News + Media

	Analysis + Opinion September 2, 2021 Afghanistan was a Ponzi scheme sold to the American public Alan Richards and Steven SimonForeign Policy As the political fight over who lost Afghanistan gets bloodier, the latest round has shifted from lamentation over the probable return of al Qaeda to the disorderly exit from Kabul. Vivid images of chaotic activity at the airport underscore this concern. But, in fact, the withdrawal could never have been orderly, as critics unthinkingly imply. An orderly, carefully prepared exit was structurally impossible.
	In the News August 31, 2021 America's longest war is over. What did the US gain from 20 years in Afghanistan? WBUR Here & Now Here & Now security analyst Jim Walsh joins host Scott Tong to discuss what 20 years of war in Afghanistan accomplished as the last US troops leave Kabul airport.
	In the News August 29, 2021 The impact of Covid-19 on China’s military: A conversation with Taylor Fravel Bonny LinCenter for Strategic and International Studies In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Taylor Fravel discusses whether China has become more militarily assertive toward its neighbors during the pandemic. He argues that, although some expected the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to halt or reduce its activity during the Covid-19 pandemic, the level of Chinese assertiveness seen prior to the pandemic has continued during the pandemic.
	Analysis + Opinion August 26, 2021 Why America can’t build allied armies Rachel TecottForeign Affairs Too often, the United States’ efforts to train and equip foreign militaries have been motivated by bureaucratic logic rather than sound strategy. Rachel Tecott explains in this opinion piece.
	In the News August 23, 2021 Twenty years after 9/11, are we any smarter? Jordan Michael SmithNew Republic Quoted: “It’s an important moment when one significant power is passing or catching up in overall capabilities with another significant power,” said MIT’s Barry Posen, a leading advocate of a foreign policy forefronting restraint... “This requires a kind of subtle foreign and defense policy, and that’s not our strong suit,” he said... “Foreign policy should be about interests, not vacuums,” “If your interests don’t lie in a place, why do you care?”
	In the News August 22, 2021 Could cyberwar make the world safer? Cybèle C GreenbergThe New York Times Quoted: Cyberattacks have helped nations achieve nuclear nonproliferation in a way that, in the past, would have required physical force and increased risk to personnel, said Vipin Narang, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who specializes in nuclear strategy.
	News Release August 19, 2021 MIT-Japan Program establishes the Patricia Gercik Memorial Fund The endowed fund will provide supplemental stipends to students seeking internships in Japan.
	Analysis + Opinion August 19, 2021 How can we neutralize the militias? Steven Simon and Jonathan StevensonThe New York Review The threat of violence from domestic far-right extremists calls for a measured and well-coordinated response from law enforcement and intelligence services according to this opinion piece by Robert E Wilhelm Fellow Steven Simon (with Jonathan Stevenson).
	In the News August 19, 2021 MIT-Japan Program establishes the Patricia Gercik Memorial Fund MIT News The endowed fund will provide supplemental stipends to students seeking internships in Japan. Gercik served as managing director of the MIT-Japan Program for almost three decades and introduced hundreds of MIT students to Japanese culture, history, and in-country internship experiences.
	In the News August 17, 2021 The end of America's post-9/11 delusion David FarisThe Week Barry Posen referenced and quoted: From the wreckage of this embarrassing and enormously consequential 20-year-long failure must emerge a new foreign policy doctrine based on American interests and not American mythology. This doctrine, what the grand strategy theorist Barry Posen calls "restraint" is based, as he argues, on the idea that "the United States is quite secure, due to its great power, its weak and agreeable neighbors, and its vast distance from most of the world's trouble, distances patrolled by the U.S. Navy."