A special issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law was edited by Eric Patashnik and examines the past, present and future of Medicaid as it reaches its sixtieth year, featuring papers originally presented at a Watson conference in 2023.

A recent Costs of War report titled, "The Militarization of Movies and Television" looks at the militarization of pop culture.

Marc Dunkelman’s new book, "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back," explores the architecture of power and how to restore confidence in democratically elected government.

Mark Blyth co-authored a paper for Socio-Economic Review titled, "There is more to national economies than the national economy: extending the Growth Model research programme in comparative political economy."

Robert Blair co-authored a paper for Political Behavior titled, "Couples Therapy for a Divided America: Assessing the Effects of Reciprocal Group Reflection on Partisan Polarization."

Ieva Jusionyte has received the 2025 Juan E. Méndez Book Award from the Duke Human Rights Center for her recent book “Exit Wounds.”

Tomás Gold and Benjamin Bradlow co-authored a paper titled “A Processual Framework for Understanding the Rise of the Populist Right: The Case of Brazil (2013–2018)” that was published in the sociology journal Social Forces.

Susan Moffitt named the 2025 winner of the Herbert Simon award, which is given annually to a mid-career scholar who has made significant contributions to the scientific study of bureaucracy.

A recent paper from the Costs of War project examines the challenges and human costs of reintegration for Afghan migrants returning home during the U.S.-led intervention, highlighting the disconnect between their expectations and the harsh realities they faced.

Peter Andreas has received the 2024 Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime, recognizing his outstanding contributions to organized crime research.

Robert Blair co-authored a paper for the American Journal of Political Science titled "Elites, the aid curse, and Chinese development finance: A conjoint survey experiment on elites’ aid preferences in 141 low- and middle-income countries."

Christopher Rea co-authored a paper for Nature Sustainability titled "Outcomes and policy focus of environmental litigation in the United States."

Latoya M. Teague co-authored a paper titled "Re(cover)ing Revelations: Formulating Black Ancestral Text Analysis in Education Research," published in International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

A Costs of War report found that the U.S. spent at least $22.76 billion on military aid to Israel and related regional operations in the year following October 7, 2023.

Watson Postdoctoral Research Associate Justin Haner received an award from the American Political Science Association for his dissertation.

Latoya M. Teague co-authored a paper titled "Epistolary Labor: Letter Writing Activism," published in the Black History Bulletin as part of a special issue on Black labor.

The American Bar Foundation welcomed John M. Eason as the William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law for the 2024-25 academic year.

Deborah Gordon recently co-authored the article "Two Carbon Co-Conspirators Need to Be Stopped to Tackle Climate Change," emphasizing the need to cut CO2 and methane emissions simultaneously to meet global climate targets faster.

Tyler Jost's new book, "Bureaucracies at War: The Institutional Origins of Miscalculation," examines how national security institutions influence leaders' conflict decisions and why some provide better counsel than others.

Several Watson scholars recently participated in the annual conference of the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Michael Kennedy co-authored a paper for the American Behavioral Scientist journal titled, "Articulations of StrongMen: A Knowledge Cultural Sociology of Recognizing Autocratic Practices in Russian, Turkish, and Global Regimes," which explores how the concept of StrongMen distracts from deeper causes and effects of autocratic governance.

Researchers at the Watson Institute's Climate Solutions Lab were awarded a $100,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to support planning for a new Center on Clean Energy and Society (CES).

Costs of War recently published a report titled, "Deserted: The U.S. Military's Sexual Assault Crisis as a Cost of War."

Eric Patashnik recently co-authored a paper titled "Affluence and the Demand-side for Policy Improvements: Exploring Elite Beliefs About Vulnerability to Societal Problems" that was published in the journal The Forum.

The William R. Rhodes Center hosted 'The Political Economy of Finance Summer School' from June 17-21, organized by Mark Blyth and Benjamin Braun, to train young political economists and connect them with leading scholars. The program drew participants from 25 institutions across 16 countries.

Reid Pauly recently published a paper titled "Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't: The Assurance Dilemma in International Coercion," examining how the credibility of assurances, not just threats, influences the success of coercive demands, using the Iranian nuclear negotiations as a case study.

This year, five Watson research proposals were awarded a total of $100,000 in Birkelund Funds. The funds support faculty research, especially in the early stages, and encourage student engagement in research.

Dany Bahar recently published a paper titled, "The Often Overlooked 'Pull' Factor: Border Crossings and Labor Market Tightness in the U.S."

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies was named one of the partners to receive rapid research funding from the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health in the event of a future disaster.

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies recently secured funding from the Pembroke Faculty Seed Grant for its research on "The Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Middle East."

The Watson Institute, in a collaborative effort with the Urban Institute, hosted a two-day symposium, "Punishment Beyond Mass Incarceration" on April 4-5.

Costs of War recently published a report titled, "How Big Tech and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Military-Industrial Complex."

Ieva Jusionyte explains her latest research on how firearms made and sold in the United States have played a significant role in the perpetration of violence across the border in Mexico.

Dany Bahar recently co-authored a paper for The National Bureau of Economic Research titled "Forced Migration and Refugees: Policies for Successful Economic and Social Integration."

Dany Bahar recently co-authored a paper for The Review of Economics and Statistics titled "Migration and Knowledge Diffusion: The Effect of Returning Refugees on Export Performance in the Former Yugoslavia."

Omer Bartov recently authored an essay for The Council for Global Cooperation titled "Weaponizing Language: Misuses of Holocaust Memory and the Never Again Syndrome."

Tyler Jost recently co-authored a paper for the peer-reviewed journal International Organizations titled "Advisers and Aggregation in Foreign Policy Decision Making."

The Watson Institute funded $10,000 in Undergraduate Research and Teaching Awards to support Brown students collaborating with Watson faculty on research projects during the spring 2024 semester.

Climate Solutions Lab recently released an in-depth report authored by Jeff Colgan addressing Canada’s proposed Regulatory Framework for oil and gas emissions.

Ashutosh Varshney co-authored a paper for the Journal of Democracy titled, "Hindu Nationalism and the New Jim Crow."

John Eason recently co-authored a paper for the interdisciplinary journal Punishment & Society titled "Punishment is purple: The political economy of prison building."

Professor of International Economics and Professor of International and Public Affairs Mark Blyth received the IPE Distinguished Scholar Award.

Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science Margaret Weir was named a Spring 2024 Berlin Prize Fellow.

Costs of War recently published a report titled, "Reality Check: Chinese Military Spending in Context."

Costs of War co-director Stephanie Savell recently published a report titled, "United States Counterterrorism Operations Under the Biden Administration, 2021-2023."

Eric Patashnik recently co-authored a paper for the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law titled "Polarization, the Pandemic, and Public Trust in Health System Actors."

The Taubman Center recently hosted 70 women scholars from around the country for the 2nd Annual Women in Legislative Studies Conference.

The Costs of War project recently released a new report titled, "Why Media Conflation of Activism with Terrorism has Dire Consequences: The Case of Cop City."