Stephanie Savell

Director, Costs of War project at Brown University; anthropologist; research on U.S. post-9/11 wars. Also tweets for @CostsOfWar

[Stephanie Savell @stephsavell]

My latest @CostsOfWar research, out today, shows that the widespread myth in the US that the so-called "war on terror" is over could not be further from the truth.

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

BREAKING: Our updated counterterrorism map reveals that the post-9/11 wars are far from over.

We’ve tracked operations in 78 countries under the Biden administration between 2021-2023. https://t.co/fGkGbrg0Fh [THREAD]

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

BREAKING: Extra fuel costs due to Iran War top $40 billion, an “unacknowledged tax” on U.S. households, according to new joint research with the Climate Solutions Lab at @Watson_School. [THREAD] https://t.co/guqgGc5OJH

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

The United States government’s current legal structure around immigration enforcement is yet another cost of the post-9/11 wars, notes @StephSavell. [6/7]

[Watson School at Brown @Watson_School]

What $25 Billion Spent on the War in Iran Really Means — @CostsOfWar's @stephsavell tells @nytimes that the true costs of the war in Iran extend far beyond the Pentagon's $25 billion estimate.

https://t.co/UAYlwJldGy

[Ian Donnis @IanDonnis]

Radio excerpt from One on One: @stephsavell of @CostsOfWar Project at @BrownUniversity says the Iran war is much more costly than the $25 billion estimated by the Pentagon https://t.co/KMmmPUmNiJ

[Stephanie Savell @stephsavell]

Four major new @CostsOfWar research reports out today on the human and budgetary costs of the post-10/7 wars, two years in.

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

BREAKING: The post-10/7 wars have killed or injured at least 236,505 people in Gaza alone.

The U.S. has spent over $31 billion and counting in the wider region since Oct. 7, 2023, where millions have been displaced, according to new Costs of War research. [THREAD]

Photo Credit: Heidi Levine, July 30, 2025

[Stephanie Savell @stephsavell]

Nine months later, 232,000 indirect deaths does not seem like an unreasonable figure, but rather a conservative one. Counting war deaths is always tricky, but attempting to grasp the scale of the human costs of war is essential. [END]

[Stephanie Savell @stephsavell]

I wrote a study on “indirect deaths” in the post-9/11 wars—those deaths that continue long after bombs are dropped. Here’s what my analysis brings to bear on analyzing the death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. [THREAD]
https://t.co/pBtvjLNmG4

[Stephanie Savell @stephsavell]

One year into the violence, @CostsOfWar research highlighted an October 2, 2024 letter to President Biden from a group of U.S. physicians estimating that 62,413 people in Gaza had already died of starvation. [8/9] https://t.co/M55iB54Nfn

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

"This is not an arsenal of democracy—it's an arsenal of profiteering." @stephsavell on our latest research showing that more than half of Trump's military budget will likely go to military contractors.  https://t.co/4aB4lLkYeQ

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

Costs of War’s @StephSavell on the new report: “This is not an arsenal of democracy — it’s an arsenal of profiteering. We should keep the enormous and growing power of the arms industry in mind as we assess the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. and globally.” [10/12]

[Watson School at Brown @Watson_School]

Unmasking American myths about war and the military — In an interview on the @makingpeaceviz #podcast, @stephsavell discussed whether massive U.S. defense spending is actually making the country safer.

https://t.co/VItzmsqYGY

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

BREAKING: The reconciliation bill enacted recently pushes annual U.S. military spending beyond the $1 trillion mark—likely triggering a more than half-trillion-dollar transfer of wealth from taxpayers to military contractors. [THREAD] https://t.co/YUoBigfWGd

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

“Israel’s military capacity is dependent on the high levels of military aid it has received from the United States for the last five decades," says @stephsavell. “That aid has ramped up over the last year allowing Israel to wage this war.”  https://t.co/cQEB9isxD4

[The Costs of War Project @CostsOfWar]

The horrors of war and the joys of play through video games are seemingly incompatible. But their histories are inextricably linked.

Our latest report looks at the militarization of video games. [THREAD] https://t.co/QrBK6u9xBf