News + Media

 
 Thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert at Churchill Downs for the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Baffert’s horse McKinzie may run in the debut $20-million Saudi Cup in Riyadh in February. (Gregory Payan / Associated Press )

Analysis + Opinion

November 25, 2019

Opinion: Saudi money in US horse racing is the sport’s next moral jam

John TirmanLos Angeles Times

Saudi money in US horse racing is the sport’s next moral jam, writes John Tirman, the executive director of the MIT Center for International Studies.

A new book, by MIT political scientist Richard Samuels, examines the past and future of Japanese intelligence services in a rapidly shifting world.  Image of Richard Samuels by Donna Coveney

In the News

November 23, 2019

BOOK REVIEW | ‘Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community’ by Richard J Samuels

June Teufel DreyerJapan Forward

Author Richard J Samuels, director of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has combined his impressive knowledge of Japanese history with a deep understanding of intelligence operations to produce this critical yet sympathetic treatment of Japan’s intelligence community.

In the News

November 20, 2019

SMA debate: Why shouldn’t South Korea pay more for its defense?

Doug BandowThe National Interest

Vipin Narang quoted: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Vipin Narang tweeted: “Nothing says I love you like a shakedown.”

Carol Saivetz, senior advisor at MIT’s Security Studies Program.

In the News

November 19, 2019

Greater Boston: Vindman testifies about Trump's Zelensky call and Volker revises his testimony

WGBH Greater Boston

Carol Saivetz, senior advisor at MIT’s Security Studies Program, joins Jim Braude on Greater Boston to discuss the latest developments with the impeachment hearings and recent testimony from top Ukraine expert Lt Col Alexander Vindman, Vice President Pence adviser Jennifer Williams, National Security Council official Tim Morrison, and former special Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker.

In the News

November 19, 2019

Lamborghini and MIT pave the way for the electric supercar of the future

MIT News

Serenella Sferza, MIT-Italy Program co-director, praises the MIT-Italy-Lamborghini partnership as a perfect example of how MISTI opens avenues for research and innovation that include meaningful student experiences.

Joel Brenner, former inspector general for the National Security Agency.

In the News

November 19, 2019

Impeachment spotlights vulnerability of acting federal watchdogs

Michaela RossBloomberg Government

Joel Brenner quoted: “We now have an administration that’s deeply hostile to the civil service in general and to anybody who can second guess anything that they might do, lawful or unlawful,” Brenner said. “So these are important positions, especially important to fill now.”

 US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in sign a trade agreement at a bilateral meeting in New York on September 24, 2018, a day before the start of the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly.  Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images

In the News

November 18, 2019

Trump and South Korea: ‘Nothing says I love you like a shakedown’

Steve BenenMSNBC

Vipin Narang, an associate professor at MIT who follows the Korean peninsula, summarizing South Korean uncertainty about the US, was quoted saying, “Nothing says I love you like a shakedown.”

Jeanne Guillemin Meselson

News@E40

November 18, 2019

Jeanne Guillemin, sociologist of science and national security

The Center announces today that its longtime colleague Jeanne Guillemin Meselson passed away peacefully at her Cambridge home on November 15. In her memory, the family has requested gifts to be directed to the Jeanne E Guillemin Fund. The fund was created by Dr Guillemin for women scholars at MIT just several months ago.

In the News

November 18, 2019

Expanding education: From Africa to Cambridge and back again

Laura CarterMIT School of Science

For Mgcini "Keith" Phuthi ’19, spending a summer in Africa through MISTI's MIT Africa Program was more than a trip back to his home continent after graduation. It was an opportunity to directly impact national policy regarding education in the country of Sierra Leone.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, give a news conference in Bangkok on Sunday. | AP

In the News

November 17, 2019

Washington and Seoul postpone military drills in bid to boost stalled diplomacy with Pyongyang

Jesse JohnsonThe Japan Times

Vipin Narang quoted: “Kim may see this as weakness, a Trump desperate to get a deal,” he said. “That may lead him to harden his position or miscalculate, on the belief that Trump wants and needs the perception of a ‘win’ more than Kim does. So even if this increases the odds of a working-level meeting, it may decrease the odds of an actual deal.”

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