Visit our website and events calendar for a complete listing of spring 2015 activities. Many of our events are captured on video and available to view on YouTube.

SSP Hosts First Congressional Seminar

"National Security in a Time of Austerity," was the the seminar for senior congressional and executive branch staff held April 3-5, 2013, and hosted for the first time by the MIT Security Studies Program. The seminar was a project of the Frankel (MIT) Global Policy Fund. Thirty-two hill staffers attended the three-day event which started with a luncheon address from Admiral Gary Roughead, Distinguished Visiting Annenberg Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former CNO. Wednesday evening was capped by a dinner featuring Dr. David Chu, President and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses and former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. 

MISTI's Global Seed Funds Winners

A total of 97 faculty international research projects have received $1.99 million in funding from the 2012-2013 MISTI Global Seed Funds competition. These projects were selected from among 196 proposals submitted by faculty and research scientists from 22 departments across the Institute. MISTI Global Seed Funds (MISTI GSF) was established to enhance the internationalization of MIT research and education. Since 2008, the program has awarded $6 million to 304 projects. 

CIS Summer Study Grant

The Center announced sixteen recipients of its summer study grants. The grants are being awarded to doctoral students in international affairs at MIT. Each will receive up to $3,000 for summer studies, which may be used for fieldwork, archival research, or home-based research and write-up. Criteria for the awards include the importance of the research question, the quality of the research proposal, and strong letters of support. 

Wood's "Putin" Piece Among Most Read

Elizabeth Wood, MIT professor of history and director of the MIT-Russia Program, has been recognized for writing one of the top ten most read articles in Slavic journals for the year 2012. BRILL Publishers made the announcement and is allowing free access to the top ten articles from May 1 – July 1, 2013. Professor Wood's piece is available here: Performing Memory: Vladimir Putin and the Celebration of World War II in Russia. Congratulations! 

Rebecca Ochoa Receives SHASS Award

Rebecca Ochoa, from CIS Headquarters, received an Infinite Mile Award from the School of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences (SHASS). The School's Rewards and Recognition Program recognizes individuals (and teams) who make contributions to the organizations within SHASS, as well as exceptional contributions that benefit the entire School and the Institute. Award recipients represent the best of SHASS employees. Rebecca received the award in the category "Unsung Hero" for her strong work ethic and leadership skills along with her outstanding work in event planning, videography, and training.

Starr Forums

The Center hosted multiple Starr Forums, including: Iran and the Nuclear Issue, with Barbara Slavin (Atlantic Council's South Asia Center) and Jim Walsh (MIT); On the Rocks: China and Japan in the East China Sea, featuring Mike Mochizuki (George Washington University), Charles Glaser (George Washington University), Taylor Fravel (MIT), Yukio Okamoto, (Wilhelm Fellow at MIT CIS) and Liu Weimin (Chinese Embassy, Washington); and Marathon Bombing: The Global Context, with Stephen Van Evera, (MIT), Elizabeth Wood, (MIT); Carol Saivetz, (MIT), Bakyt Beshimov, (MIT); Peter Krause, (Boston College); Jeanne Guillemin, (MIT); and Silvia Dominguez, (Northeastern University).

SSP Wednesday Seminars

The Security Studies Program's lunchtime lectures included: Magnus Petersson, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, on "Service Member, Veteran, and Family Wellness: What Is It, and Why Should We Care?"; Gonul Tol, Middle East Institute, on "Turkey and the Arab Spring: Challenges and Opportunities "; Eugene Gholz, University of Texas at Austin, on "The Budget Implications of the U.S. Military Defense of Persian Gulf Oil"; and Klaus Scharioth, Former German Ambassador to the U.S., on "Why Europe Matters for the U.S.: The Future of the Transatlantic Relationship." A full list of SSP Seminars for spring 2013 is available here. 

CIS Audits UAV Drone Use

Since the onset of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States has dramatically increased the development, acquisition, and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As these systems have grown, a chorus of skeptics has raised questions about the tactical, ethical, and strategic implications of this technology. These critics have questioned whether the purported technical benefits of UAVs outweigh potentially problematic ethical and strategic questions they raise. While these concerns are no doubt integral to developing a better and more responsible UAV program, it is important to distinguish between issues related to the technology itself, and those related to how it is employed. Read more.