SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks to @wbur.org Here & Now, saying Trump wants “a big grab bag of things” from Iran in the US-Iran negotiations. 🎧Full conversation: www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Thank you, Sebastian Rosato (@krocinstitute.bsky.social), for your engaging discussion on "Commerce and Conflict" at this week’s Wednesday Seminar. ICYMI catch up with the conversation with the recorded stream📼 https://youtube.com/live/6I_tEvo_3rc?feature=share

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, Professor Elena Kempf will discuss the history of weapons prohibitions during the 19th and 20th centuries. 🗓️2/11 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://youtube.com/live/Rk0gpfYTWUA?feature=share

If you are a recent or soon-to-be college graduate interested in China’s foreign and security policies and possess advanced Chinese language skills, then consider applying for the China research support associate position at MIT’s Security Studies Program. Info + application: https://bit.ly/4rCIhz3

“States can keep trading with an adversary in particular circumstances: when trade doesn’t help the enemy win the war and when cutting that trade would be damaging to the state’s long-term security,” writes SSP's Mariya Grinberg. Read more via @foreignaffairs.com https://fam.ag/4kaP7sM

Wednesday Seminars return tomorrow, February 4, with Sebastian Rosato, @krocinstitute.bsky.social, examining the relationship between commerce and conflict in international affairs. 🗓️2/4 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/468pVNO

“We find concerning evidence that automated nuclear weapons launch systems may enhance the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats,” write @joshschwartz.bsky.social, SSP visiting scholar, & @mchorowitz.bsky.social in their latest article for International Organization https://bit.ly/3LLxxPA

Wednesday Seminars return on February 4 with Sebastian Rosato, @krocinstitute.bsky.social, examining the relationship between commerce and conflict in international affairs. 🗓️2/4 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream https://bit.ly/468pVNO

"For much of the post–Cold War period, it is fair to say that Europeans underinvested in defense, partly because threats were low, & partly because a series of U.S. presidents did everything they could to convince Europeans that we would stay there forever," says Barry Posen https://fxn.ws/4q0A0n1

SSP Director @fravel.bsky.social speaks with @npr.org about the recent Chinese military purges. 🎧Listen to full story www.npr.org/transcripts/...

Excerpt from recent Center for Nuclear Security Policy's Strategic Simplicity podcast. This episode also introduces new CNSP Senior Nuclear Fellow Matthew Sharp. Bookmark for the commute home: strategicsimplicity.substack.com/p/shibboleth...

And that’s a wrap on SSP’s Independent Activities Period for 2026. Special thanks to our Military Fellows for presenting a range of engaging discussions on national security within their service branch. Upcoming program schedule: https://ssp.mit.edu/events/upcoming.

SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh says the latest FAA warning to pilots over the Eastern Pacific is just that, “a warning. It’s a caution. It’s in force for two months, but doesn’t actually restrict airspace like we did in Venezuela.” 🎞️Full interview via Fox: www.foxnews.com/video/638787...

Join us for this week’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) discussions led by SSP National Security Fellows. IAPs are open to MIT students, fellows, faculty, staff, and alumni. 📍E40-496. IAPs will not be livestreamed. View the schedule & updates: https://bit.ly/4qBkkI8

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

SSP’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) discussions begin this week. IAPs are open to MIT students, fellows, faculty, staff, and alumni. Join us! Full schedule https://ssp.mit.edu/events/upcoming Please note: IAPs will not be livestreamed.

SSP Affiliate @peterkrause.bsky.social speaks with @npr.org about the Trump Administration's willingness to act unilaterally against other countries and what this means for international relations.

