Past Grants

Ben Hodges and Janusz Bugajski will lead an effort to identify how the United States and its NATO allies can strengthen deterrence along the maritime flanks of the alliance. They will conduct interviews and field research in the frontline states along the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The project’s findings will appear in a series of reports.

Peter Pry will lead an effort to increase the resilience of the electric grid against natural or man-made electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events. He will work with federal policymakers, state legislatures and officials, and leaders of electric utilities and other interested corporations to educate them about the EMP threat and potential solutions. The project’s findings will appear in a report telling the story of efforts to advance national EMP preparedness.

Andrew Hoehn, Sonni Efron, and Thom Shanker will research and write a book exploring how U.S. policymakers could increase their capacity to anticipate and preclude strategic surprises. They will conduct research using primary and secondary sources, undertake interviews of former and current intelligence analysts and policymakers, and analyze the dynamics of warning and surprise.

Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles will lead an effort to explore how interest groups capture the regulatory process in ways that can stifle economic growth and limit upward mobility. They will commission research in several areas, such as financial regulation, occupational licensing, and land-use regulation, to assess whether powerful actors have been able to win protection for their interests through what the authors term “regressive regulation.” The research will appear on a website.

Ali Alfoneh will research and write a book exploring the likely trajectory of Iran’s domestic politics in light of its leadership succession. He will analyze the history of the Islamic Republic and relevant Persian-language materials to generate insights into the succession struggle that will play out when Supreme Leader Khamenei passes from the scene.

Arthur Herman and Idalia Friedson will lead an effort to examine how the United States and its allies can collaborate in the technological race to master quantum computing. They will develop a foundation to create a “Quantum Alliance,” and build support for the proposal among democratic states with significant research initiatives in quantum computing research and engineering. The project’s findings will appear in a series of reports and policy briefings.

Jacqueline Deal, Stephen Rosen, and Aaron Friedberg will lead a series of executive education seminars designed to develop a cadre of young analysts and policy thinkers with the skills to devise and implement long-term competitive strategies to advance U.S. objectives. They will also establish fellowships for some of the most promising participants in the program.

Marcus Winters, Joshua Cowen, and Scott Imberman will examine whether liberalizing the rules that govern the hiring, assessment, and retention of teachers can help improve the performance of schools. Using nine years of data on students in traditional public and charter schools in Massachusetts, they will identify patterns of teacher hiring, retention, and mobility across different types of schools. The project’s findings will appear in a report and a series of articles and briefings.

Michael Gottfried and Ethan Hutt will convene a series of meetings at which junior-level researchers working on education policy will present project ideas and discuss how to design research strategies, secure access to data, and present findings to audiences of policymakers.