MIT Security Studies Program

SSP Senior Fellow Charles Glaser addresses US-China security concerns at a recent talk for Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Full talk: https://youtu.be/GzGd1w92U1w?si=AiDK26EYAtmD12LN

Congratulations to SSP’s PhD graduates! We are honored to celebrate the hard-earned achievements of doctors Nicholas Blanchette, Wenyan Deng, Suzanne Freeman, Eleanor Freund, Eyal Hanfling, Wright Smith, Raymond Wang, and Diana Zhu. We look forward to your ongoing contributions to security studies and political science!

And congratulations to Raymond Wang for receiving the Lucien Pye Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis!

📸 1: Grad students and faculty (l-r): Barry Posen, Erik-Lin Greenberg, Nicholas Blanchette, Suzanne Freeman, Diana Zhu, Raymond Wang, Wenyan Deng, Eleanor Freund, Wright Smith, M. Taylor Fravel, Rich Nielsen, and Caitlin Talmadge.

📸 2: Erik Lin-Greenberg, left, and Eyal Hanfling

📸 3: Raymond Wang, left, receives Best Doctoral Thesis Award from Political Science Department Head David Singer.

A group of bipartisan experts, including Center for Nuclear Security Policy Director Vipin Narang, offer basic guideposts for the Pentagon to take into account as it proceeds with its close hold mini review of U.S. nuclear strategy in a new article in RealClearDefense.

Trump’s Nuclear Review Defining U.S. Nuclear Deterrence Policy for an Uncertain World It emerged last month in Congressional hearings that the Trump Pentagon is conducting a close hold mini review of U.S. nuclear strategy,

In a new paper, Stanton Nuclear Fellow Beenish Pervaiz examines the May 2025 crisis between India and Pakistan “to provide a comparative analysis of why and how variations in crisis narratives matter for what could come next.”
Read more via the Stimson Center’s South Asian Voices.
https://southasianvoices.org/sec-f-pk-r-competing-narratives-05-18-2026/

MIT Center for International Studies recently held its final lunch of the semester to celebrate the work and expertise of this year’s fellows, including the fellows at SSP and the Center for Nuclear Security Policy.

Thank you, fellows! We’re excited to see your continued contributions to security studies!

On April 15, SSP had the honor of presenting former Commander, US Cyber Command and Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service General Timothy D. Haugh with the General James Doolittle Award. In a discussion with SSP Director M. Taylor Fravel, General Haugh spoke about a range of issues related to intelligence, cyber, emerging technologies, and national security.

Named after General James Doolittle, the Doolittle Award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of US air power.

Learn more about the Doolittle Award: https://ssp.mit.edu/news/2026/2026-doolittle-award-recipient-general-timothy-d-haugh-former-commander-u-s-cyber-command

SSP Senior Fellow Charles Glaser speaks to Amherst College Professor Eleonora Mattiacci about his latest book “Retrench, Defend, Compete: Securing America’s Future Against a Rising China”.
🔖Bookmark now, 🎧listen later via New Books Network:
https://newbooksnetwork.com/retrench-defend-compete

In a new paper, Mariana Budjeryn examines the global nuclear order after the Cold War, specifically asking why “did only Russia emerge as the only possessor of Soviet nuclear weapons in the post-Soviet space?”
Read the full article via Journal of Strategic Studies:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2026.2659055

SSP Director M. Taylor Fravel speaks with NPR’s Emily Feng about China’s expanding nuclear program and the escalating security dilemma. “What [China] worried about was that the U.S. was developing what's known as conventional long-range strike weapons that could be used to attack China's nuclear forces,” Fravel says.
🎧Listen now:
https://www.wusf.org/2026-05-10/why-has-china-doubled-its-nuclear-capacity-in-the-last-decade