Foreign Policy Research Institute
Project Title
As one time funding for a project to develop a roadmap to strengthen space security as part of a Request for Proposals on “Emerging Technologies and Nuclear Weapon Risks”
Date
Sep. 11, 2025
Duration
24 months
Description
The rapid growth of commercial satellites, especially in low Earth orbit, has raised the risk of accidents, miscalculations, or malicious actions that could quickly escalate into conflict between nuclear-armed states. At the same time, the increasingly influential commercial space sector faces growing exposure to anti-satellite weapons and nuclear dangers, with little coordinated capacity to respond. This creates a unique opportunity to engage private space actors as partners in reducing nuclear and broader risks in outer space. To address this opportunity, the Foreign Policy Research Institute will conduct new research and a dialogue with various commercial space actors to create a roadmap for improving space security. This roadmap will outline steps private companies can take to reduce the risk of conflict in space and offer recommendations to policymakers to strengthen space security.
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Project Title
For a project on mapping Russia’s economic leverage
Date
Mar. 07, 2019
Duration
12 months
Description
Understanding the political relevance of Russia’s economic relations with its neighbors and the West is important but complicated. It requires analysis through both an economic and foreign policy lenses. The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) will use both of those perspectives to examine Russia’s use of economic leverage for the attainment of its foreign policy objectives. The project, to be carried out through a series of case studies, will assess Russia’s approaches, actions, and their outcomes. It will result in papers that will be disseminated through publications, multi-media venues, and launch events.
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Project Title
As a one-time grant for analysis on the implications of technological change for tracking mobile missiles
Date
Dec. 06, 2018
Duration
21 months
Description
Advances in sensing and processing technologies may soon allow tracking of mobile missiles, creating a more than a theoretical ability to destroy a small nuclear force in a conventional or nuclear first strike. The Foreign Policy Research Institute will analyze the changing dynamics underlying this possibility and will assess their impact on nuclear stability. The research team will break down the problem into understandable pieces, analyze the ways these pieces interact, and establish criteria for evaluating risks and benefits of various cyber-nuclear strategies. The project will seek to generate policy-relevant insights and disseminate them to policymakers and the informed public.
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Project Title
As a one-time only grant for research on Russia's Political Economy
Date
Sep. 07, 2017
Duration
19 months
Description
The Russian Political Economy Project will seek to examine assumptions and premises about the Russian economy so as to shed light on both the challenges and the opportunities of economic relations between the United States and Russia. The project will commission a series of expert analyses from leading specialists on such themes as Russian political economy, Russia’s economic ties with Asia, the development of Russia’s technology sector, and the Russian approach to inflation. The commissioned research will result in publications of use to both the policy community and the informed public and will be widely disseminated. The research reports will also be disseminated through presentations and briefings to relevant communities in Washington D.C.
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Project Title
For the book "Before the Age of Prejudice: A Muslim Woman’s Story of Service at the National Security Council for Three U.S. Presidents"
Date
Sep. 08, 2016
Duration
12 months
Description
In view of the recent emergence of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States and the West, more broadly, the story of one Muslim immigrant woman’s journey from the Deccan plateau of India, through the northwest frontier city of Peshawar in Pakistan, to a life of public service in the United States is particularly compelling. Through this grant, Shirin Tahir-Kheli will finish writing her memoirs, which will describe how an early emphasis on education, tolerance of difference, and openness to the larger world scene, shaped her worldview and professional entrance into the field of international relations. This journey culminated in service to three American presidents on the National Security Council staff and in other key diplomatic and foreign policy posts, including as the first Muslim ambassador representing the United States.
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Project Title
For a comprehensive examination of nuclear weapons and Russian-North Korean relations
Date
Sep. 08, 2016
Duration
21 months
Description
This grant will allow the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), in cooperation with the Vladivostok-based, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), to conduct a comprehensive examination of Russian-North Korean relations, focusing on avenues of potential Russian influence on the Kim regime’s nuclear weapons policy. In addition to American experts, the research team includes established scholars from FEFU, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Kookmin University, and the Institute of Far Eastern Studies with well-established links to North Korea. The project will convene an initial workshop in Vladivostok to hone in on research questions, and a second workshop in Washington D.C. to report on research findings and assess the implications for U.S. and Russian policies. A final report in English and in Russian will be reviewed by an advisory board chaired by Paul Bracken of Yale University, consisting of a number of scholars and former diplomats, before dissemination to policy communities in both countries.