News + Media

	In the News September 13, 2021 North Korea tests new long-range cruise missiles that puts Japan in striking distance Jesse JohnsonThe Japan Times Quoted: Vipin Narang, an MIT professor who specializes in nuclear strategy, said the development of the long-range cruise missile was “definitely a problem for Japan.” “They can fly low and maneuver and can be very difficult to intercept by air and missile defenses,” Narang said.
	précis September 13, 2021 End Notes End Notes features the professional achievements of our scholars, students, and staff. This includes recent awards, speaking engagements, and publications.
	In the News September 9, 2021 Reflecting on September 11, 20 years later MIT News Robert E Wilhelm Fellow Steven Simon, an expert on US strategy and the war on terror, weighs in on 9/11 and where we can go from here.
	In the News September 9, 2021 Talk of a nuclear deterrent in South Korea Morten Soendergaard LarsenForeign Policy Quoted: South Korea “is the only country to develop SLBMs without first developing nuclear weapons, so it makes one wonder,” said Vipin Narang, a professor of nuclear security and political science at MIT. “Even with a heavy conventional warhead or multiple warheads on each SLBM, does six tubes on a submarine really provide a credible conventional retaliatory capability if all of South Korea’s land-based missiles were wiped out?” Narang asked.
	News Release September 8, 2021 Diplomat and policymaker Steven Simon joins CIS as its 2021 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow Simon, who held senior positions in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, will use his time at MIT to reflect on US foreign policy, including the war on terror, Middle East relations, and the end of imperialism.
	In the News September 7, 2021 The dangerous confusion over Mazar-i-Sharif Alexander Ward and Quint ForgeyPolitico Quoted: The reason Seoul wants such a capability is to deter potential attacks from Pyongyang, or at least to have the ability to strike North Korea from a hard-to-track submarine, experts say. “A conventional SLBM is crazy expensive but may have a logic (survivable large conventional second strike etc). This is just about the uniqueness of that possibility,” tweeted Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at MIT.
	Analysis + Opinion September 7, 2021 A new transatlantic division of labor could save billions every year! Barry R PosenBulletin of the Atomic Scientists The US defense effort consumes roughly three-quarters of a trillion dollars per year and makes up a quarter of all Federal spending and half of all federal discretionary spending. Because resources are scarce relative to plausible projects and money is fungible, the defense effort should, like other federal spending, be subjected to close scrutiny. Read Barry Posen's opinion piece on spending.
	News Release September 7, 2021 Kelly M Greenhill, PhD ’04, named director of the MIT Seminar XXI Program A post-graduate education program, Seminar XXI links policymaking and academia by bringing together military and civilian executives with scholars from MIT and beyond.
	In the News September 3, 2021 North Korea has entered the chat Jonathan Custodio and Alexander WardPolitico Quoted: “In the short term, there are meaningful gains to be had by sort of slowing down the growth of the program. And Yongbyon gives you an opportunity to do that,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at MIT, noting the nuclear reactor site is North Korea’s only known plutonium and tritium production path. “I think the question for the Biden administration or any administration going forward … is whether we can get Yongbyon, the whole complex, back on the table.”
	In the News September 2, 2021 9/11, 20 years later: did the tragedy give US-China relations a respite? Mark MagnierSouth China Morning Post Quoted: “9/11 was a strategic gift,” said M Taylor Fravel, strategic studies director at MIT...“In this country, there is great debate going forward that’s still unsettled on what the future relationship should look like,” said Fravel, even as the two nations’ size and global importance suggests they’ll need to find common ground. “Breaking up is hard to do.”