Past Grants

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host an annual lecture by a scholar or practitioner whose lifetime of work has addressed the challenges posed by the relationship between strategy and moral purpose in foreign policy. The individual will be awarded the Zbigniew Brzezinski Prize.

Peter Bergen, David Sterman, and Nate Rosenblatt will analyze the flow of Arab jihadists who are joining the Islamic State in order to develop an effective counter-radicalization or counterterrorism strategy. They will analyze recently acquired personnel records of nearly 2,000 Islamic State fighters from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa in order to identify the sub-national variables at work in motivating jihadi recruits from those regions. The project’s findings will appear in a report.

Edmund Phelps will direct the research and publications program of the Center on Capitalism and Society. He and his colleagues will explore questions such as what has caused the decline in innovation in different sectors of the economy and how that decline may have contributed to the stagnation of wages for many individuals. The center’s findings will appear in a series of research papers, reports, and policy briefs.

William Fox, Celeste Carruthers, and Carolyn Heinrich will direct the research agenda of a policy lab designed to assess the impact of a statewide initiative to increase the levels of education and skills of Tennessee residents. They will monitor the implementation and analyze the effects of Tennessee’s “Drive to 55,” a state initiative to increase the percentage of Tennesseans with a post-secondary credential to 55 percent of the population. The project’s findings will appear in a series of reports, papers, and policy briefs.

Peter Engelke, Chuck Chaitovitz, and David Michel will lead an effort to develop a strategy to cope with the political stresses within societies and among countries over access to limited supplies of water. They will conduct interviews and workshops with key stakeholders; engage U.S. policymakers to help craft a presidential policy directive on water strategy; and develop a strategy and process to engage Asian powers on water issues related to the glaciers and watersheds in Central Asian mountain ranges that supply the rivers supporting 3 billion people. The project’s findings will be presented in a draft directive and a series of research papers

Arch Puddington will research and edit Freedom in the World, an annual survey of political freedom and democracy around the globe.

Jonathan Reiber will lead an effort to explore ways to make possible collaboration between the U.S. government and private-sector firms in the event of a high-end cyberattack. The project’s findings will appear in a report.

Daron Acemoglu, David Auter, and John Van Reenen will direct the research program of a policy lab designed to explore how advances in automation, including robotics and artificial intelligence, might shape the future of employment. They will address questions such as what kind of jobs are most likely to be at risk from automation, whether artificial intelligence can displace highly educated workers, and what lessons can be learned from earlier episodes of disruptive automation. The project’s findings will appear in a series of papers, reports and articles.