Volcker, Holdren Headline International Council Debate of Critical Issues

Paul Volcker launched the annual meeting of the Belfer Center International Council in April with a substantive and thought provoking discussion of "The American Economy, the Global Economy, and the Financial Order." Volcker, chair of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and member of the Center's international council, has received substantial attention for his proposed "Volcker rule" to prohibit commercial banks from engaging in high-risk trading activities.

John P. Holdren, who is on leave from the Belfer Center Board of Directors to serve as assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology, provided an insightful look at the administration's interests and policies involving science and technology. Holdren described the science and technology aspects of key issues facing the United States today, including the economy, climate disruption and outer space.

International council members from around the globe participated in lively discussions about issues ranging from the economy to cyber security and diplomacy. They exchanged views and ideas with Belfer Center Director Graham Allison and with Center board member Nicholas Burns, John Deutch, Niall Ferguson, Joseph Nye, and Meghan O'Sullivan, as well as Center Senior Fellow Rolf Mowatt-Larssen and Melissa Hathaway, senior advisor to the Center's cyber security project, Project Minerva.

Ferguson initiated a robust debate with his presentation "A Greek Crisis is Coming to America;" Nye and Hathaway, former acting senior director for cyberspace at the National Security Council, led an animated discussion of cyber security. Deutch discussed "Making Progress on Energy," a preview of the prestigious Godkin Lecture he would deliver at Harvard in May, and was followed by additional thoughts on energy security by O'Sullivan. Burns, formerly the State Department's top career diplomat, described plans for a new Harvard Kennedy School program, the Future of Diplomacy Initiative.

Allison and Mowatt-Larssen led a dynamic discussion of the Nuclear Summit and Nuclear Posture Review, and the next best steps toward preventing nuclear terrorism.