react to North Korea&#39;s nuclear test - CNN.com
5 hours ago ... Reaction to North Korea&#39;s nuclear test -- its third since 2006 -- poured in Tuesday from around the world.
Stanford
North Korean nuclear test draws anger, including from China | ReutersNorth Korean nuclear test draws anger, including from China | Reuters
1 hour ago ... SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drawing conde...
Experts debate North Korea&#39; s missile goals and capabilityExperts debate North Korea&#39; s missile goals and capability
1 day ago ... WASHINGTON — When North Korea launched a small satellite into orbit last month for the first time, U.S. officials called ...
Google's Eric Schmidt Arrives in North Korea · wsjdigitalnetwork

North Koreans celebrate the successful launch of a long-range rocket.

The launch drew strong international condemnation, particularly from South Korea and Japan.

CISAC Affiliate Nick Hansen on the Korean Peninsula's satellite space race:

"[South Korea] took a different approach. They have very sophisticated satellites. They get parts from various high-tech companies whereas the North Koreans built a very crude primitive satellite but they launched it first so you know you've got to flip a coin."
PM - What is North Korea planning with this launch? 12/12/2012PM - What is North Korea planning with this launch? 12/12/2012
Apart from the payload its very difficult to distinguish between a rocket designed to launch a satellite and a rocket meant to carry a mi...
CISAC Affiliate Jeffrey Lewis analyzes debris from the launch:
Jeffrey Lewis * Unha Debris RevisitedJeffrey Lewis * Unha Debris Revisited
Yesterday, I noted that images of the debris from the Unha launch might provide insights into the design of the missile. We have such an ...
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]]>http://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/north-korea-timelinehttp://storify.com/StanfordCISAC/north-korea-timelineFri, 15 Feb 2013 00:33:31 GMT