News + Media

	In the News September 10, 2020 India and China meet to defuse Himalayan border tensions Amy KazminThe Financial Times Vipin Narang heavily quoted: “I don’t think that either side really wants to risk a war over these positions along the line of actual control but we now have a lot of friction points,” he said. “The problem isn’t that one side starts a war intentionally. The risk is that they stumble into war.” But he added that expectations for the talks were muted. “I don’t think anybody expects there to be a massive breakthrough,” he said. “The best-case scenario is that both sides walk away with a detailed framework of how to disengage.”
	In the News September 9, 2020 Fresh Pangong lake face-off complicates Jaishankar-Wang’s face-to-face meet Rezaul H LaskarHindustan Times Vipin Narang quoted: “I don’t think either India or China have an incentive to go to war over the border dispute, but the increasing intensity and persistence of friction, along with air activity and the presence of loaded firearms may cause them to ‘stumble’ into war,” he said. “An advertent or inadvertent incident at a local flashpoint could now really fuel a broader conflict that neither government wants, as the forces continue to come into contact with each other,” Narang added.
	In the News September 7, 2020 Pictures and videos show California burning as more wildfires break out across state Aristos Georgiou Newsweek Vipin Narang quoted: “This is not a nuclear blast. It is California on fire,” MIT professor Vipin Narang wrote in a post showing the image on Twitter.
	In the News September 6, 2020 Russia 'thinks they can get away with' poisoning Navalny Fox News Jim Walsh discusses the suspected poisoning of Russian activist Alexei Navalny and Trump's response to the allegation.
	In the News September 4, 2020 Images suggest North Korea may be preparing launch of submarine missile—think tank David BrunnstromReuters Vipin Narang quoted: “North Korea already tested a PKS-3 SLBM last October. And it didn’t cross Trump’s redline then, and is unlikely to this time. Trump won’t care,” Vipin Narang, a non-proliferation expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote on Twitter.
	In the News September 3, 2020 America’s problem is much bigger than TikTok David WertimePOLITICO China Watcher M Taylor Fravel quoted: This year’s annual Pentagon report on the People’s Liberation Army dropped this week and it’s “the most comprehensive and detailed one ever published.”
	In the News September 2, 2020 China may double its nuclear arsenal in just 10 years. Don’t panic. Alex WardVox Vipin Narang quoted: “A doubling is not as scary as it sounds,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at MIT. “China doubling over the next couple decades is kind of ‘it’s about time,’” said MIT’s Narang. “China is late to the game.”
	In the News September 1, 2020 Donald Blackmer, professor emeritus of political science and longtime leader at MIT, dies at 91 MIT News An esteemed scholar and extraordinary steward of institutions and people, he was known to light up the academic landscape.
	News@E40 August 27, 2020 Donald L M Blackmer, Professor of Political Science Emeritus at MIT, dead at 91 Donald L M Blackmer, Professor of Political Science Emeritus at MIT, died on August 14, 2020. He was an esteemed scholar and an extraordinary steward of institutions and people.
	News@E40 August 27, 2020 In memory of Donald L M Blackmer, 1929-2020 Tributes to Donald L M Blackmer from his colleagues and students are featured here. The photo left is of Blackmer and Astrid Tuminez (PhD '96) in New Hampshire, September 2018.