News + Media

	In the News August 2, 2022 Forceful China response to Pelosi could backfire Chou Shih-wei and Ken ChaoFocus Taiwan Quoted: "US-based China researcher M Taylor Fravel said Monday that a forceful show by Beijing in response to a reported visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi could backfire. Fravel, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said on Twitter that with the People's Liberation Army approaching the peak of its annual training, China will likely convey its discontent with live-fire exercises in a larger scale, and even with incursions across the median line of Taiwan Strait for days if not weeks."
	Analysis + Opinion July 30, 2022 Ukraine needs solutions, not endless war Steven Simon and Jonathan StevensonNational Interest In the Russo-Ukrainian War, neither side seems inclined to talk to the other at this point. But one of the purposes of diplomacy is to probe adversaries’—and allies’—intentions in a crisis
	Analysis + Opinion July 28, 2022 After Abe, Japan tries to balance ties to the US and China Richard J SamuelsThe Wall Street Journal Shinzo Abe left the stage at a critical moment for Japanese decision makers. Richard Samuels' latest opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.
	In the News July 25, 2022 War in Ukraine entering sixth month Sue O'ConnellNECN Sue O’Connell spoke with Carol Saivetz from the MIT Security Studies Program about a new deal struck to resume grain exports and worries over Russian gas supplies as the war enters its sixth month.
	In the News July 11, 2022 Ukraine war: Is Russian defeat nothing but a 'fantasy'? Barry R PosenDW News Barry R Posen, Ford International Professor of Political Science at MIT, speaks on DW News about the Ukraine war and his analysis of possible outcomes.
	In the News July 10, 2022 What the world can learn from South Africa David GoodmanVTDigger “At this time when the idea of democracy is under assault, South Africa shows us that (democracy) is still a really promising and probably our best political solution, particularly in diverse societies,” says Evan Lieberman in a recent interview. Lieberman offers a fresh take on South Africa’s journey to democracy in his new book, "Until we have won liberty: South Africa after apartheid."
	In the News July 8, 2022 Shinzo Abe’s influence was still evident long after he left office David E SangerThe New York Times Quoted: “We didn’t know what we were going to get when Abe came to office with this hard nationalist reputation,” said Richard Samuels, the director of the Center for International Studies at MIT and the author of books on Japan’s military and intelligence capabilities. “What we got was a pragmatic realist who understood the limits of Japan’s power, and who knew it wasn’t going to be able to balance China’s rise on its own. So he designed a new system.”
	In the News July 8, 2022 Why Shinzo Abe was such a towering figure in Japan Tobias BurnsThe Hill Quoted: Abe “sought to shift the center of gravity in Japanese political culture away from the pacifism that characterized most of the early to mid post-war period to a place that was, in his view, more normal,” Richard Samuels, a political scientist and Japanologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an interview, speaking from Berlin.
	Analysis + Opinion July 8, 2022 CIS mourns the loss of Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan Richard SamuelsCenter for International Studies It is with tremendous sadness and alarm that a senseless act of political violence claimed the life of former prime minister Shinzo Abe on July 8 while he was speaking at a political campaign event for the Liberal Democratic Party in the city of Nara in western Japan. We join the Japanese people in mourning their loss, and send our condolences to the Abe family.
	Analysis + Opinion July 8, 2022 Ukraine’s implausible theories of victory Barry PosenForeign Affairs The Ukrainian and Western theories of victory have been built on weak reasoning. At best, they are a costly avenue to a painful stalemate that leaves much Ukrainian territory in Russian hands. If this is the best that can be hoped for after additional months or years of fighting, then there is only one responsible thing to do: seek a diplomatic end to the war now.