MIT Center for International Studies

Shivshankar Menon, our 2015 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow and former foreign secretary of India and ambassador to China, was recently quoted in The New York Times:

“It seems the president now only sees China as an economic competitor and is trying to come to a modus vivendi with China.... It doesn’t seem like this US administration is interested in the broader geostrategic issues in Asia.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/politics/trump-china-taiwan.html

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT Security Studies Program

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT SSP (Security Studies Program)

Trump’s Sharp Turn on China: Embracing It as a Peer Power President Trump’s warming with Xi Jinping of China, a leader he admires, has ignited anxieties in Washington and across Asia.

Join us on Tuesday, June 16 at 3:00 PM for an outdoor screening of FIFA World Cup - France vs Senegal at the Kendall/MIT Open Space.

This free, open to the public event is organized by MIT Open Space Programming with community collaborators including the Kendall Square Association, the MIT Center for International Studies, and MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives (MISTI).

Free CIS hacky sacks are available in the MIT E40 cafe!

Registration is recommended. Learn more here: bit.ly/SoccerScreening1

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

The end of the American way of war? | Brookings The Iran war has demonstrated that U.S. forward-deployed forces in the Middle East no longer enjoy sanctuary from attack.

Japan@MIT: A Decade of Bringing Japan to Campus | MIT Global Languages Since its launch in 2015, Japan@MIT has grown into a vibrant and anticipated campus event that brings together students, faculty, and partners to explore Japan-related opportunities at MIT. Organized through the collaboration between Global Languages and MISTI Japan, the event reflects a shared comm...

Joanne Lin, Fulbright Fellow at CIS and senior fellow and coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, discusses how Southeast Asia operates amid rivalry between China and the US in a new Dialogues at Fulcrum podcast episode.

Listen here: https://fulcrum.sg/southeast-asia-between-the-giants/

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Southeast Asia Between the Giants | FULCRUM Fulcrum editor William Choong talks to Piper Campbell and Joanne Lin about Southeast Asia operating amid rivalry between China and the US. Ambassador Campbell is the Inaugural Chair of the Departme…

“I believe that we're in a geopolitical moment that really calls on CIS and CIS strengths, and by that I mean that the questions of technology and research and development in the hard sciences are fundamental to almost every single question we ask on international affairs.”

Dafna Rand, PhD, joined MIT Center for International Studies as its 2025–2026 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow, bringing decades of experience in foreign policy, government service, and think tanks.

Rand has held multiple leadership roles in the US government, most recently serving as US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor through May 2025. Her research and publications focus on international security and democratic reform, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and include two books on the topic.

At CIS, she has been instrumental in launching MENA Futures, an initiative that fosters thoughtful, multidisciplinary conversations about how MIT can engage with the region.

Learn more about her research during her fellowship here: https://youtu.be/fyjFohaqUn0?si=pHN-oS8B4LTdt1-x

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Research Recap: Dafna Rand, Robert E Wilhelm Fellow, MIT Center for International Studies Dafna Rand, PhD, joined the MIT Center for International Studies as its 2025-2026 Robert E Wilhelm Fellow. She served as the US assistant secretary of state ...

Join us tomorrow at 12:00 PM for Best Practices to Save Multilateralism.

Mihaela Papa, director of research and principal research scientist at CIS, will join a panel of experts discussing vulnerabilities in the current multilateral order and innovative approaches to restoring trust and strengthening global cooperation. The discussion will draw on findings of a three-year project conducted by ENSURED.

A virtual attendance option is available. 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

Iran stops peace talks with U.S. to protest Israel's continued bombardment of Lebanon Israel announced it’s expanding attacks in Lebanon, targeting the outskirts of Beirut.

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.