News + Media

	In the News September 15, 2021 Kim Jong Un’s North Korea nuclear weapons development puts Biden to the test Edward White and Kana Inagaki The Financial Times Quoted: Vipin Narang, a nuclear policy expert at MIT, said as North Korea “matures as a nuclear weapons power it is likely seeking to develop capabilities that all ‘normal’ nuclear powers seek to augment”. That includes boosting their “survivability” against the US by improving their diversity and quantity of weapons, and adding more mobility, including sea-based capabilities, he said.
	In the News September 15, 2021 Biden announces defense deal With Australia in a bid to counter China David E Sanger and Zolan Kanno-YoungsThe New York Times Quoted: “Attack submarines are big deal, and they send a big message,” said Vipin Narang. “This would be hard to imagine five years ago, and it would have been impossible 10 years ago. And that says a lot about China’s behavior in the region.” “There will be many who say we are giving the Australians a gateway drug for a nuclear capability,’’ Mr Narang said. “It is not something we would let other major allies get away with, much less help make it possible.”
	In the News September 13, 2021 North Korea tests new long-range cruise missiles that puts Japan in striking distance Jesse JohnsonThe Japan Times Quoted: Vipin Narang, an MIT professor who specializes in nuclear strategy, said the development of the long-range cruise missile was “definitely a problem for Japan.” “They can fly low and maneuver and can be very difficult to intercept by air and missile defenses,” Narang said.
	précis September 13, 2021 End Notes End Notes features the professional achievements of our scholars, students, and staff. This includes recent awards, speaking engagements, and publications.
	In the News September 9, 2021 Talk of a nuclear deterrent in South Korea Morten Soendergaard LarsenForeign Policy Quoted: South Korea “is the only country to develop SLBMs without first developing nuclear weapons, so it makes one wonder,” said Vipin Narang, a professor of nuclear security and political science at MIT. “Even with a heavy conventional warhead or multiple warheads on each SLBM, does six tubes on a submarine really provide a credible conventional retaliatory capability if all of South Korea’s land-based missiles were wiped out?” Narang asked.
	In the News September 9, 2021 Reflecting on September 11, 20 years later MIT News Robert E Wilhelm Fellow Steven Simon, an expert on US strategy and the war on terror, weighs in on 9/11 and where we can go from here.
	News Release September 8, 2021 Diplomat and policymaker Steven Simon joins CIS as its 2021 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow Simon, who held senior positions in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, will use his time at MIT to reflect on US foreign policy, including the war on terror, Middle East relations, and the end of imperialism.
	Analysis + Opinion September 7, 2021 A new transatlantic division of labor could save billions every year! Barry R PosenBulletin of the Atomic Scientists The US defense effort consumes roughly three-quarters of a trillion dollars per year and makes up a quarter of all Federal spending and half of all federal discretionary spending. Because resources are scarce relative to plausible projects and money is fungible, the defense effort should, like other federal spending, be subjected to close scrutiny. Read Barry Posen's opinion piece on spending.
	News Release September 7, 2021 Kelly M Greenhill, PhD ’04, named director of the MIT Seminar XXI Program A post-graduate education program, Seminar XXI links policymaking and academia by bringing together military and civilian executives with scholars from MIT and beyond.
	In the News September 7, 2021 The dangerous confusion over Mazar-i-Sharif Alexander Ward and Quint ForgeyPolitico Quoted: The reason Seoul wants such a capability is to deter potential attacks from Pyongyang, or at least to have the ability to strike North Korea from a hard-to-track submarine, experts say. “A conventional SLBM is crazy expensive but may have a logic (survivable large conventional second strike etc). This is just about the uniqueness of that possibility,” tweeted Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at MIT.