Kennedy School Professor Matthew Bunn—who has worked in the past as an adviser to the federal intelligence community—notes that grants come with a stipulation of prior review more often than most people assume.

But Bunn says that when reviewing funding offers, he is more concerned about whether or not donors have ulterior motives for the research that is being conducted.

He adds that he believes that there can be a fruitful partnership between academia and intelligence agencies.

“I think it is very worthwhile for the country if the intelligence community is well-informed,” he says. “That’s why we spend tens of billions of dollars a year on having an intelligence community.”

Unlike the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of 25 years ago, the Center currently has no projects funded by the CIA, and has not had any for at least the last five years, according to CMES Administrator Alison G. Howe.

According to Baber Johansen, the current director of CMES, the implications of working with any funding source are particularly relevant to the institution today, as the organization’s mission of sending students to the Middle East relies on strong relationships with international contacts.

Johansen says he believes that accepting grants from the CIA would likely damage the connections CMES has established in the Middle East—connections that are more important to the mission of the center than the CIA’s money.

“I would tend to think that an academic institution should not be funded by a secret service,” he says. “Weight that against our core mission—and that is contact with the Middle East—[and] I would see a conflict.”

—Staff writer Michelle M. Hu can be reached at michellehu@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.