News + Media

	In the News April 14, 2021 Sought-after ambassador posts unfilled under Biden. Will they go to political allies or veteran diplomats? Deirdre Shesgreen and Courtney SubramanianUSA Today M Taylor Fravel quoted: M Taylor Fravel, an expert on China with MIT's security studies program, said the Biden administration may have good reason to hold off on its ambassadorial nominations, noting the wide range of legislative priorities the White House is juggling. “It's America's most consequential diplomatic relationship at the moment, without a doubt,” Fravel said. “If you get China wrong, you get many other things wrong. If you get China right, you solve a lot of other problems.”
	In the News April 12, 2021 Natanz sidelined by another Israeli attack James JoynerOutside the Beltway Vipin Narang quoted: MIT’s Vipin Narang thinks otherwise, tweeting “Setting back part of Iran’s nuclear program by nine months but hardening its resolve to potentially reconstitute its nuclear weapons program seems like a bad trade unless you’re supremely confident you can keep sabotaging it indefinitely before a nuke gets out of the barn.” But, honestly, it’s not as if the regime lacked “resolve” previously.
	In the News April 5, 2021 China miscalculated in provoking a standoff with India Happymon JacobThe Wire Happymon Jacob interviews Taylor Fravel about China’s military strategy. Fravel unpacks China’s concept of a world class military and provides a rich understanding of its strategy of fighting local informalized wars and situates it within the Chinese grand strategy.
	News@E40 April 1, 2021 CIS awards 17 summer study grants Seventeen doctoral students in international affairs at MIT were awarded summer study grants. Each will receive up to $3,500. Apekshya Prasai was awarded the second annual Guillemin prize. “The awards were made to an outstanding cohort of MIT students from across the Institute. We're so pleased that the appeal of these grants has broadened and students are responding,” said John Tirman, CIS executive director and principal research scientist.
	In the News March 29, 2021 The mysterious user editing a global open-source map in China’s favor Vittoria Elliott and Nilesh ChristopherRest of World M Taylor Fravel quoted: Altering OpenStreetMap to advance national interests could be considered an extension of what experts call “cartographic warfare” when countries enforce territorial claims via maps. “In the ’50s and ’60s, China and India were engaged in this and would publish competing maps to bolster the strength of their claims to territory,” said M Taylor Fravel, director of the Security Studies Program at MIT, who has studied China’s borders and territorial disputes. “What we are seeing now in open source I would characterize as the latest manifestation of the ways in which states have sought to advance their claims through maps and mapmaking.”
	In the News March 28, 2021 Loaded language: US denuclearization phrasing puts progress on North Korea in jeopardy Jesse JohnsonThe Japan Times Vipin Narang quoted: “The inconsistency is frustrating,” Vipin Narang, a North Korea expert and professor of international relations at MIT, said of the apparent shift in language. “These phrases are not interchangeable, at least as far as Pyongyang is concerned...” “It seems unnecessary to insist on the ‘denuclearization of North Korea’ if it will simply torpedo attempts to jump-start talks,” MIT’s Narang said. “Of course, it’s possible Pyongyang is just using this as an excuse, but it’s an easy excuse for them to use.”
	In the News March 26, 2021 North Korea claims 'new tactical guided' missiles launched Laura BickerBBC News Vipin Narang quoted: Such a new missile would allow North Korea to put heavier nuclear warheads on its rockets, Vipin Narang, a security studies professor at MIT said on Twitter. “I think the story with this KN23 variant is this massive payload upgrade. This gives North Korea the flexibility to use a not-so-compact nuclear warhead on this missile. On @ArmsControlWonk 0 (fart) to 10 (ICBM) scale, I put this test at a solid (fuel) 6. Others may disagree.”
	In the News March 25, 2021 Barry Posen on risking escalation and scrutinizing plan CIMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Professor Barry Posen of MIT, who at the time emerged as a challenger of some of the strategy’s precepts. In this discussion, Posen discusses the possibly escalatory nature of the strategy, the nuclear risks involved, and how operational war plans deserve to be scrutinized by civilian policymakers. This article was first published here.
	In the News March 25, 2021 North Korea claims it tested a new guided missile Guardian staff and agenciesThe Guardian Vipin Narang quoted: Vipin Narang of MIT said it appeared to be a weapon that the North displayed at a military parade in January. “A 2.5 ton warhead likely settles the question whether this KN23 variant is nuclear capable. It is,” he tweeted.
	In the News March 24, 2021 North Korea missile test casts shadow over Biden administration, Japan Olympics Josh Smith, Antoni SlodkowskiReuters Vipin Narang quoted: Even short-range ballistic missile tests would be a “step up” from the weekend test, and allow North Korea to improve its technology and send a proportionate response to recent US-South Korea military drills, said Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at MIT. The test launches should not torpedo diplomatic efforts, but they are a reminder of the cost of the failure to secure a deal with Pyongyang, he said. “Every day that passes without a deal that tries to reduce the risks posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile arsenal is a day that it gets bigger and badder,” Narang said.