News + Media

	In the News December 30, 2019 North Korea’s improved missile systems spark ‘deadline’ concerns Edward WhiteFinancial Times Vipin Narang quoted: Vipin Narang, a nuclear policy expert at MIT, said advancements across “mobility, survivability, reliability [and] penetrability” were a “nightmare” for missile defence systems across the region. “All of this has happened under the cover of this long-range missile moratorium . . . North Korea is developing both elegant and brute force ways to beat missile defences.”
	Analysis + Opinion December 30, 2019 Is a new nuclear age upon us? Nicholas L Miller, Vipin NarangForeign Affairs The year 2019 has been an inflection point for three key features of a new nuclear age: renewed nuclear competition; the emergence of new nuclear powers; and a greater tolerance for escalation among existing nuclear powers.
	In the News December 25, 2019 Book Review: Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy since1949 Suyash Desai Strategic Analysis Book review of Taylor Fravel's latest book, Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy since 1949, the book fills a major gap in the study of the Chinese military strategy since 1949.
	In the News December 25, 2019 Ep 124: Nuclear war, deterrence and peace Pavan SrinathThe Pragati Podcast Vipin Narang joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 124 of The Pragati Podcast to dive into the world of nuclear weapons and strategy. He shares the evolution of our understanding of nuclear strategy from early ideas of mutually assured destruction.
	In the News December 24, 2019 A look at the fallout from the Jamal Khashoggi case in Saudi Arabia Ari ShapiroNPR \| All Things Considered NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Hala Aldosari, Saudi human rights activist and fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies, about the fallout from the Jamal Khashoggi case in Saudi Arabia.
	In the News December 23, 2019 Weakened and unstable Trump gives Korea the jitters Donald KirkDaily Beast Vipin Narang quoted: “Reversible steps are being reversed, and North Korea is essentially ‘renuclearizing,’” says Vipin Narang at MIT. Narang says the latest tests of launch facilities at the Sohae site near the Chinese border are “for the development of a new strategic system” even though the site had been “cosmetically dismantled as a “denuclearization step.’”
	In the News December 22, 2019 Jeanne Guillemin, who exposed Soviet anthrax lab, dies at 76 Katharine Q “Kit” SeelyeNew York Times Jeanne Guillemin, an eminent medical anthropologist and scientific sleuth who helped expose a secret biological warfare lab in the Soviet Union as the source of a lethal anthrax outbreak, died on Nov 15 at her home in Cambridge, Mass.
	In the News December 19, 2019 Special Duty, "Best of Books 2019" by Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Richard Samuels’s Special Duty, an engrossing history of Japanese intelligence, was selected by Foreign Affairs editors and book reviewers as "The Best of Books for 2019." An excerpt of Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community is featured here in the Center’s newsletter précis.
	In the News December 18, 2019 Kim Jong Un may have faced ‘domestic hard line pressure’ CNBC Vipin Narang spoke to CNBC and said China and Russia could have agreed to let Kim Jong Un to test missiles, but not nuclear weapons. North Korea is “waves away” from reopening nuclear testing, he said.
	In the News December 18, 2019 Africa insiders: Tiny Gambia stands up for the Rohingya Africa Insiders \| Shola LawalAfrican Arguments A case of alleged genocide brought against Myanmar by The Gambia in defence of the Rohingya people was heard last week. The Gambia’s Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou led the delegation at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague while Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, spoke for Myanmar.