News + Media

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke Tuesday during the 86th Interpol General Assembly in Beijing.

Analysis + Opinion

September 26, 2017

China’s delicate dance with ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘dotard’

Audrey Jiajia LiBoston Globe

Mao Zedong succeeded in joining the nuclear club, and no external force in the world could undermine his grip on power after that. 

Henry Luce Foundation Logo

News@E40

September 20, 2017

Luce fellowship deadline Oct. 20

Friday, October 20, is the deadline for the Luce Scholars Program. Young scholars from a variety of intellectual fields will be placed in internships throughout Asia. Candidates must have no prior experience in the region. More information

Garry Kasparov

In the News

September 19, 2017

Trump is a wake-up call for the free world

Audrey Jiajia LiBoston Globe

On September 14, at the invitation of the Center for International Studies, Kasparov gave a talk on the “Trump-Putin Phenomenon” at a MIT Starr Forum and took questions from the Globe.

Analysis + Opinion

September 15, 2017

Command and control in North Korea: What a nuclear launch might look like

Vipin Narang and Ankit PandaWar on the Rocks

A new nuclear state, in a major crisis with a conventionally superior nuclear-armed adversary, contemplates and prepares to move nuclear assets in the event it has to use them. Who controls the nuclear forces?

Vipin Narang

In the News

September 11, 2017

Making sense of nuclear threats

“Today it’s very clear North Korea has an asymmetric escalation strategy,” says Vipin Narang, a political scientist at MIT. “We’re in a very unstable phase right now.” 

If Kim Jong Un feels threatened, he may believe he has no other choice. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Analysis + Opinion

September 8, 2017

Why Kim Jong Un wouldn’t be irrational to use a nuclear bomb first

Vipin NarangThe Washington Post

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is advancing quickly. Soon Kim Jong Un will be able to deliver it to our shores, if he cannot do so already.

Audrey Jiajia Li

News Release

September 7, 2017

Journalist from China joins CIS as the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow

Audrey Jiajia Li, a freelance journalist and independent filmmaker based in Guangzhou, China, will use her fellowship to study the use of government propaganda on social media and its impact on the rise of ultra-nationalism in China.

James Baker

News Release

September 7, 2017

Judge James E Baker joins CIS as a Robert E Wilhelm Fellow

James E Baker, former chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, will use his one-year fellowship at MIT to conduct research on emerging technologies and national security challenges.  

Analysis + Opinion

September 4, 2017

Welcome to the H-Bomb Club, North Korea

Ankit Panda and Vipin NarangWar on the Rocks

After months of anticipation, it finally happened. On Sunday morning, September 3, at precisely noon local time, North Korea detonated its sixth nuclear device ever to test a presumably new thermonuclear bomb design.

Analysis + Opinion

September 1, 2017

Why India did not ‘win’ the standoff with China

M. Taylor FravelWar on the Rocks

The end of a standoff between India and China over a remote road on the Doklam plateau has prompted a vibrant discussion about the lessons learned. The emerging consensus is that India “won” and China “lost.”

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