News + Media

	Audit October 1, 2006 The war on terror: forgotten lessons from World War II Stephen Van Evera, MIT President Bush recently likened the war on terror to the struggles Americans faced in World War II, explaining that our enemies are “successors to Fascists, to Nazis ... and other totalitarians of the 20th century.” The analogy to World War II is useful and illuminating. Important lessons from World War II apply to the war on terror.
	Audit October 1, 2006 Waiting for Goldilocks: getting Japan’s foreign policy just right Richard J Samuels, MIT This metaphor captures the challenges awaiting Abe Shinzo, Japan’s new prime minister very nicely—particularly in the areas of foreign and security policy. His predecessor, Koizumi Junichiro, had already been like Goldilocks in his extended effort to find just the right policy toward North Korea.
	Audit October 1, 2006 The Bush Administration is Weak on Terror Stephen Van Evera, MIT The U.S. public widely credits President Bush with toughness on terror. An August 2006 poll found 55 percent of Americans approving his handling of the campaign on terror and only 38 percent disapproving. Republican candidates are running successfully on the terror issue in this fall’s election campaign. In fact, the Bush administration is weak on terror.
	Analysis + Opinion September 17, 2006 Mexico's dangerous political chasm Chappell LawsonBoston Globe This month, Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal formally certified Felipe Calderon's victory in the July 2 presidential election. Although this decision is the legal end of the electoral process, it will not resolve the post-electoral conflict.
	Audit September 1, 2006 The US-India Nuclear Deal: Triumph of the Business Lobby Subrata Ghoshroy, MIT Much has been written and spoken about the US-India nuclear agreement since Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush unveiled it on July 18, 2005, in Washington, DC. Since then, the U.S. Congress has virtually set aside its much touted concerns about proliferation of nuclear weapons and is nearly ready to approve the amendments to the 1954 Atomic Energy Act that will be necessary for the deal to be consummated.
	Audit August 21, 2006 Channel surfing: non-engagement as foreign policy Barbara Bodine, MIT The adoption of Security Council Resolution 1701 brought a halt to the month-long Israeli-Hezbollah war. UNIFIL will be greatly expanded with a more vigorous mandate to back Lebanese assertion of full sovereignty and control over southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah’s militia and missile sites. But is an agreement hammered out in Manhattan sustainable on the ground?
	Audit August 1, 2006 Why do Islamist groups become transnational and violent? Quinn Mecham, Middlebury College Since al-Qaeda’s rise to prominence as the most commonly recognized Islamist group worldwide, Islamist movements are increasingly viewed as violent, transnational organizations. Most Islamist groups, however, are actually non-violent and focused on the domestic audience of their home countries.
	Analysis + Opinion July 12, 2006 Political polarization will strengthen Mexican democracy Chappell LawsonSan Jose Mercury News On July 2, Mexico held its most closely contested presidential race in 50 years. Based on his early lead, conservative candidate Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) has insisted that he won the race and discounted any possibility that the final results might prove otherwise. Meanwhile, his leftist opponent, former Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is demanding a recount of all 42 million ballots from the election.
	News Release July 1, 2006 Professor Barry Posen becomes Director of the MIT Security Studies Program Barry Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, assumed the directorship of the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP) on July 1, 2006. He succeeds MIT political scientist Harvey Sapolsky, who retired after 40 years of teaching at MIT and 15 years directing SSP, which is part of CIS.
	Analysis + Opinion June 28, 2006 Japan's Jujitsu leader Richard J. SamuelsBoston Globe In five short years, Koizumi created a more muscular Japan with more security options than at any time since the 1940s.