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	In the News December 17, 2014 What falling oil prices and new US sanctions mean for Russia Diane Rehm Show Russia’s economy is in turmoil as authorities there take drastic steps to stabilize the ruble. To help prop it up, the central bank raised a key interest rate and the Russian government has begun selling off its foreign currency reserves. The economy is being battered by a combination of western sanctions and falling oil prices.
	In the News October 29, 2014 Put it in writing Joshua R. Itzkowitz ShifrinsonForeign Affairs During negotiations over German reunification in 1990, did the United States promise the Soviet Union that NATO would not expand into eastern Europe? The answer remains subject to heated debate.
	In the News September 30, 2014 3 Qs: Jim Walsh on the elusive US-Iran nuclear treaty Peter DizikesMIT News Can the U.S. and Iran reach a permanent agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear program? For several months, the countries have operated under an interim agreement limiting Iran’s activities, but it expires this fall. MIT News spoke with Jim Walsh, research associate in MIT’s Security Studies Program and expert in international security and nuclear nonproliferation, about the prospects for a deal.
	In the News August 19, 2014 A farewell to arms Anne-Marie CorleyMIT Technology Review As the Cold War ended, MIT researcher Thomas Neff came up with a plan to fuel U.S. nuclear plants with uranium from Russian bombs. With more than a decade of quiet diplomacy, he pulled it off.
	In the News July 17, 2014 Genetically engineering almost anything Tim De Chant and Eleanor NelsenNova When it comes to genetic engineering, we’re amateurs. Sure, we’ve known about DNA’s structure for more than 60 years, we first sequenced every A, T, C, and G in our bodies more than a decade ago, and we’re becoming increasingly adept at modifying the genes of a growing number of organisms. But compared with what's coming next, all that will seem like child's play.
	In the News July 17, 2014 3 Qs: Kenneth Oye on genetic engineering Peter DizikesMIT News Kenneth Oye, an associate professor of political science and engineering systems who studies government regulation and directs MIT’s Program on Emerging Technologies, is lead author of an article in Science today making the case that the U.S. government, and international groups, need to adapt their procedures to enable more robust discussion and evaluation on genetic engineering. MIT News asked him to discuss the topic.
	In the News June 1, 2014 Knowing the enemy Alec Worsnop What makes an insurgency effective and deadly? It is a question the U.S. has been posing with increasing urgency since 9/11, and it is a central research preoccupation of Alec Worsnop, a Ph.D. candidate in political science.
	In the News May 29, 2014 From conflict, cooperation Nicole Estvanik TaylorMIT SPECTRVM For her recent book Alliance Formation in Civil Wars, political scientist, Fotini Christia interviewed Afghan warlords and mujahideen. Her “counterintuitive” finding was that alliances among warring factions were fluid, owing more to pragmatic power dynamics than to religious or ethnic identities. She discovered, however, that identity narratives were often retrofitted to justify shifts from foe to friend and back again.
	In the News March 20, 2014 John Tirman on the warming US-Iran relationship Peter DizikesMIT News The U.S. and Iran have had a largely antagonistic relationship since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Could that be changing? In January, Iran and a U.S.-led group of six global powers agreed to an interim six-month deal that freezes Iran’s nuclear weapons program, in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. The progress on the issue indicates that U.S.-Iran difficulties are not wholly intractable, suggests John Tirman, a principal research scientist and executive director of MIT’s Center for International Studies.
	In the News January 31, 2014 Russian weapons removal & the cold war backpack bomb Thomas Neff and Adam RawnsleyWNYC When the Cold War ended, Russia was unsure what it should do with its thousands of weapons, from missiles to bombers. MIT Physicist, Dr. Thomas Neff, suggested that Moscow be allowed to sell the uranium from its retired weapons and dilute it into fuel for electric utilities in the United States, giving Russians desperately needed cash and Americans a cheap source of power. The program converted more than 20,000 Russian warheads into fodder for nuclear power plants that have since turned on one in 10 American light bulbs over the course of the past 20 years. And now, more than two decades later, the last uranium shipment arrived in the United States last month. Dr. Neff explains how he initially conceived of this program.
	In the News January 27, 2014 From warheads to cheap energy William J. BroadThe New York Times As the Cold War ended in the late 1980s and early ’90s, a new fear arose amid the rejoicing and relief: that atomic security might fail in the disintegrating Soviet Union, allowing its huge stockpile of nuclear warheads to fall into unfriendly hands. Many officials and scientists worried. Few knew what to do. That is when MIT physicist, Thomas L. Neff, hit on his improbable idea: turning Russian warheads Into American electricity.
	In the News December 13, 2013 How should we use our intelligence? Peter DizikesMIT NewsMIT event exposes fault lines among high-ranking former government officials on NSA’s data-gathering programs.
	In the News August 15, 2013 For a new approach to Iran William Luers, Thomas R. Pickering, and Jim WalshThe New York Review of Books Could this be the year for an engagement with Iran that “is honest and grounded in mutual respect,” as President Obama proposed over four years ago? That goal seems unlikely without a shift in Iranian thinking and without a change in American diplomatic and political strategy. But two developments, one in Iran and one in the region, provide reason to think that diplomatic progress might be possible.
	In the News August 2, 2013 Empowering women in Afghanistan Peter DizikesMIT News By placing some women in local leadership positions, an innovative development aid program integrates women into civic life, and may have economic benefits.
	In the News July 6, 2013 Letting opportunity slip away Jeff KingstonThe Japan Times So why hasn’t March 11, 2011, been the game-changer that many anticipated? Richard Samuels’ masterful account of Japan’s policy responses to its greatest crisis since World War II explains why continuity has trumped change. But maybe, just maybe, it hasn’t, as he also reminds us that the consequences are still unfolding.
	In the News May 3, 2013 Why China and India probably won't clash over border dispute Max FisherWashington Post Both China and India have claimed the Maryland-sized territory of Aksai Chin near India's northeast border for decades, and even fought a brief war over it in 1962. But the issue was mostly calm until about three weeks ago.
	In the News April 17, 2013 China and Japan in the East China Sea Peter DizikesMIT News At MIT event, diplomats and scholars reinforce high stakes, lack of progress on Asian territorial dispute.
	In the News April 13, 2013 When the world changed The Economist Later this month Christian Caryl, a veteran foreign correspondent now based in Washington, will publish a timely new book, “Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century”. In it he argues that 1979 belongs to the select club of real turning-points: years in which one era ended and another was born.
	In the News April 2, 2013 Amateur hour Stephen M. WaltForeign Policy United States has lofty global ambitions, and its leaders still like to describe the country as the "leader of the free world," the "indispensable nation," and various other self-congratulatory labels. Yet it doesn’t always marry these ambitions to a set of policies and practices that would help it achieve them. Case in point: the well-sourced rumor that the Obama administration is about to appoint Caroline Kennedy to serve as our next ambassador to Japan. The obvious question: Is this an appointment that demonstrates a serious engagement with the complex problems the United States is now facing in Asia?
	In the News March 6, 2013 The democracy boondoggle in Iraq Christian CarylForeign Policy The U.S. spent billions promoting democracy in Iraq. Now the official verdict is in: It was all for nothing.