News + Media

	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.
	Analysis + Opinion July 7, 2022 What to expect from Biden’s big Middle East trip Steven Simon and Aaron David MillerForeign Policy With rare exception, the Middle East has become a place where US presidential ideas, especially big ones, go to die. Wisely recognizing this cruel reality, US President Joe Biden’s administration tried to steer clear of the region through much of the past year and a half.
	précis June 29, 2022 précis Interview: Steven Simon Steven Simon joined CIS in 2021 as its Robert E Wilhelm Fellow. He served as the National Security Council senior director for the Middle East and North Africa during the Obama Administration and as the council's senior director for counterterrorism in the Clinton White House. He sat down with précis to discuss his research at MIT, assess our nation’s security challenges, and offer advice to students pursuing careers in national security.
	précis June 29, 2022 Blame games: Malattribution and the Madrid train bombings After an act of political violence, the first question most people ask is who is responsible. Blame can be a powerful political force that spurs anger and mobilizes people. When leaders shape the public narrative about blame, it can allow them to deflect criticism and pursue policy goals, explains Nina Miller, a PhD student in security studies and international relations in the Department of Political Science.
	Analysis + Opinion June 29, 2022 The UN has documented at least 3,924 Ukrainian civilian deaths in the war. Maham JavaidNew York Times After visiting numerous bombing sites and detention centers, conducting hundreds of interviews and scouring piles of documents, the United Nations has put a number to the human cost of Russia’s war in Ukraine: at least 3,924 civilians dead as of May 15, of whom 193 were children, and 4,444 injured.
	précis June 27, 2022 National narratives and the US-Iran conflict *In memory of John Tirman, the author of this feature story, who passed away suddenly on Friday, August 19, 2022. Read the obituary and tributes.* Iran and the US have differing interests and grievances about each other, but their often-deadly confrontation derives from the very different national narratives that shape their politics, actions, and vision of their own destiny in the world. In Republics of Myth, a new book published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, and John Tirman argue that a major contributing factor to this tenacious enmity is how each nation views itself. Featured here is an excerpt written by John Tirman. He served as executive director of and was a principal research scientist at CIS.
	précis June 27, 2022 CIS honors Robert Wilhelm The Robert E Wilhelm Fellows Program brings real-world experience and new scholarship to CIS and is a vital part of its research community. Since its inception in 2004, the Center has hosted 18 Wilhelm Fellows from around the globe, including Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, United Kingdom, and the United States.