Stephanie Savell

Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Director of the Costs of War
Research Interests US Foreign Policy
Areas of Interest War, U.S. Militarism, Security, Activism

Biography

Stephanie Savell is a public anthropologist researching militarism, (in)security and activism in relation to the United States post-9/11 wars and policing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Under her leadership, the Costs of War project has produced research cited in thousands of media articles and broadcasts and by President Biden in his official speech about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Since 2017, Savell's regularly updated global map of U.S. counterterrorism operations has been featured by USA Today, CNN, BBC World News and Smithsonian magazine, among others. She is co-author of "The Civic Imagination: Making a Difference in American Political Life" (Routledge, 2014), and has published in journals including American Anthropologist and American Ethnologist, and media outlets such as The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, and Axios. Her media appearances include interviews on CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera, Vox, "The Problem with Jon Stewart," C-SPAN Washington Journal and Democracy Now. She earned her Ph.D. from Brown University.

Publications

“The Costs of War: Lessons from a Public Scholarship Project on the Post-9/11 Wars.” American Anthropologist. (Co-authored with Catherine Lutz.) 2024.

“United States Counterterrorism Operations Under the Biden Administration, 2021-2023.” Costs of War. November 2023.

“How Death Outlives War: The Reverberating Impact of the Post-9/11 Wars on Human Health.” Costs of War. May 15, 2023.

“The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force: A Comprehensive Look at Where and How It Has Been Used.” Costs of War. December 14, 2021.

Teaching

Costs of War

Recent News

Stephanie Savell comments for USA Today, "we still have this counterterrorism apparatus trudging onward. It makes U.S. forces vulnerable to attack and increases the likelihood of the U.S. engaging in a much bigger offensive war."
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