Research with purpose.

The faculty of the School of International Service pursue research that addresses urgent global issues through impact-driven scholarship. Our faculty body of over 120 world-class experts brings a wealth of international experience and a strong dedication to social impact, working across five thematic Departments and several research centers and initiatives. With scholars trained in fields including anthropology, geography, political science, economy, history and beyond, SIS leverages a rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives to generate new insights and inform practice. In a collaborative environment that fosters intellectual engagement and innovation, SIS empowers scholars and students alike to make a meaningful difference in global affairs through research that is not only pushing the boundaries of academic understanding but also deeply rooted in real-world application.

We hope you’ll take a moment to explore all of the exciting research projects, publications, and events happening at SIS.

Recent Highlights

Tamar Gutner Named 2026 SIS Scholar-Teacher of the Year

William Akoto, Cyber Conflict as Statecraft: Explaining the Persistence of State-Sponsored Cyber Operations

Carl LeVan, Scientific solidarity as response to Africa’s pandemic populism

Upcoming Book Launches

In the Media

Op-Eds and News Interviews

Joshua Rovner, "The Real Thucydides Trap" (Foreign Affairs)
Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, quoted in "The Food We Never Eat" (Newswise)
Federico Manfredi Firmian and Anthony Wanis-St. John, "A Fragile Ceasefire with Iran and the Price of Ending the War" (War On The Rocks)
William Akoto, "How Iranian hackers pose a threat to US critical infrastructure" (The Conversation)
Daniel Esser, "Bullshit Urgency and Washing Machines: As the US scrambles for a plan for Iran, pitfalls loom large" (Global Policy)
Yerevan Saeed, quoted in "Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?" (Al-Monitor)
Joseph Torigian, quoted in "U.S. Court Ruling Keeps Mao Documents Out of China" (The Wall Street Journal)
Dana Fisher, quoted in "5 Takeaways From the ‘No Kings’ Rallies as the Midterms Heat Up" (The New York Times)
Carole Gallaher, discussing her new book Building a Green Wall: Irish American Resurgence Post-Brexit in "How the Irish American lobby re-emerged during Brexit" (Irish Central)
Benjamin Jensen, "Iran’s Next Move: How to Counter Tehran’s Multidomain Punishment Campaign" (CSIS)
Yerevan Saeed, "As Iran attacks, the US should provide air defense for Iraqi Kurdistan" (Atlantic Council)
Dana Fisher, quoted in "To keep climate science alive, researchers are speaking in code" (Grist)
Joshua Rovner, featured in "After the strike: The danger of war in Iran" expert commentary (Brookings)
Anthony Fontes, "Of Presidential Power and Prison Riots in Guatemala" (NACLA)
Joseph Torigian, quoted in "For Xi, Iran War Reinforces View of U.S. as Dangerous Superpower" (The Wall Street Journal)

Podcasts and Media Interviews

Gregory Aftandilian on Catalan TV3 discussing the attitudes of Arab Gulf countries toward the U.S.-Israel war with Iran
Tazreena Sajjad on the LSE podcast Displacement Urbanism: "Char land as wasteland: Migration and Displacement in Bangladesh"
Omekongo Dibinga on DC News Now discussing the war in Iran
Garret Martin on NBC 4: "What could possible death of supreme leader mean for Iran? A professor explains"
Yerevan Saeed on CNN discussing the role Kurdish groups could play after the U.S. president promoted regime change in Iran
Jim Goldgeier moderated a panel discussion for the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies podcast World Class: "An Iranian, Israeli, and American Perspective on the War in Iran"
Jordan Tama on Global Dispatches: "What Americans Really Think About Foreign Policy"
Omekongo Dibinga on DC News Now's Capital Review: "Reaction: Protests across the DMV after unrest continues in Minneapolis"
Garrett Graddy-Lovelace on 95bfm discussing her article in The Conversation: International Desk: The Magnitude of Food Waste caused by Trump Administration Policies
Wil Burns on The Ecomodernist: "Wil Burns: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Climate"
Steve Silvia on Rear Vision discussing the World Trade Organization
Guy Ziv on Times Radio discussing PM Netanyahu’s appeal for a presidential pardon
Dana Fisher's COPOut Episode 5: Early PostMortem on COP30
Yerevan Saeed on War on the Rock's podcast The Warcast: "Iraq's elections and U.S.-Iranian Competition"
Piper Campbell on Hansong Li's podcast "Worldviews: An International Podcast of Global Affairs"
Amitav Acharya on A Book With Legs discussing his new book The Once and Future World Order: Why Global Civilization Will Survive the Decline of the West

Research

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