NAS Values Sandler’s Game Theory
A USC College researcher who uses game theory to gauge counterterrorism measures has been recognized by the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Todd Sandler, the Robert and Katheryn Dockson Chair in International Relations and Economics in USC’s College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, has received a $20,000 NAS award for behavioral research relevant to the prevention of nuclear war.
The prize—to be shared with Walter Enders, the Lee Bidgood Chair of Economics and Finance at the University of Alabama—is awarded approximately every three years for basic research in any field of cognitive or behavioral science that advances understanding of issues relating to the risk of nuclear war.
Sandler and Enders were chosen “for their joint work on transnational terrorism using game theory and time-series analysis to document the cyclic and shifting nature of terrorist attacks in response to defensive counteractions.”
Their work, which involves years of data collection, theory and analysis, has been used to evaluate various strategies in dealing with terrorism.
“The award will continue to help bring our novel procedures and insights with respect to fighting terrorism to the attention of the policy-making community,” Sandler says. “The use of behavioral and statistical models, as we have applied in our research, has much to offer a world confronted with one of the most challenging and deadly threats ever to its security. Our research demonstrates that even the “best” counters to terrorism have unintended negative consequences. More effective policy can be accomplished with such insights.”
USC College Dean Joseph Aoun says, “The nations of the world have been stymied by the specter of terrorism, its random nature, its terrifying outcomes. Now Todd Sandler and his colleagues have shined a light on this problem, and may help guide our nation toward a rational and sane solution—if only they will be heard.”
Sandler’s research has appeared in leading journals in economics and political science, including the American Political Science Review, the American Economic Review, and the Journal of Law and Economics. Enders and Sandler co-authored the lead article in the June 2002 International Studies Quarterly on forecasting terrorist events, and have been planning a book on the study of terrorism.
Their work has been used by the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. State Department, the Canadian Mounties and many other organizations.
The award—one of 18 announced by the NAS on Jan. 10—will be presented April 28 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., during the Academy’s 140th annual meeting.
The award was established by a gift of William and Katherine Estes, and has been presented since 1990.
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