News + Media
News@E40September 20, 2012PEGS graduate fellows competitionThe Center's Program on Environmental Governance and Sustainability (PEGS) invites applications from graduate students in all Schools and Departments for the 2012-2013 Graduate Fellows program. The theme of this year's program is Environmental Futures and the faculty director is Professor Christine Walley of the Department of Anthropology. |
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In the NewsSeptember 14, 2012Violence and protests in the Muslim worldFotini ChristiaMIT NewsThe world has been roiled by violence in North Africa and the Middle East in recent days. The U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, was killed in an attack this week, while violent protests were launched in many countries following the release of a video insulting the Prophet Muhammad on the Internet. MIT political scientist Fotini Christia, who studies multiethnic conflict in rebuilding nations, talked to MIT News about this complex and fluid situation. |
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In the NewsSeptember 12, 2012The Salafi momentChristian CarylForeign PolicyAs the death of a U.S. ambassador in Libya demonstrates, the ultraconservative Salafi movement is pushing to the forefront in the politics of the Middle East. The West should be careful how it reacts. |
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News ReleaseSeptember 4, 2012Journalist from India joins CISPriyanka Borpujari, an independent journalist based in Mumbai, India, has been selected as the 2012-13 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. Borpujari is the eighth recipient of the annual fellowship, which gives a woman journalist working in print, broadcast or online media the opportunity to build skills while focusing exclusively on human rights journalism and social justice issues. |
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AuditSeptember 1, 2012Nobody’s century: the American prospect in post-imperial timesAmbassador Chas W. Freeman (USFS, Ret.)We are entering a novel period in our history–one in which the United States will be both fiscally constrained and also unable to call the shots in many places around the globe. Let me try to set the stage for your discussions by raising some difficult questions for you to ponder. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 23, 2012Much ado about the Sansha GarrisonM. Taylor Fravel and Dennis J. BlaskoThe DiplomatDon’t believe the hype: Beijing’s Sansha military garrison is more of an administrative move than an arms buildup in the South China Sea. |
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News@E40July 17, 2012Urban resilience: cities coping with violenceOrdinary people show remarkable capacities for coping with and resisting violent actors in some of the world's most dangerous cities, a new study from the Center shows. "Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence," a two-year undertaking led by former MIT professor Diane Davis and Center executive director John Tirman, examined eight cities to answer questions about what adaptive strategies communities adopt in response to criminal and other forms of persistent violence. The study uncovers new insights into conditions of "positive" resilience, in which communities forge and utilize social relationships within their neighborhoods and negotiate productive relations with city and state officials, police, business leaders, and the like. Not all cities achieve this outcome, however. MIT graduate students and researchers from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva spent several weeks doing field research in Johannesburg, Kigali, Managua, Medellín, Mexico City, Nairobi, and São Paolo, with remote research on Karachi, under a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The 132-page main report was written by Diane Davis, now professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and a CIS Research Affiliate. Davis and Tirman presented findings to USAID and an audience of policy professionals at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in July. The study will be discussed in several more forums, emphasizing its utility to practitioners—governments, NGOs, multilateral agencies, and others. |
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Analysis + OpinionJuly 12, 2012Burmese daysChristian CarylNew York Review of BooksIn January, Min Ko Naing, one of Burma’s leading dissidents, walked out of prison. |
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AuditJune 28, 2012Improving Iran-US relationsAbbas Maleki, CIS Robert E. Wilhelm FellowAbbas Maleki was in residence at CIS as a Robert E. WIlhelm Fellow. He is assistant professor of political science at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, director of the International Institute for Caspian Studies, and senior associate of the Belfer Center's International Security Program. He was Iran's deputy foreign minister from 1988–1997. |
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In the NewsJune 5, 2012GOP whining on military spending cutsBenjamin FriedmanCato InstituteCato daily podcast featuring Benjamin Friedman. |