Vipin Narang

Biography

Vipin Narang is an Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and a member of MIT’s Security Studies Program. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government, Harvard University in May 2010, where he was awarded the Edward M. Chase Prize for the best dissertation in international relations. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering with distinction from Stanford University and an M. Phil with Distinction in international relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied on a Marshall Scholarship. He has been a fellow at Harvard University’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, a predoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Stanton junior faculty fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. His research interests include nuclear proliferation and strategy, South Asian security, and general security studies.

His first book Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era (Princeton University Press, 2014) on the deterrence strategies of regional nuclear powers won the 2015 ISA International Security Studies Section Best Book Award. He is currently working on his second book, Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation (Princeton University Press, under contract), which explores how states pursue nuclear weapons.  His work has been published in several journals including International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, The Washington Quarterly,and International Organization.

Research

Narang's research interests include nuclear proliferation, South Asian security, quantitative conflict studies, international relations theory, and general security studies.

Recent Publications

"Democratic Accountability and Foreign Security Policy: Theory and Evidence From India," Security Studies, January 8, 2018. With Paul Staniland. link.

"Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation: How States Pursue the Bomb" International Security, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Winter 2016/17), pp. 110–150. pdf

“Civil-Military Pathologies and Defeat in War: Tests Using New Data,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, January 2017. With Caitlin Talmadge. link

Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014. link

Vipin Narang, "What Does it Take to Deter? Regional Power Nuclear Postures and International Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 57, no. 3 (June, 2013), pp. 478-508. link.

Teaching

News

Is a New Nuclear Age Upon Us?

December 30, 2020 Niicholas Miller & Vipin Narang Foreign Affairs

Looking back, it is clear that we missed the mark—by being too optimistic. Over the past year, Washington has not only faced nuclear crises with North Korea, Russia, and Iran, as predicted; it has also watched as nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan stumbled to the brink of all-out war and a host of U.S. allies began to rethink their nuclear options. Unless governments in Washington and elsewhere act quickly to reverse course, future scholars may look back on 2019 as the turning point from an era of relative calm to one of intense nuclear competition and proliferation—the dawn of a dangerous new nuclear age.

“The most important takeaway from Iran’s strike is just how precise their short-range ballistic missiles were...The accuracy revolution is real and no longer a monopoly of the United States. This has huge implications for modern conflict.”

-Vipin Narang

January 15, 2020 The Economist

Despite Iran's announcement that it won't abide by enrichment levels and quantities set by the JCPOA, "it is still quite far from having enough enriched uranium for a bomb, let alone a functional arsenal because...of the JCPOA."

-Vipin Narang

January 5, 2020 CNN

“He was a monster, no question...But there’s a consequentialist argument as well.”

-Vipin Narang

January 4, 2020 The New York Times

“The message was loud and clear. This was Kim Jong Un’s maximum pressure campaign on President Trump. Like if you’re not hearing me about changing your calculations and giving sanctions relief and security guarantee and getting rid of the hostile policy, I can show you what long-range missiles look like,”

-Vipin Narang

December 18, 2019 CNBC

“If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it isn’t already.”

-Vipin Narang

December 7, 2019 The New York Times

"All of the missiles have several things in common....Any one of the missiles would pose a challenge to regional and ROK missile defenses given these characteristics. Together, they pose a nightmare."

-Vipin Narang

December 5, 2019 BBC