SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh thinks that the US may be ready to walk away from the war, despite not having met its strategic goals. 🎧Listen to the full interview with @wbur.org https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2026/04/08/trump-iran-ceasefire

Center for Nuclear Security Policy Senior Researcher @mbudjeryn.bsky.social discusses the impasse in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in this @tvpworld.bsky.social interview. Full interview: https://youtu.be/UdLTd_dwjJU?si=aY8Y-KfTEzUTQ6XD

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, @jkertzer.bsky.social explores the role of advisers in foreign policy, highlighting the systematically different counsel offered by hawkish and dovish advisers. 📡Bookmark the livestream* https://bit.ly/4dXZaAH *This talk will be livestreamed but not recorded.

“AI is an extraordinary tool—but it’s not a genie to which humans can delegate judgment,” writes Joel Brenner, SSP Senior Research Fellow. Read Brenner’s full commentary, “Myth of the AI Oracle” via @lawfaremedia.org https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/myth-of-the-ai-oracle

Thank you, Rachel Myrick, for your informative discussion “Polarization and International Politics” at last week’s Wednesday Seminar. And special thanks to Caitlin Talmadge for guest hosting. Only three more seminars remaining for the semester! @rachelmyrick.bsky.social @proftalmadge.bsky.social

Congratulations to SSP PhD student Daniel Cebul on receiving the Smith Richardson Foundation’s World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship!

Mariana Budjeryn’s 2022 book, “Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine”, is now available in a Polish translation. @mbudjeryn.bsky.social, a senior researcher at the MIT’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy, examines the nuclear legacy...

SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh says this is the biggest use of oil as a weapon, even more so than previous wars in the Middle East. Watch the full discussion via @aljazeera.com: www.aljazeera.com/video/inside...

“New Delhi still counts the United States as its most important—if less reliable—partner, motivating it to play the best hand it is dealt while placing smaller bets elsewhere,” writes SSP Affiliate Sameer Lalwani for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Read more: https://bit.ly/4shioEJ

Congratulations to SSP Affiliate Francis Gavin for receiving the 2026 Lionel Gelber Prize for his book “Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy”!

One month into the war with Iran, both sides are losing, says Jim Walsh, SSP Senior Research Associate, speaking to @wbur.org Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan. 🎧Listen to the full segment: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2026/03/27/iran-war-one-month

🥪Spend your lunchtime with us! In tomorrow’s Wednesday Seminar, Rachel Myrick will discuss her research, arguing that polarization reshapes the nature of constraints on democratic leaders. Livestream*: https://bit.ly/4tbWL9A *This livestream will not be recorded. @rachelmyrick.bsky.social

In their latest paper published by American Political Science Review, Stanton Fellow Joshua Byun and co-author Hyunku Kwon asks, “How can governments in racially divided societies protect vulnerable populations from political violence after large-scale internal conflict?” https://bit.ly/4bIcebS

n our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, @rachelmyrick.bsky.social will discuss her research, arguing that polarization reshapes the nature of constraints on democratic leaders, which in turn erodes the advantages democracies have in foreign affairs. Learn more: ssp.mit.edu/events/2026/...

@proftalmadge.bsky.social says that Iran is probably already thinking about deterring the next war, "part of the way you deter the next round is to teach more powerful adversaries that they don’t control when the dance stops, once the music starts.” @brookings.edu www.brookings.edu/articles/why...

Thank you, Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of @thebulletin.org, for your lively discussion on “The Third Nuclear Age” at last week’s Wednesday Seminar. 📼ICYMI catch up with the conversation with the recorded stream: https://youtube.com/live/ohOSv5unJiE?feature=share

@mbudjeryn.bsky.social, CNSP Senior Researcher, joins a panel of experts to discuss Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant’s status and what support Ukraine needs to maintain and secure its nuclear sites. Watch the Helsinki Commission briefing: https://bit.ly/4bGHmag

“When you calculate what munitions to use, there is a strong tendency to optimise on reducing risk to your own forces in the present context,” says Eric Heginbotham, Wargaming Lab Co-director. via @financialtimes.com: https://bit.ly/4dDZ2G3

"Choosing to fight can lead to all the normal costs of war—death, destruction, and a shift in resources from butter to guns—but not bring the expected benefits in terms of enhanced reputation for resolve,” writes @joshschwartz.bsky.social, SSP visiting scholar. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NkrsdJ

Mariana Budjeryn, Center for Nuclear Security Policy Research Associate, joins an international panel on @france24.com to discuss the next possible phase of the war in Iran. Full debate: https://bit.ly/47g9gIN @mbudjeryn.bsky.social

MIT professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge (@proftalmadge.bsky.social) speaks to the @nytimes.com and @wsj.com this week about Iran.

“It is hard to imagine effective or safe mine clearance operations while the larger war is going on,” says @proftalmadge.bsky.social in @financialtimes.com. “This is not a mission you want to be doing in the middle of a shooting war.” Read the full article: https://bit.ly/47QvKAg

🥗Spend your lunchtime with us! In tomorrow’s Wednesday Seminar, Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of @thebulletin.org, will discuss recent developments in nuclear proliferation, arms control, and strategy. 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/410Baoz

SSP’s Barry Posen comments on General McChrystal’s comparison of Trump’s second-term foreign policy to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. Read on, from @theatlantic.com: https://bit.ly/3Nrvv7Y

“Politicians often leverage the public’s fascination with hostages and captives for political advantage, weaponising the drama of kidnapping incidents to criticise opponents, win elections, and pursue other political objectives,” write MIT professor @rjsamuels.bsky.social and SSP alum Nick Ackert.

