News + Media

	In the News May 27, 2019 North Korea has been testing ballistic missiles. So why won’t Trump use the B word? Simon DenyerThe Washington Post Vipin Narang said the South Korean government may be playing “fast and loose” with semantics. “The trajectory of the KN-23 is low, so sometimes referred to as a quasi-ballistic missile, which may give them just enough semantic wiggle room to say, ‘It’s not an SRBM,’ ” he said, referring to a short-range ballistic missile. “But it is.”
	In the News May 25, 2019 Trump appears to contradict Bolton on North Korea, expresses ‘confidence’ in Kim Simon Denyer and Ashley ParkerThe Washington Post “There is a lot that is really disturbing here, but the most important bit is ‘Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me,’” Vipin Narang wrote. “Kim never promised to unilaterally disarm, and the problem is Trump continues to believe he did. THAT is why this is so dangerous.”
	In the News May 24, 2019 Modi’s definitive win may mean a more assertive India Seema ModyCNBC “Modi’s muscular national security approach just received overwhelming approval. We should expect to see more of it in the next five years,” said Vipin Narang. Narang noted that the Indian leader could use the present opportunity to “improve the defense forces and acquisition process” for his country — or he could aim to settle scores with Pakistan.
	Analysis + Opinion May 23, 2019 Even conservative Iranians want closer ties to the United States Fotini Christia, Elizabeth Dekeyser, Dean KnoxForeign Policy For most in the country, Washington isn’t the archenemy—at least for now.
	In the News May 21, 2019 Iran stance is straight from Trump's North Korea playbook Joshua BerlingerCNN “It seems very clear that at least the President's strategy is to ramp up the temperature with, and pressure on Iran, to get them to renegotiate the JCPOA, which he believes was flawed because it allowed Iran to have a (clearly regionally aggressive) foreign policy and some remnants of a defense capability (i.e. missiles) and sunset clauses on enrichment caps,” said Vipin Narang.
	News@E40 May 21, 2019 Policy Lab's Noelle Selin testifys at hearing on “Undermining Mercury Protections: EPA Endangers Human Health and the Environment” Noelle Selin, Policy Lab co-faculty director, testified at a hearing entitled, “Undermining Mercury Protections: EPA Endangers Human Health and the Environment.” The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held the hearing on May 21 to examine the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent proposal that says limiting mercury and other air toxics from coal and oil-fired power plants is not “appropriate and necessary” under the Clean Air Act.
	In the News May 19, 2019 “Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy Since 1949” by M Taylor Fravel Francis P SempaAsian Review of Books In his new and informative book Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy Since 1949, Taylor Fravel, using Communist Party history sources that have only recently become available to outside scholars, reviews the evolution of China’s military strategy since the Communist Party seized power after defeating the Nationalists in the civil war, attempts to identify, explain and categorize the changes in military doctrine, and proposes a general theory of Chinese strategic change.
	Analysis + Opinion May 17, 2019 Time to pull US nuclear weapons out of Turkey Harvey M SapolskyDefense One Storing nuclear weapons close to trouble is a bad idea, and giving Ankara a shared finger on the nuclear trigger is rapidly losing its charm.
	In the News May 17, 2019 To contain Iran, Trump’s newest line in the sand looks a lot like Obama’s David E. SangerThe New York Times “They were so committed to leaving the deal, because it had been negotiated by the Obama administration, that they did it without thinking through the predictable consequences,” said Vipin Narang. “The old agreement had flaws — many of them,” Mr. Narang said. “But by ripping it up, they opened up a Pandora’s box,” because so many in Iran also had chafed at the deal because of the nuclear production it gave away.
	News@E40 May 16, 2019 CIS 2019 spring newsletter précis, the MIT Center for International Studies newsletter, covers the wide range of Center activities and tracks the accomplishments of our faculty, researchers and affiliates. The spring 2019 issue is now available.