News + Media

In the News

March 16, 2011

Japan's black swan

Robert Madsen, Richard SamuelsForeign Policy

The earthquake changed everything. What will Tokyo do next?

In the News

March 15, 2011

Why Japan relies on nuclear power

Wayne DrashCNN

Japan has more than 50 nuclear power plants and had planned to build two dozen more by 2030, according to a professor who has written on Japanese energy and security policy.

In the News

March 15, 2011

Leaks in all the wrong places

Christian CarylForeign Policy

Why the Japanese public has good reason to distrust official information.

In the News

March 13, 2011

Japan disaster may have global economic impact

NPR

Japan's economy — like much of the world — was already facing serious challenges before the earthquake struck. Economist Robert Madsen, a senior fellow at MIT's Center for International Studies, discusses the effects of the disaster in Japan on the economy there and around the globe.

News@E40

March 11, 2011

Oye experiences quake while in Tokyo

Ken Oye, an associate professor at MIT who directs the Center's program on Political Economy & Technology Policy, was in Tokyo with a delegation organized by the US-Japan Council when the earthquake hit. "It was a quite strong sense of motion," said Oye. But, he said, none of the buildings [in Tokyo] collapsed, which he called a testament to tough building codes and good engineering. Read more.

In the News

March 2, 2011

How dictators fall

Peter BeaumontThe Guardian

From the streets of Bucharest to the slums of Manila, people power invariably wins out in the end. As Libya recovers its voice, foreign affairs editor Peter Beaumont examines the dynamics of bringing down a despot.

In the News

February 28, 2011

With its eye on China, Japan builds up military

Martin FacklerNew York Times

In December, Tokyo announced plans to strengthen its forces in the southwestern Okinawan islands, including adding a dozen F-15s in Naha. The increase is part of a broader shift in Japanese defensive stance southward, toward China, that some analysts are calling one of Japan’s biggest changes in postwar military strategy.

News@E40

February 10, 2011

MISTI announces Global Seed Funds winners

A project to examine quark-gluon plasma and a study of computationally optimized photovoltaics are among the 46 international faculty research collaborations that will receive more than $900,000 from the 2010-2011 MISTI Global Seed Funds competition. Now in its third year, this growing initiative received 112 proposals, up from the 104 received for the inaugural 2008-2009 grant round. All awardees include undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral student participation. Read more.

In the News

February 6, 2011

Stand alone: the case for a new isolationism

Thanassis CambanisBoston Globe

There are few ways to get Democrats and Republicans to agree faster than by bringing up national security. Should America invest in a dominant, high-tech military? Should it spend time, treasure, and lives intervening in distant lands and protecting allies? Almost always, the short answer is a resounding yes. 

In the News

February 3, 2011

The specter of 1979 is haunting the Middle East

Christian CarylRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

As the world watches events in Egypt unfold, the spectacle of demonstrators massed on Cairo's Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) is awakening memories of an equally epochal moment in the Middle East 32 years ago.

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