Over the next two weeks our Military Fellows will be leading discussions related to national security. IAPs are open to MIT students, fellows, faculty, staff, and alumi. Each session will be held in E40-496. IAPs will not be livestreamed. Schedule & updates: https://ssp.mit.edu/events/upcoming

“I would argue that there has been absolutely no regime change here. No institutions have been changed. It’s a leadership decapitation explicitly designed it seems to avoid regime change,” says @proftalmadge.bsky.social via @brookings.edu. Full discussion: https://bit.ly/4bs0DxF

“There’s no debate that Maduro was a bad guy, right? But does that justify the breach of international borders, the international recognized borders and the unsanctioned use of military force?” asks @mbudjeryn.bsky.social of the “Donroe Doctrine” via @france24.com. www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...

“The U.S. intervention in Venezuela epitomizes the American way of war since 9/11: stunningly effective tactics by special operations forces, dangerously divorced from any coherent story about how they will produce strategic and political success,” @proftalmadge.bsky.social https://bit.ly/4szy9s8

“Commercial actors in conflict face a difficult tradeoff: closer coordination with governments can offer protection and mitigate the effect of hostile action; however, such coordination also makes commercial actors a more appealing target.” Full report: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The Center for Nuclear Security Policy (CNSP) within MIT’s Security Studies Program is pleased to announce that Dr. Matthew Sharp has joined CNSP as a Senior Nuclear Fellow. Read the full announcement: ssp.mit.edu/news/2026/dr...

The new issue of Early Warning is now available. Catch up on the latest from the SSP community featuring news from the Center for Nuclear Security Policy, the Wargaming Lab, faculty, alumni, and more. 📰Early Warning December 2025: https://mailchi.mp/mit/newsletterdec2025

“The West has so many resources, it's a military powerhouse, and to think that with all those resources they couldn't give Ukraine what Ukraine needed… So I think the paradigm has not shifted in time. And I wonder whether it's not too late now,” said Mariana Budjeryn. https://bit.ly/44Gllpp

Yes … you can defend Taiwan without striking bases inside China," says Eric Heginbotham, MIT Wargaming Lab Co-director, "But you are giving away a significant advantage." Read more from Fox News: https://fxn.ws/48SkIu0

⚠️Application deadline extended!⚠️ The Security Studies Program at MIT invites post-doctoral or junior faculty scholars of European security to apply for a one-year residential fellowship, the European Security Policy Fellow, for the 2026-2027 academic year. Info + application https://bit.ly/4aiueZX

SSP recently hosted Admiral Lee Hsi-min, former Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Taiwan, to discuss his new book, “Defending Our Island Home: An Asymmetric Approach to Taiwan’s Defense”. Thank you, ADM Lee and @iips.bsky.social, for presenting this important topic.

A theoretical Chinese invasion of Taiwan includes launching missiles on US targets in Japan, “not just a large number [of missiles] but a large variety so that missile defenses have to cope with different types of missiles,” says Eric Heginbotham, via @wsj.com 📰 https://on.wsj.com/3YuCE9k

On Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy, SSP’s @proftalmadge.bsky.social writes, “this document does not present a coherent strategy for securing the United States, but it reveals plenty about the hollowness of the administration’s ideology.” Read more from @brookings.edu https://bit.ly/4aTgXHk

Mariana Budjeryn (@mbudjeryn.bsky.social) writes, “the silver lining of the unfolding Ukrainian drama is that the country’s anti-corruption institutions are doing exactly what they have been established to do..." Read her full commentary for @brookings.edu: www.brookings.edu/articles/war...

Today's (12/10) Wednesday Seminar has be canceled. It will be reschedule at a later date. Sorry for any inconvenience. Wednesday Seminars will resume in February 2026. Check out our events page for schedule updates: https://ssp.mit.edu/events/upcoming

SSP Senior Fellow Charles Glaser’s new book, “Retrench, Defend, Compete”, makes a bold case for ending US security commitments to Taiwan and carefully calibrating its policies on protecting South China Sea maritime features. Available now: https://bit.ly/4rF1ktj

Today!

