News + Media
In the NewsJanuary 5, 2020Iraqi parliament votes to expel US troops from countryFox NewsSenior Research Associate at MIT’s Security Studies Program Dr Jim Walsh on the US airstrike that killed top Iranian general Soleimani. |
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In the NewsJanuary 4, 2020Did the killing of Qassim Suleimani deter Iranian attacks, or encourage them?Amanda TaubThe New York TimesVipin Narang quoted: “He was a monster, no question,” said Vipin Narang, an MIT political scientist who has studied efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear program. “But there’s a consequentialist argument as well.” Dr Narang said the deterrence argument “assumes a unitary, rational actor.” While he said that could apply to Iran, which may want to avoid war, it may not apply, say, to Hezbollah, which Iran backs in Lebanon. |
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In the NewsJanuary 3, 2020Qassem Soleimani, top Iranian general, killed in US airstrike in BaghdadPeter O'Dowd WBUR Here & NowPeter O'Dowd speaks with security analyst Jim Walsh about the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, which is expected to have larger repercussions. |
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In the NewsJanuary 3, 2020Oil prices surge after US attack kills senior Iran military chiefAl JazeeraJohn Tirman quoted: "Certainly Iran is going to retaliate in some way - retaliations will come, as they have in the past, in what we call an asymmetrical way. They're not going to confront the US directly but they will perhaps attack Saudi tankers again, maybe Saudi oil refineries again," John Tirman told Al Jazeera. "The fact is that Iran will come back and hit US assets or the assets of US allies in the region, and they will do so repeatedly over a period of time," Tirman said. |
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In the NewsJanuary 3, 2020Qassem Soleimani long targeted the United StatesSean Philip CotterBoston HeraldJim Walsh quoted: “Soleimani was a central figure in Iran — he was Iran’s military representative to the Middle East,” Jim Walsh, an expert on terrorism and the Middle East at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the Herald. “There was sort of a cult of personality about him, and people thought of him as being talented.” |
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In the NewsJanuary 1, 2020A look at the national security challenges facing the US in 2020Robin YoungWBUR Here & NowRobin Young speaks with security analyst Jim Walsh about the stalled nuclear talks with North Korea and the US embassy protests in Baghdad. |
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In the NewsJanuary 1, 2020North Korea signals end of nuclear-test suspension, promises 'new' weaponAlexander SmithNBC NewsVipin Narang, a politics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who focuses on nuclear weapons, tweeted the potential to negotiate on this issue is "the door we should urgently push on." |
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In the NewsJanuary 1, 2020George W Bush slips in and out of town as Poodle napsNick WelshSanta Barbara IndependentJohn Tirman interview and research heavily referenced in piece about mortality rates and cost of war. |
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In the NewsDecember 30, 2019North Korea’s improved missile systems spark ‘deadline’ concernsEdward WhiteFinancial TimesVipin Narang quoted: Vipin Narang, a nuclear policy expert at MIT, said advancements across “mobility, survivability, reliability [and] penetrability” were a “nightmare” for missile defence systems across the region. “All of this has happened under the cover of this long-range missile moratorium . . . North Korea is developing both elegant and brute force ways to beat missile defences.” |
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Analysis + OpinionDecember 30, 2019Is a new nuclear age upon us?Nicholas L Miller, Vipin NarangForeign AffairsThe year 2019 has been an inflection point for three key features of a new nuclear age: renewed nuclear competition; the emergence of new nuclear powers; and a greater tolerance for escalation among existing nuclear powers. |