Sahar Khan

Sahar Khan is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the South Asia at the Stimson Center. Her research interests include state‐​sponsored militancy/​terrorism, counterterrorism policies, anti‐​terrorism legal regimes, nonproliferation, and U.S. foreign policy in South Asia. She conducted field work in Pakistan for her dissertation that examined the role of civilian institutions in Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategies and operations.

Prior to joining the Stimson Center, Khan was a defense and foreign policy research fellow at the Cato Institute, where she also completed her post-doctorate fellowship. She was also the managing editor of Inkstick Media, an online magazine focused on national security and foreign policy with an emphasis on elevating underrepresented voices and human security. During her tenure as an adjunct faculty member at American University’s School of Public Affairs, she was awarded a certificate of appreciation for her outstanding teaching during the Fall 2020 semester.

Her writing has been featured in The Diplomat, Newsweek, Axios, The National Interest, Inkstick Media, among others. Khan holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine; a M.P.P. from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago; and a B.A. in economics, international studies, and politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University. She has native fluency in Urdu.