News + Media

Analysis + Opinion

September 17, 2006

Mexico's dangerous political chasm

Chappell LawsonBoston Globe

This month, Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal formally certified Felipe Calderon's victory in the July 2 presidential election. Although this decision is the legal end of the electoral process, it will not resolve the post-electoral conflict. 

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September 1, 2006

The US-India Nuclear Deal: Triumph of the Business Lobby

Subrata Ghoshroy, MIT

Much has been written and spoken about the US-India nuclear agreement since Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush unveiled it on July 18, 2005, in Washington, DC. Since then, the U.S. Congress has virtually set aside its much touted concerns about proliferation of nuclear weapons and is nearly ready to approve the amendments to the 1954 Atomic Energy Act that will be necessary for the deal to be consummated.

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August 21, 2006

Channel surfing: non-engagement as foreign policy

Barbara Bodine, MIT

The adoption of Security Council Resolution 1701 brought a halt to the month-long Israeli-Hezbollah war. UNIFIL will be greatly expanded with a more vigorous mandate to back Lebanese assertion of full sovereignty and control over southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah’s militia and missile sites. But is an agreement hammered out in Manhattan sustainable on the ground? 

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August 1, 2006

Why do Islamist groups become transnational and violent?

Quinn Mecham, Middlebury College

Since al-Qaeda’s rise to prominence as the most commonly recognized Islamist group worldwide, Islamist movements are increasingly viewed as violent, transnational organizations. Most Islamist groups, however, are actually non-violent and focused on the domestic audience of their home countries. 

Analysis + Opinion

July 12, 2006

Political polarization will strengthen Mexican democracy

Chappell LawsonSan Jose Mercury News

On July 2, Mexico held its most closely contested presidential race in 50 years. Based on his early lead, conservative candidate Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) has insisted that he won the race and discounted any possibility that the final results might prove otherwise. Meanwhile, his leftist opponent, former Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is demanding a recount of all 42 million ballots from the election.

News Release

July 1, 2006

Professor Barry Posen becomes Director of the MIT Security Studies Program

Barry Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, assumed the directorship of the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP) on July 1, 2006. He succeeds MIT political scientist Harvey Sapolsky, who retired after 40 years of teaching at MIT and 15 years directing SSP, which is part of CIS.

Analysis + Opinion

June 28, 2006

Japan's Jujitsu leader

Richard J. SamuelsBoston Globe

In five short years, Koizumi created a more muscular Japan with more security options than at any time since the 1940s.

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June 1, 2006

Budgets to make America safer

Cindy Williams, MIT

Since September 2001, federal budgets for national security have climbed more than 50 percent in real terms. Unfortunately, much of the added money reflects “business as usual” rather than programs aimed at making the nation safer from today’s threats.

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June 1, 2006

Immigration and insecurity: post-9/11 fear in the United States

John Tirman, MIT

The attacks of September 11, 2001, transformed the landscape of global security, none more than borders and immigration. The topography of citizenship, belonging, and suspicion instantly changed for Arab and Muslim communities in the United States. They drew the sharp attention of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services, and that continues. 

News Release

May 6, 2006

Iraqi journalist Huda Ahmed named Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow at MIT's Center for International Studies

CIS announced today that Huda Ahmed, an Iraqi journalist who has been covering the war in Iraq for the Knight Ridder newspapers, will become the Center's second Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. The announcement was made at the Elizabeth Neuffer Forum held on May 10, 2006.

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