In our final Wednesday Seminar of the semester, Risa Brooks will discuss how political leaders transform professional militaries into partisan aligned forces in eroding democracies. 📡Bookmark the livestream https://youtube.com/live/xP1o4ATVRRQ?feature=share @risabrooks12.bsky.social

Thank you, Diane Staheli, for your Wednesday Seminar discussion in which you shared your work on AI in the Biden administration. ICYMI catch up on the conversation with the recorded stream: https://youtube.com/live/xgll7FtlnuI?feature=share

Join us for a special seminar with Admiral Lee Hsi-min, Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2017 to 2019, to discuss his book “Defending Our Island Home: An Asymmetric Approach to Taiwan’s Defense”. This event will not be recorded or livestreamed. @iips.bsky.social

In today's Wednesday Seminar, Diane Staheli will discuss the Biden administration's approach to AI governance, including initiatives to promote innovation, responsible development, safeguard privacy, and ensure global competitiveness. Streaming: https://youtube.com/live/xgll7FtlnuI?feature=share

Former Stanton Fellow Doreen Horschig and coauthor Diya Ashtakala analyze the state of US nuclear assurances, examining how US allies in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific are recalibrating their views and responses to extended nuclear deterrence. Via @csis.org www.csis.org/analysis/str...

Join us online today at 3:30 for the latest in the Focus on Eurasia series, Russia’s war against Ukraine: Will it lead to crisis in Moscow? A conversation with Fiona Hill. Register now! https://calendar.mit.edu/event/a-conversation-with-fiona-hill

In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, Diane Staheli will discuss the Biden administration's approach to AI governance, including initiatives to promote innovation, responsible development, safeguard privacy, and ensure global competitiveness. 📡livestreaming: youtube.com/live/xgll7Ft...

In the upcoming Focus on Eurasia online series, Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the @brookings.edu, and MIT’s Carol Saivetz and Elizabeth Wood discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine. Sponsored by MIT CIS, MIT-Eurasia, and SSP. Register now https://calendar.mit.edu/event/a-conversation-with-fiona-hill

Thank you, Jeffrey Rathke, for sharing your thoughts during last week’s Wednesday Seminar on the recent transformations of German Security and defense policy, a unique perspective as the president of the American-German Institute. 📺Recorded stream https://youtube.com/live/UMqxoBsKT7w?feature=share

Join us for a special seminar with Admiral Lee Hsi-min, Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2017 to 2019, to discuss his book “Defending Our Island Home: An Asymmetric Approach to Taiwan’s Defense”. This event will not be recorded or livestreamed.

In the upcoming Focus on Eurasia, Fiona Hill, senior fellow @brookings.edu, and MIT’s Carol Saivetz and Elizabeth Wood discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine. Sponsored by MIT Center for International Studies, MIT-Eurasia, and SSP. Register for this online event now! calendar.mit.edu/event/a-conv...

“For international relations and security studies scholars, the continued reluctance by nuclear-armed states to employ their arsenals – even when fighting and losing major wars – remains a significant puzzle,” write @laurensukin.bsky.social, @herzogsm.bsky.social, @smetanamichal.bsky.social, & (1/2)

Recently SSP hosted the Honorable Kathleen Hicks, former Deputy Secretary of Defense & SSP alum, for a fireside chat. Dr. Hicks covered a range of issues including the future of warfare, China’s nuclear modernization, & civil-military relations. Thank you, Dr. Hicks, for an engaging conversation!

SSP faculty member Richard Nielsen was named faculty director of the MIT-MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Program. Nielsen’s field of expertise includes Middle East politics, international relations, religion, gender, and political violence. Congratulations, Rich!

In tomorrow’s Wednesday Seminar, Jeffrey Rathke, president of the American-German Institute, discusses recent transformations of German Security and defense policy. 📡Bookmark the livestream: https://youtube.com/live/UMqxoBsKT7w?feature=share

Thank you, Rebeccah Heinrichs, for your discussion on “Deterring Two Nuclear Peers and the New Consensus” during last week’s Wednesday Seminar. And thanks to Vipin Narang for guest hosting this thoughtful dialogue. ICYMI catch up with conversation with the recorded stream youtube.com/live/7MjY8qx...