News + Media

	Analysis + Opinion February 6, 2015 Does the Islamic State believe in sovereignty? Richard A. NielsenThe Washington Post The Islamic State claims that its attempt to assert exclusive political control over wide swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria is legitimate, but its brand of sovereignty is very different from the existing international norms.
	Analysis + Opinion February 5, 2015 Breaking discipline and closing gaps? The state of international relations education Francis J. GavinWar on the Rocks Over 20 years ago, esteemed political scientist Alexander George published Bridging the Gap: Theory and Practice in Foreign Policy, which identified a growing divide between academics and policymakers interested in foreign policy and international affairs.
	News Release February 3, 2015 Former national security advisor of India joins CIS Shivshankar Menon, a former national security advisor of India, has been named a Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow. The Indian diplomat will be at CIS for one month beginning February 3, 2015. During his time at MIT, Menon will be working on a history of India-China relations. He also will meet with faculty and students to discuss regional issues.
	Analysis + Opinion January 21, 2015 How Obama fell short on cybersecurity Joel BrennerPOLITICO Magazine Under the president’s proposals, we’ll remain America the vulnerable.
	News@E40 January 9, 2015 Wickremesinghe elected PM of Sri Lanka The Center is thrilled to announce that Ranil Wickremesinghe was recently elected prime minister of Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe was a CIS Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow in the spring of 2014. While at MIT, he focused on how to formulate a constitution sans an executive presidency. He also worked with faculty and students interested in Asian regional issues. In addition, he was the key speaker at Starr Forum: The Indian Ocean: The Vortex of Destiny. Wickremesinghe was prime minister of Sri Lanka twice before, from May 7, 1993 to August 19, 1994, and from December 9, 2001 to April 6, 2004.
	In the News December 17, 2014 What falling oil prices and new US sanctions mean for Russia Diane Rehm Show Russia’s economy is in turmoil as authorities there take drastic steps to stabilize the ruble. To help prop it up, the central bank raised a key interest rate and the Russian government has begun selling off its foreign currency reserves. The economy is being battered by a combination of western sanctions and falling oil prices.
	Analysis + Opinion December 10, 2014 The new industrial espionage Joel BrennerThe American Interest The information revolution has rendered obsolete the legacy legal regime on intellectual property rights, enabling spying for commercial purposes to morph into a strategic issue.
	News@E40 November 6, 2014 MIT alumnus elected Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf, an alumnus of the MIT Department of Political Science, has been elected governor of Pennsylvania. He came to MIT in 1974 after studying Indian history in London and serving three years in the Peace Corps in Orissa. At MIT, he was a student of Walter Dean Burnham in American political history and Myron Weiner in political demography. His doctoral dissertation won the E.E. Schattschneider Prize of the American Political Science Association for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of American politics. Notwithstanding his very promising prospects as an academic, governor-elect Wolf chose to return to his hometown and expand the family business. From that base, he became one of southeastern Pennsylvania's most philanthropic business leaders. He has served on the department's visiting committee and is a charter member of the CIS advisory board. CIS director, Richard Samuels, was his classmate in the political science PhD program, and celebrated governor elect Wolf's victory with their friends and families in York, Pennsylvania. Samuels remarked, "The citizens of Pennsylvania have made a splendid choice. They are fortunate to have so bright and dedicated a leader."
	précis November 1, 2014 précis Interview: Frank Gavin, Frank Stanton Chair in nuclear security policy studies and professor of political science at MIT Frank Gavin, Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies and professor of political science at MIT, discusses his interest in diplomatic history, nuclear studies at MIT, as well as upcoming projects. He also describes goals and challenges of bridging the gap between students of political science and policymakers.
	précis November 1, 2014 A sustained debate By Barry Posen Politically, the United States must do less. It must focus on the most important dangers to its security. The greatest danger to U.S. sovereignty is a hegemon on the Eurasian land mass. This danger is low now, but the United States must always be prepared to counter it should it reemerge. If such a challenge does reemerge, however, the United States ought not manage it like it did the Cold War, shouldering the bulk of the burden, because the U.S. relative power position is unlikely to be as favorable. The United States will need real allies, not the security dependencies it has now.