Past Grants

William McCants will research and write a book exploring Saudi Arabia’s efforts to proselytize for its interpretation of Islam overseas and assessing the effect of those efforts on the level of jihadist activities among targeted countries. He will analyze primary and secondary literature pertaining to Saudi proselytizing activities; conduct field work in a variety of countries, and interview Saudi officials and representatives of the Muslim World League and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

Jesse Kirkpatrick and Gregory Koblentz will assess the implications for biological warfare and biodefense of the new genomic engineering technique known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR). They will review and synthesize research from the scientific, public policy, and national security literature; commission a series of papers; and organize two workshops involving experts from the national security and scientific communities. The project’s findings will appear in a white paper, a visualization website, and a series of briefings and presentations.

Sulmaan Wasif Khan will research and write a book analyzing China’s grand strategy in the period since the Communist revolution in 1949.

Cynthia Miller and Lawrence Katz will examine whether expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to adults without children can increase employment rates and earnings. They will undertake an experimental evaluation of a program in Atlanta that provides an annual wage supplement of as much as $2,000 to working adults. After three years, the researchers will measure the program’s impact on employment, earnings, and other measures of wellbeing. The project’s findings will appear in a series of reports and briefings for policymakers.