Sara Plana, PhD
I was a postdoctoral fellow at Perry World House in the University of Pennsylvania from 2021-2022 and received my PhD in Political Science at MIT in September 2021. Previously, I was a pre-doctoral fellow at the International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
My research investigates control over use of force—from examining relationships between state sponsors and proxy groups, to how civilians relate to and direct military forces, to the internal dynamics of military organizations, to the conduct of military operations. To address these dynamics, I bring to bear mixed methods, including qualitative case studies built on interview and archival data, event-data descriptive statistics, and survey experiments. My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
I am committed to applying my research to pressing policy problems and have led a number of initiatives to bridge the gap between academia and policy (see Service & Policy Engagement). My research has been published in the Washington Post, Texas National Security Review, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, and Political Violence at a Glance, and quoted in Vox and Al-Monitor.
My research investigates control over use of force—from examining relationships between state sponsors and proxy groups, to how civilians relate to and direct military forces, to the internal dynamics of military organizations, to the conduct of military operations. To address these dynamics, I bring to bear mixed methods, including qualitative case studies built on interview and archival data, event-data descriptive statistics, and survey experiments. My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
I am committed to applying my research to pressing policy problems and have led a number of initiatives to bridge the gap between academia and policy (see Service & Policy Engagement). My research has been published in the Washington Post, Texas National Security Review, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, and Political Violence at a Glance, and quoted in Vox and Al-Monitor.
