Renard Sexton receives NSF grant for research
Renard Sexton, associate professor of political science, recently received a $514,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, to investigate the micro-foundations of deterrence (a critical component of security) and the effectiveness of different strategies to prevent conflicts from escalating, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
His project aims to provide rigorous, evidence-based insights into how resolve is built, communicated, and interpreted in real-world contexts, especially by major powers, through the integrated use of quasi-experimental designs, randomized controlled trials, and artificial intelligence data collection and analysis.
Sexton studies international security and development, with a current focus on Asia. His ongoing work includes studies on the dynamics of conflict in the South China Sea, local and regional implications of contestation across the Taiwan Strait, subnational violence in the Philippines and Afghanistan, and global scholarship on interventions into conflict.