Oct. 29, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Explaining Great Power Status in Central Asia: Unfamiliarity and Discontent”

Minerva-funded researcher Eric Mcglinchey and Marlene Laruelle's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "Explaining Great Power Status in Central Asia: Unfamiliarity and Discontent”. Great powers see Central Asia as a region where they can test strategies for building a post-Cold War international order. Of the great powers, Russia and China are the most influential in the region. Washington’s soft power, despite the continued United States presence in neighboring Afghanistan, trails far behind…

Oct. 10, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Carrot or Stick? Development Aid and the Implementation of Peace Agreements by Recipient Governments"

Minerva-funded researcher Paul Huth and Deniz Cil's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on " Carrot or Stick? Development Aid and the Implementation of Peace Agreements by Recipient Governments". The implementation of peace agreements following civil wars is a lengthy and complex process in which levels of implementation vary greatly (see Figure 1).

Sept. 24, 2019

Future Directions in Social Science

The Future Directions Workshop series, sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, seeks to examine emerging research areas that-in the natural and formal sciences-are most likely to transform future technology capabilities and-in the social sciences-innovatively inform about

Aug. 27, 2019

Announcement of the 2019-2020 Cohort of the Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellows

The Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative is pleased to announce the 2019-2020 cohort of the Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellows. This year, over 110 applicants from 70 U.S. universities applied for this prestigious award. The dissertations chosen for the Peace Scholar Fellowship show the greatest potential to advance

Aug. 13, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on " The Emergence of the Chinese Techno-Security State: United States-China Great Power Competition in Comparative Historical Context"

Minerva-funded researcher Tai Ming Cheung's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "The Emergence of the Chinese Techno-Security State: United States-China Great Power Competition in Comparative Historical Context".The intensifying great power competition between the United States and China is frequently referred to as a “New Cold War” because of the

July 26, 2019

Mia Bloom's New Study Entitled: The Jihadi Archive - A Database of Terrorist Tactics and Techniques

The Department of Defense is funding a new grant to expand research on the inner working of Jihadi Terrorist groups and analyze their encrypted propaganda. The original project, Documenting the Virtual Caliphate (DVC), collected and archived thousands of pieces of ISIS propaganda, images, memes, and breaking news.

July 23, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Problems in Viewing China's Rise as a Threat to the Liberal International Order"

Minerva-funded researcher Charles Glaser's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "Problems in Viewing China's Rise as a Threat to the Liberal International Order". For over a decade, U.S. policymakers and scholars have cast China’s rise as a threat to the liberal international order (LIO).  The LIO has been credited with achieving the Cold War peace,

July 9, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Culture as Counter Extremism: West African, European, and Southeast Asian Cases"

Minerva-funded researcher Mark Woodward and Muhammad Sani Umar's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "Culture as Counter Extremism: West African, European, and Southeast Asian Cases".While only a small percentage of Muslims are Salafis, most Muslim violent extremist movements (VEM) are rooted in Salafi teachings. Salafism is a revivalist Islamic

June 14, 2019

Book Launch: "The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks"

Kruglanski, A., Belanger, J., & Gunaratna, R. 2019, June 5. Book Launch: "The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Networks". START Headquarters, College Park.

June 4, 2019

Weaponizing the Weak: The Role of Children in Terrorist Groups

Bloom, Mia. 2019. Weaponizing the Weak: The Role of Children in Terrorist Groups. In Research Handbook on Child Soldiers, edited by Mark Drumbl and Jastine Barrett. Rochester: Edward Elgar Publishing.