The Threat of Nuclear War: The Competing Stories of Iran and North Korea

The Threat of Nuclear War: The Competing Stories of Iran and North Korea

Featuring Dr. Jim Walsh

Wednesday, June 5th, 6 PM

Mara Auditorium in Webster Hall 

North Korea is years beyond the nuclear "breakout" the US so fears in Iran. Yet, there are similarities in how US foreign policy should be shaped to reduce the threat of a nuclear crisis with both countries. Is the US safer today, a year after President Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal or are we more at risk? What are the consequences of the no deal outcome from the meeting with Kim Jong-un? Dr. James Walsh will discuss current challenges as well as workable strategies to address the threats of Iran and North Korea.

Campus Map With Parking

About Dr. Jim Walsh

Dr. Jim Walsh is a Senior Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program (SSP).  Dr. Walsh's research and writings focus on international security, and in particular, topics involving nuclear weapons, the Middle East, and East Asia. Dr. Walsh has testified before the United States Senate and House of Representatives on issues of nuclear terrorism, Iran, and North Korea. He is one of a handful of Americans who has traveled to both Iran and North Korea for talks with officials about nuclear issues. His recent publications include “Stopping North Korea, Inc.: Sanctions Effectiveness and Unintended Consequences” and “Rivals, Adversaries, and Partners: Iran and Iraq in the Middle East” in Iran and Its Neighbors. He is the international security contributor to the NPR program “Here and Now,” and his comments and analysis have appeared in the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and numerous other national and international media outlets.  Before coming to MIT, Dr. Walsh was Executive Director of the Managing the Atom project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a visiting scholar at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has taught at both Harvard University and MIT. Dr. Walsh received his Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.