Suzanne Freeman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the MIT Political Science Department and a predoctoral
research fellow at George Washington University’s Institute for Security and Conflict Studies. I research civil-intelligence relations, civil-military relations, nuclear issues, and grand strategy and utilize archival research, structured interviews, and wargaming. My dissertation project examines the strategies that authoritarian intelligence agencies employ to intervene in their own state’s foreign policy decision-making process about the use of force, specifically in the Soviet
Union. The Smith Richardson Foundation’s World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship, MIT Center for International Studies’ Jeanne Guillermin Prize, and Columbia University’s Carnegie/Harriman Research Grant for Ph.D. Students in Social Science have supported my scholarship.
My research lies at the intersection of international security and comparative politics studying authoritarian intelligence agencies, military institutions, and their role in domestic and foreign policy, focusing on Russia and other Soviet successor states. My research advances the understanding of bureaucratic and organizational politics, authoritarian regime stability, civil- intelligence relations, the causes of war, and nuclear policy. My research agenda looks at the policy role of coercive institutions from different perspectives by examining the reform of post- Communist intelligence agencies, intelligence agencies as a tool of authoritarian control, Soviet nuclear counterproliferation policy, and the Russian military’s power projection capability. I also research wargaming and teaching, as well as experimental wargaming. I have published peer- reviewed research in PS: Political Science & Politics and have written for Politico, War on the Rocks, MIT Precis, CSIS, and the Medium International Affairs blog.
Before my PhD studies, I worked at the U.S. Naval War College’s Russia Maritime
Studies Institute, where I researched Russian military strategy and doctrine, provided teaching assistance for an operational wargaming course, and supported wargames for various US Navy component commands, US combatant commands, and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. I received a bachelor’s degree in Slavic Studies and an master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.
Applying to the Predoctoral Fellowship Program
Eligibility
Applicants must be pursuing a Ph.D. in political science, public policy, history or a related discipline, and should have made substantial progress toward completion of a dissertation relevant to international security studies. Additionally, applicants must pass all qualifying exams and advance to the level of Ph.D. candidacy prior to the start of their appointment.
Award information
Funded fellows receive a stipend of $35,000 over the course of their appointment, which will run from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025. Fellows also are assigned a computer and shared office space at the Institute, which is located in the heart of downtown Washington, DC.
Application Process
Applicants should complete the online application form with the following materials included in a single PDF document:
- A curriculum vitae
- A 5 page double-spaced dissertation prospectus that outlines the question and argument, explains the project’s contribution to the field of international security studies, and describes the research and writing to be undertaken during the fellowship year
- A short writing sample (no longer than 40 pages)
Three confidential letters of recommendation attesting to the applicant’s scholarly promise and progress toward completion are required. Letter writers should email their recommendations directly to iscs@gwu.edu.
We have a limited number of funded fellowships available. Please let us know if you wish to be considered for an unfunded Visiting Scholar position in the event that you are not selected for a funded fellowship.
The application for the Predoctoral Fellowship Program is closed as of Friday, January 22, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST. Applicants will be notified of the Institute’s decision in February, 2024.
Previous Predoctoral Fellows
2023-2024
Justin Casey, PhD Candidate in Government at Georgetown University and Visiting Instructor in Political Science at Swarthmore College.
Siu Hei Wong, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University’s Department of Politics.
2022-2023
Eun A Jo, PhD Candidate in the Government Department at Cornell University
John Minnich, PhD candidate in International Relations and Comparative Politics at MIT
2021-2022
Andrew Goodhart, Ohio State University
Aidan Milliff, MIT
2020-2021
Rachel Tecott, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, MIT
Danielle Villa, Ph.D. Candidate, Emory University
2019-2020
Nicholas Anderson, ISCS Visiting Scholar, Yale University
Renanah Miles-Joyce, Post-doctoral fellow in Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft, Harvard Kennedy School and MIT
2018-2019
Tim McDonnell, Center for Naval Analyses (CAN)
Travis Sharp, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA)
2017-2018
Rush Doshi, Brookings Institution, Director of China Strategy Initiative
Binn Cho, The College of New Jersey, Dept. of Political Science
Jennifer Spindel, University of New Hampshire, Dept. of Political Science
2016-2017
John-Michael Arnold, GWU, Visiting Professor of Political Science
Ketian Zhang, George Mason University, Schar School of Policy and Government
2015-2016
Meredith Blank, U.S. Government
Alex Worsnop, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
2014-2015
Daniel Krcmaric, Northwestern University, Dept. of Political Science
Joseph Torigian, American University, School of International Service
2013-2014
Olivier Henripin, Loyola, Dept. of Political Science
Sameer Lalwani, Stimson Center, Director, South Asia Program
2012-2013
Austin Carson, University of Chicago, Dept. of Political Science
Lindsey O’Rourke, Boston College, Dept. of Political Science
Joshua Shifrinson, Boston University, Pardee School of Global Studies