Thank you, Kari Bingen, Senior Fellow @csis.org, for your engaging discussion “Invisible Frontlines: Security and Competition in the Space Domain” at this week’s Wednesday Seminar. 📼ICYMI catch up with the conversation with the recorded stream: https://youtube.com/live/B6ek7j3lCpk?feature=share

MIT professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge (@proftalmadge.bsky.social ) contributes a piece to today's @foreignaffairs.com with “The Hormuz Minefield”. Read the full article: https://fam.ag/41249Iy Talmadge also talks to @nytimes.com about the Strait: https://nyti.ms/4cFIqgO

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, Alexandra Bell will discuss recent developments in nuclear proliferation, arms control, and strategy. Bell is the president and CEO of @thebulletin.org. 🗓️3/18 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/410Baoz

SSP professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge (@proftalmadge.bsky.social) talks to a number of outlets this week regarding the possible risks to naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz.

Mariana Budjeryn (@mbudjeryn.bsky.social ), Center for Nuclear Security Policy Research Associate, joins a panel of experts to discuss Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. 🗓️3/16/26 10:30am ET 📡Bookmark the Helsinki Commission livestream briefing: https://bit.ly/4sElMdo

🥪Spend your lunchtime with us! In tomorrow’s Wednesday Seminar, Kari Bingen, Senior Fellow @csis.org, will discuss the landscape of space security and competition. 🗓️3/11 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/4svYaru

SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks with the @hankyoreh.bsky.social about the wider ramifications of the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran. 📰Read the full interview: https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/1248443.html

Thank you, Paul DeLuca, for sharing your work at RAND with us at this week’s Wednesday Seminar! ICYM you can catch up with the recorded stream🎞️ https://youtube.com/live/BFP38r5RpIY?feature=share

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, Kari Bingen, Senior Fellow at @csis.org, will discuss the landscape of space security and competition. Learn more: https://bit.ly/47glAbX 🗓️3/11 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/4svYaru

Center for Nuclear Security Policy Caitlin Talmadge with the Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon provide expert insight for the @brookings.edu’s “After the strike: The danger of war in Iran”. Read more: www.brookings.edu/articles/aft... @proftalmadge.bsky.social

🌮Spend your lunchtime with us! In tomorrow’s Wednesday Seminar, Paul DeLuca, director of the Navy and Marine Forces Program at RAND, will discuss the relationship between maritime forces and supply chain security and insecurity. 🗓️3/4 at noon ET 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/4cVsOpk

“It doesn’t matter what Hegseth says at a podium. What matters is what the Iranians believe, and they believe it’s about regime survival,” says SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh about the goal of US military action in Iran. 🎧via @wbur.org Here and Now: www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh, speaking to Fox News about the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran says, “there’s no indication to the intelligence community, the US intelligence community or anyone else, that they were actively restarting their nuclear program.” www.foxnews.com/video/639023...

Thank you, @jonrlindsay.bsky.social, for your book discussion “Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft” at this week’s Wednesday Seminar. ICYMI you can catch up on the conversation with the recorded stream. 🎥 https://youtube.com/live/yJRGUArzrKg?feature=share

In a new report from @csis.org China Power, SSP Director M. Taylor Fravel (@fravel.bsky.social) writes the purge would create challenges for the PLA "in undertaking large-scale military operations such as a blockade or amphibious assault of Taiwan.” Read the full report: https://bit.ly/3ODuCtm

⚠️FINAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!⚠️ Are you a PhD student, junior faculty member, or early/mid-career national security practitioner interested in using wargaming as an analytic or teaching tool? Apply for the 2026 Summer Wargaming Lab Institute! Learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/49DlhZj

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, Paul DeLuca, director of the Navy and Marine Forces Program at RAND, will discuss the relationship between maritime forces and supply chain security and insecurity. 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/4cVsOpk

“You can think of the purge of Zhang Youxia as just completing the first phase, with more turbulence to come,” says SSP Director @fravel.bsky.social in a recent @nytimes.com article. 📰 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/w...

@cato.org hosts SSP Senior Fellow Charles Glaser and the @brookings.edu’s Patricia Kim to discuss US policy towards China. Full discussion 👇🏽

🍔Spend your lunchtime with us! In this week’s Wednesday Seminar, @jonrlindsay.bsky.social will discuss his new book, “Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft”. 🗓️2/25 at noon ET 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/40kP9VU

“Taken together, our analysis suggests that the U.S. military should look for ways to use AI in capabilities and operational concepts that leverage mass, deception, mission command, and cyber resilience,” write SSP Alum Zach Burdette along with coauthors from RAND. https://bit.ly/4qPZwvX

Congratulations to Erik Lin-Greenberg for receiving the 2026 Best Book Award from the Conflict Processes Section of the @apsa.bsky.social. Lin-Greenberg’s “The Remote Revolution" studies drone use and its impact on military and state action. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4cbyPy8

SSP Director M. Taylor Fravel @fravel.bsky.social) joins a panel of experts to discuss the scope and impacts of the recent purges within the People’s Liberation Army. 🗓️2/24 3-4:30pm ET Register now for this online event hosted by the Center for Strategic Studies (@csis.org): https://bit.ly/4aHhpXF

In our next Wednesday Seminar, @jonrlindsay.bsky.social will discuss his new book, “Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft”, which explores the dimensions of cybersecurity within a broader historical context of intelligence operations. 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/40kP9VU

“It is unnecessary and patronizing to push the issue of presidential elections in Ukraine in these peace talks—Ukrainians will insist on the elections themselves the moment security situation in the country allows,” writes Mariana Budjeryn via @brookings.edu https://bit.ly/4rllw2J