MIT Center for International Studies

Congratulations to our graduates!

Congratulations to our Political Science PhDs! We celebrate the dedication, determination, and creativity of all of our graduates and look forward to staying in touch in the coming years.

Front row: Suzanne Freeman, Wenyan Deng, Ye Zhang, and Diana (Tingxuan) Zhu.

Back row: Sukrit Puri, Nicholas Blanchette, Eleanor Freund, Eyal Hanfling, Raymond Wang, and Wright Smith.

MIT Security Studies Program MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT Center for International Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

✨ "MIT gives you incredible technical training, but MISTI provides the chance to apply that knowledge in a completely new environment — where constraints, users, and systems are all different."

🏆 Harley Carroll ’26, one of the recipients of the 2026 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders, has completed MISTI programs in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Italy.

🌎 Her experiences include Global Teaching Labs in Italy and Germany, a MISTI Global Classroom in Abu Dhabi, and a summer internship in London!

Learn more about her MISTI experiences here:

Harley honored with the 2026 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders Harley Carroll ‘26 has completed MISTI programs in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Italy. She participated in Global Teaching Labs over two IAPs, where she taught biology and math in Italy and Germany.

🏆 Congratulations to Eduardo Rivera, assistant director of MISTI Data Systems and managing director of MIT-Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay, on receiving the Infinite Mile Award at Thursday’s ceremony!

✨ We’re grateful for his many contributions to MISTI!

Evan Lieberman, director of CIS and Total Professor of MIT Political Science and Contemporary Africa, discusses findings from his recent paper, “Beyond the tap: The limited value of democracy for delivering universal safe water access in low- and middle-income countries,” which shows that democratic countries have fallen behind in ensuring access to safe tap water.

Read more here: https://news.mit.edu/2026/some-democracies-struggle-to-ensure-safe-drinking-water-0521

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Some democracies are struggling to ensure safe drinking water While democracies are slightly ahead of non-democracies when it comes to providing at least some water to the public, they have been falling behind when it comes to ensuring that water is clean and safe, a new study shows.

Join us on Thursday, June 4 at 12:00 PM for Best Practices to Save Multilateralism, co-sponsored by United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, Global Governance Innovation Platform, and ENSURED.

Mihaela Papa, director of research at CIS, will speak on a panel discussing recent research on the vulnerabilities of the current multilateral order and the innovative practices that could restore trust and strengthen global cooperation.

Join in person at One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in New York City or attend online. Learn more here: https://unu.edu/cpr/event/best-practices-save-multilateralism

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Best Practices to Save Multilateralism Exploring the vulnerabilities of the current multilateral order – and the innovative practices required to strengthen global cooperation

“I have yet to meet a professor that cares more for their students” MIT Associate Professor Daniel Hidalgo, a political scientist who studies elections, democracy, and political behavior in Latin America, is honored as “Committed to Caring” for graduate student mentorship.

We recently bid farewell to our 2025–2026 fellows at our final CIS lunch of the semester.

Each year, our fellows bring invaluable perspectives and expertise to CIS through their research and engagement with our community.

We are grateful for all they have contributed to CIS and look forward to seeing where their work takes them next.

• Dafna Rand, 2025-2026 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow
• Andrii Galkin, Alyona Glushko, Andriy Popov, Radmila Segol, Volodymyr Tkach, Global MIT At-Risk Fellows (GMAF)-Ukraine fellows
• Habib Adebisi Abubakar, Odinakachukwu Chidinma Echeta, Usman Garba, Obumneme Onyeka Okwonna, Empowering the Teachers (ETT) fellows
• Lilia Yapparova, fellow
• Joanne Lin, Fulbright fellow
• Eli Sanchez, Center for Nuclear Security Policy postdoctoral fellow
• Joshua Byun, Florian Galleri, Beenish Pervaiz, CNSP Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows
• Claire Smark (United Kingdom), Heukjin Boo (South Korea), Jasmine Latimore (Australia) CNSP international fellows, Center for Nuclear Security Policy
• Lt Col Dan Knudson, US Marine Corps; Col Ian Fleischmann, US Army; Lt Col Jonathan Ng, US Air Force; CDR Brian Laws, US Navy; LTC David Powell, US Army; MIT Security Studies Program military fellows
• Joshua Kertzer, visiting professor

Learn more about our fellowship programs here: https://cis.mit.edu/opportunities/fellows-affiliates

🇯🇵 Hiromu Nagahara, Mitsui Career Development Professor of History and associated faculty of the MIT-Japan Program, is among the six recipients of the James A. (’48) and Ruth Levitan Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2026!

Read here → https://shass.mit.edu/six-mit-shass-educators-receive-2026-levitan-teaching-awards/

CIS would like to congratulate our MIT Political Science graduates!

Among those who received their doctorates during the past academic year, 10 are affiliated with CIS.

September 2025 Graduates
Nicholas Blanchette, MIT Security Studies Program
Suzanne Freeman, SSP
Eleanor Freund, SSP
Sukrit Puri, GDL
Raymond Wang, SSP

February 2026 Graduates
Wenyan Deng, SSP
Eyal Hanfling, GDL
Miriam Hinthorn, SSP

May 2026 Graduates
Wright Smith, SSP
Diana (Tingxuan) Zhu, SSP

We wish you the best and applaud this incredible achievement!

On Wednesday, April 29, we hosted AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Generated with Peter Pomerantsev, senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and one of the world's leading voices on propaganda and authoritarian disinformation.

Halyna Padalko, Fulbright scholar at the Center for International Studies, moderated the discussion.

This event was sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the MIT-Ukraine Program, and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, in conjunction with the MIT course AI and Propaganda in Contemporary War taught by Elizabeth Wood and Halyna Padalko.

Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ALxSjkxTc

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Generated AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Generated | Wednesday, April 29, 2026A public conversation with Peter Pomerantsev, British-Ukrainian au...

The MIT-MENA Program hosted the inaugural MENA Futures talk on March 10, featuring 2025–2026 Wilhelm Fellow Dafna Rand, former USAID Mission Directors Leslie Reed and Sean Jones, as well as MIT faculty and researchers. The discussion focused on the future of US technology-enabled development approaches in Egypt and Jordan.

The MENA Futures talk series brings together expertise across research, technology, policy, and practice to create new pathways for MIT engagement with the region.

Learn more here: https://cis.mit.edu/news/rethinking-us-technology-enhanced-development-egypt-and-jordan

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives (MISTI)