News + Media

News Release

April 27, 2007

Broad Institute hosts screening of CIS scholar's film on Iraq

No End in Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq, a film directed by Charles Ferguson, visiting scholar at MIT's Center for International Studies, will be screened for the public in the auditorium of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard on Wednesday, May 2, at 6 p.m.

Analysis + Opinion

April 19, 2007

The risks of staying vs. leaving Iraq

Barry PosenBoston Globe

Supporters of the war in Iraq, including most recently Senator John McCain, tell us that a series of awful consequences will certainly result if US forces disengage. This argument is offered with great confidence. Yet the costs of disengagement are less certain than is often argued, and the United States can reduce the risks that these costs will arise - and limit their consequences if they do.

In the News

April 19, 2007

Just Jerusalem: vision for a place of peace

Diane E. Davis, Leila Farsakh and Tali HatukaCommon Ground News Service

It is often said that the future of Jerusalem depends in large part on the future of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. While this is undoubtedly true, change and improvement in Jerusalem can be achieved independently of any final peace agreement. In fact, transformation in Jerusalem may actually aid the resolution of the larger conflict. For this reason, it is important to think about ways to make the city of Jerusalem a more liveable, just and humane place. 

Analysis + Opinion

April 2, 2007

No to Africa command

Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin Friedman Defense News

The Pentagon's proposal to establish a U.S. Africa Command as part of the U.S. command structure is a mistake. Creating an organization with the express mission of bringing stability to that sadly unstable continent flies in the face of the limits of state-building lessons that the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq teach. 

Audit

April 1, 2007

China’s premature rise to great power

Liselotte Odgaard

China’s so-called rise to great power status is usually taken for granted. Still, a convincing argument can be made that Beijing’s post-Cold War grand strategy is based on fear of failure rather than management of success. 

Audit

April 1, 2007

Can scientific codes of conduct deter bioweapons?

Jeanne Guillemin, MIT

At least since the First World War, when the German army sabotaged the Allies’ pack animals with anthrax and glanders, worldwide concern about biological weapons has focused on how to improve legal restraints against biological weapons (BW). Over these same years, the major powers have vacillated in their willingness to promote international treaties and laws against BW programs. 

In the News

March 20, 2007

The United States, India, and the Gulf: Convergence or Divergence in a Post-Iraq World?

Persian Gulf Initiative

The Persian Gulf Initiative workshop "The United States, India, and the Gulf: Convergence or Divergence in a post-Iraq World?" convened experts on India, the states of the Persian Gulf, and American policy to discuss the interests, perceptions, and policies of these countries. The resulting discussion focused on a set of important dynamics involving the United States, India, and the Gulf that are often overlooked in an American foreign policy community focused on the current conflict in Iraq. 

News Release

March 2, 2007

Promoting peace, the Just Jerusalem competition

MIT announces today the launch of "Just Jerusalem," a competition that invites participants worldwide to submit urban plans and other creative works to help transform Jerusalem into a more peaceful residence. An international panel of diplomats, researchers and professionals will jury the competition.

Audit

March 1, 2007

Sudan at the crossroads

Frances M Deng, MIT

There is a tendency in the outside world to see the tragedy in the Darfur region of the Sudan in isolation from the regional conflicts that have been proliferating in the country for a half century. These conflicts reflect an acute crisis of national identity that is both a cause of genocidal wars and a factor in the state’s indifference to the resulting humanitarian consequences.

Audit

March 1, 2007

China’s energy governance: perception and reality

Edward A Cunningham, MIT

As observers outside of China warn of a looming Chinese end game in global energy assets, manipulated by Beijing, leading policymakers inside of China are facing considerable challenges governing major energy companies—especially those that the state owns. 

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