News + Media

	In the News January 27, 2022 There is no NATO open-door policy Michael O'Hanlon and Stephen Van EveraThe Hill In the current crisis involving Russia, Ukraine and Western countries, it is often asserted that because the NATO alliance has an “open-door” policy, Ukraine must retain its right to join the alliance someday. That is incorrect.
	In the News January 27, 2022 How America’s NATO expansion obsession plays into the Ukraine crisis Jonathan GuyerVox Quoted: In the early ’90s, that generation of national security operatives weren’t prepared to forfeit leverage in Europe. “NATO had to find something to do or go out of business, and these people who grew up all their lives alongside it would not let it go out of business,” said Barry Posen, a political scientist at MIT.
	Analysis + Opinion January 25, 2022 US public prefers diplomacy over war on Ukraine Robert RalstonResponsible Statecraft While surveys are snapshots in time and question wording varies from survey to survey, recent results suggest that the public prefers diplomacy to military action if Russia invades Ukraine.
	In the News January 24, 2022 Ukrainian family in Boston hoping for de-escalation of conflict with Russia Bianca BeltranNBC 10 Boston Quoted: “Putin has upped the ante,” said Carol Saivetz, senior advisor in the MIT Security Studies Program. “We are signaling to the Russians that we are very serious about this by talking about deploying troops in the Baltic states.” Saivetz thinks despite the show of force, none of the countries involved want to engage in a land war. “The question is, ‘How can you use diplomacy?’ Can you turn the screws enough so that he will say, ‘OK, I've got what I needed, where is the off ramp here?’” she said.
	News@E40 January 21, 2022 Call for applications for summer study fellowship and Guillemin prize Doctoral students in international affairs may apply for summer support for dissertation research. Research on a broad range of international issues will be considered. Support may be requested either for fieldwork and/or archival research, or for home-based research and write-up. The CIS Summer Study Fellowship competition is open to advanced doctoral students in international affairs, regardless of home department.
	In the News January 19, 2022 China plays the waiting game on the Russia-Ukraine crisis China Note-TakerWorld Politics Review Quoted: China is hoping to “strike a balance in its relationship with Russia and the United States by not taking a clear public position that might antagonize one or the other,” Fravel, who is the director of the Security Studies Program at MIT, told World Politics Review. Beijing’s reticence to make bold pronouncements also reflects its lack of a clear policy framework to deal with the crisis, given its conflicting interests, Fravel added.
	Analysis + Opinion January 13, 2022 We need to think the unthinkable about our country Jonathan Stevenson and Steven SimonNew York Times Scholars of American politics need to pick up the torch from experts on the democratic decline in Europe, who first raised the alarm about growing dangers to American politics. The very process of intellectual interaction and collaboration among influential analysts of different political stripes could reconcile many of them to the undesirability of political upheaval, and thus decrease its likelihood.
	In the News January 12, 2022 China steps up construction along disputed Bhutan border Devjyot Ghoshal, Anand Katakam and Aditi BhandariReuters Quoted: The settlements appear part of a plan Beijing made public in 2017 to build more than 600 villages in border areas in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which lies on the Chinese side of the disputed border, said Barnett and M Taylor Fravel, director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fravel said the construction indicated China likely wanted to consolidate its control and improve infrastructure in border areas.
	In the News January 11, 2022 Chinese army begins 2022 training program ANI Quoted: M Taylor Fravel, Director of the Security Studies Program at MIT, noted several interesting points about the 2022 order. One noteworthy thing is that the text was quite personalized, with Xi saying, “I command...” The personal pronoun “I” was used in 2018, but not in subsequent ones... Fravel noted, “Unlike previous orders, this year's order lacked no details about the goals for PLA training. These goals often identify what the PLA views to be obstacles/shortcomings to be sumounted and to ‘unify thought’ around these goals to improve capabilities. Instead this yar's order only contained a general exhortation to train elite troops and uphold a spirit of not fearing hardship or death.”
	In the News January 11, 2022 A look at how countries go nuclear—and why some do not Peter DizikesMIT News In his new book, “Seeking the Bomb,” Vipin Narang looks at the variety of tactics countries use as they attempt to acquire nuclear weapons.