Sahar Khan is an adjunct scholar in the Cato Institute’s Defense and Foreign Policy Department. Her research interests include militancy, counterterrorism policies, anti‐​terrorism legal regimes, South Asia, Middle East, and U.S. national security. Her dissertation explored state motivations for sponsoring militant groups, and the role civil institutions play in state‐​sponsorship within Pakistan.

Before starting her doctorate, she was the associate editor of The Washington Quarterly at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Sahar holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Irvine; a MPP from the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago; and, a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University.