The MIT Center for International Studies publishes précis twice a year.
Essays, activities, and the accomplishments of our research community are featured.
Evan Lieberman reflects on the last few months at CIS after his recent appointment as its new director. He began his term with a look back to the Center’s origins, born of the politics of the Cold War. More than seven decades later, this past continues to echo loudly as we confront a new, arguably much more complex set of realities, he says.
MENA/MIT at CIS houses and connects activities and initiatives across MIT related to the Middle East and North Africa region. In this interview, Richard Nielsen and David Dolev discuss MENA/MIT engagement with the MIT community, its contributions to the Institute's educational and research objectives, and their goals for 2024.
CIS recognizes the contributions of its PhD students to the growing body of relevant research to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The dissertations of Nasir Almasri and Elizabeth Parker-Magyar offer helpful perspectives on contributing factors and regional outcomes of the war.
The Center hosted the MIT delegates for a post-COP28 event to reflect on their time at the conference. Approximately two dozen members of the MIT community were among the reported 85,000 people who attended the conference in Dubai. The CIS event, “MIT Reflects on COP28,” was held on January 17th and was sponsored by the Center's newly formed Climate/MIT.
The Empowering the Teachers fellowship program at CIS brings talented Nigerian academics at the postdoctoral level to MIT for a semester-long immersive experience, then sends them back out into the field to teach, research, and grow into influential leadership roles in their higher education system.
Read summaries of the recently published books by the Center’s research community.


BRIEFINGS

The new Global MIT At-Risk Fellows (GMAF) program provides sanctuary to scholars around the globe. GMAF is being piloted by the MIT-Ukraine Program and will be hosting Ukrainian researchers and faculty as fellows at MIT. Join us on Feb 29 to launch the program.

What is the nature of the relationship between China and Russia today, and how extensively will the two countries keep cooperating in the future? It is a leading question of international relations. A Starr Forum at MIT offered some answers, with foreign-policy scholars weighing in.

Drew Story, the managing director of the MIT Policy Lab, shared that the lab has supported 110 policy impact projects to date. In this Q&A, he discusses the purpose and motivations of the lab, its current projects, and his vision for leveraging MIT expertise beyond academia.

The 2023-2024 Global Seed Fund cycle received 227 proposals, totaling $6.29 million in requested funds. The awardees for this term will be announced in spring of 2024. The current call included new funds in Armenia, Brazil, India, and Norway.

Daron Acemoglu’s talk drew on themes detailed in his book “Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity,” which was co-written with Simon Johnson and published last year. He was joined by Fotini Christia.

Lawrence McCray, an expert in science policy, was a founder of the Center's Program on Emerging Technologies and mentored many MIT graduate students during his time at CIS. He passed away on December 26, 2023.

Learn about our recent activities, including: Wargaming in Washington, DC; MISTI students' global experiences over IAP; Starr Forums; Policy Lab in action; Global Diversity Lab's summer research program; SSP Wednesday seminars; SSP military fellows teach IAP courses; Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration; and the Bustani Middle East Seminar.


End Notes features the professional achievements of our research community. This includes recent awards, speaking engagements, and publications.
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