A new report from the Costs of War project finds that H.R. 1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” directs most of its $156 billion in military spending to contractors, setting a troubling precedent for bypassing the regular defense budget process.
Senior Fellow J. Brian Atwood has been awarded the American Academy of Diplomacy’s 2025 Henrietta Fore Award for Excellence in International Development for his leadership in global development.
Nate Blouin, who earned his Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from Brown in 2019, dropped out of his freshman year of college and moved to Utah to ski. He then went on to become the youngest legislator in Utah's State Senate, defeating his opponent with 72% of the vote.
New research from the Costs of War project finds that U.S. spending in Gaza has surpassed $31 billion, more than 10% of the population has been killed or injured, and displacement across the region has exceeded 5.27 million people.
A new paper co-authored by David Kertzer examines how Italy’s Fascist regime enforced its 1938 racial laws and the contradictions within its own ideology.
Watson School political scientist Prena Singh was recently awarded the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award for her ongoing research into vaccine hesitancy in India and China.
Internationally focused from a young age and growing up outside Washington, D.C., Marcus Burke experienced career growth after earning his Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from Brown in 2017 as a mid-career professional.
John Friedman told the Brown Daily Herald that the new Watson School of International and Public Affairs aims to elevate Brown’s global policy presence by fostering interdisciplinary study, expanding faculty, and relaunching its MPA program.
As the Watson School launched early this summer, its Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program welcomed a new class of students. This year's cohort brings with them a wide array of experiences and perspectives that have shaped their goals as they enter the program.
Costs of War’s latest report, “The Employment Impacts of Cuts to Federal Spending: Not All Cuts Are Created Equal,” finds federal dollars create more jobs when invested in education or healthcare than in the military.
These not-for-credit study groups provide an opportunity for students to delve deeply into topics and apply theory and research to real world challenges. Enrollment in each group is limited to 25 students.
Robert Blair has been named the 2025 recipient of the Theda Skocpol Emerging Scholar Award, which recognizes outstanding early-career contributions to the field of comparative politics.
Derrick Zantt earned his master's degree in public affairs from Brown in 2016. A fourth-generation service member, Zantt currently works as an analyst for the Department of Defense, where he puts his belief in open data and the knowledge he acquired at the Watson Institute to influence policy.
A new Costs of War report titled “Profits of War: Top Beneficiaries of Pentagon Spending, 2020–2024” finds that military contractors received over half of Pentagon spending from 2020 to 2024.
Sonia Cuesta, who earned her Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from Brown in 2017, was happy to give back to the program that helped her establish a career in human rights and international relations. During the spring 2025 semester, Cuesta supervised a new generation of MPA students' Policy in Action project from her position at the United Nations.
Ieva Jusionyte’s 2024 book, "Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border," has won multiple awards, including the Juan E. Méndez Book Award and two awards from the Association of American Publishers.
Brown's first new school in over a decade, the Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs, launched on July 1. Plans for the new school include broadening the scope of research, expanding the faculty, and breaking down traditional barriers between disciplines to address the world's most pressing economic, political, social and policy challenges.
John Friedman recently testified before the UK House of Lords’ Social Mobility Policy Committee, which is exploring ways to improve social mobility through education and employment integration.
From May 12-14, the Watson Institute's Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program held its annual Policy in Action (PIA) Symposium, in which students presented the results of work they did for government, nonprofit and private sector organizations over the spring semester.