MIT Security Studies Program

MIT Security Studies Program The MIT Security Studies Program is a graduate-level research and Educational Program based at the Center for International Studies at MIT.

The Security Studies Program (SSP) is a graduate-level research and educational program providing insightful analysis of national and international security issues. We are based under the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA. What began in 1976 as the Defense and Arms Control Studies Program, has today become a renowned program with a

particular focus in four areas:

1) Understanding the vast geo-political shifts now underway in Asia;
2) Controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
3) Designing strategies to deal with fragile states and the volatile politics they often generate;
4) Assessing how U.S. national security policy can best address all these challenges. The expertise and work of our faculty, senior advisors and affiliates help educate and inform the public, media, government decision makers, organizations and the MIT community on issues of national and international interest. In addition to hosting graduate students based under MIT’s Department of Political Science, our program is home to three prestigious fellowships: the Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellowship Program; the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship Program; and the Military Fellowship Program. Our graduate students and fellows have gone on to pursue careers in think tanks, government, academia and the private sector.

An operation to take Kharg Island could be difficult due the island’s terrain and civilian population while leaving US f...
06/13/2026

An operation to take Kharg Island could be difficult due the island’s terrain and civilian population while leaving US forces vulnerable to Iranian attacks, says MIT professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge.
Read more via Task & Purpose:

To hold the island, U.S. troops would need to dig in as protection against Iranian missile attacks, a retired senior defense official said.

MIT professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge, along with coauthor Mara Karlin, provide expert analyses and offer ...
06/11/2026

MIT professor of political science Caitlin Talmadge, along with coauthor Mara Karlin, provide expert analyses and offer policy recommendations in their latest research piece for the The Brookings Institution.
Read on:

The Iran war has demonstrated that U.S. forward-deployed forces in the Middle East no longer enjoy sanctuary from attack.

06/09/2026

Mariana Budjeryn, Center for Nuclear Security Policy Senior Researcher, talks about the Chornobyl disaster, Russia’s current occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and current nuclear security challenges.
Watch the full spotlight via the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI : https://youtu.be/mAiNwbTIYso?si=gxcI9Bidx0Qzf6m1

We are pleased to announced that SSP Affiliate Phil Haun’s recent book, “Tactical Airpower and the Vietnam War”, has bee...
06/09/2026

We are pleased to announced that SSP Affiliate Phil Haun’s recent book, “Tactical Airpower and the Vietnam War”, has been shortlisted for the 2025 Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History by RUSI - Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

Congratulations, Phil Haun!

Haun’s book introduces a theory of tactical air power to explain air power effectiveness in modern warfare with a particular focus on the Vietnam War as the first and largest modern air war. Available from Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/tactical-air-power-and-the-vietnam-war/B8A7BB9BEBB692CEEB642868C82DC083 -information

Phil Haun is a professor at the US Naval War College. The Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History is awarded on an annual basis for the best English language writing in the discipline.

Mariana Budjeryn, Center for Nuclear Security Policy Senior Researcher, talks about the Chornobyl disaster, Russia’s cur...
06/05/2026

Mariana Budjeryn, Center for Nuclear Security Policy Senior Researcher, talks about the Chornobyl disaster, Russia’s current occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and current nuclear security challenges.

As part of a SIPRI talk on the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl di...

Iran's semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reports that Iran is stopping talks with the U.S. to protest the continu...
06/02/2026

Iran's semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency reports that Iran is stopping talks with the U.S. to protest the continued bombardment of Lebanon. SSP Senior Research Associate Jim Walsh speaks with WBUR 90.9 FM Here & Now on the latest turn of events.
🎧

Israel announced it’s expanding attacks in Lebanon, targeting the outskirts of Beirut.

Congratulations to SSP’s PhD graduates! We are honored to celebrate the hard-earned achievements of doctors Nicholas Bla...
05/28/2026

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 guidepost...
05/27/2026

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.

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,

Address

E40-400, MIT, 1 Amherst Street
Cambridge, MA
02142

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when MIT Security Studies Program posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category