Aug. 30, 2023

Developing a BRICS policy could help re-imagine U.S. foreign policy

Minerva-funded research team at Tufts University has been working on a multiyear Rising Power Alliances project that has analyzed the evolution of BRICS and the group’s relationship with the U.S. What they have found is that the common portrayal of BRICS as a China-dominated group primarily pursuing anti-U.S. agendas is misplaced.

Aug. 29, 2023

Reflections on Minerva-funded Researchers' Empirical Studies of Conflict Project

Minerva-funded researchers, Eli Berman and Jacob Shapiro of the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) support a global community of scholars who bring tools from cutting-edge social science to bear on critical national security questions.

Aug. 28, 2023

DECUR Funding Opportunity is Now Open!

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is interested in receiving applications for Minerva’s DECUR Partnership. The DECUR Partnership aims to develop collaborative basic research partnerships between PME Institutions and Civilian Research Universities by supporting fundamental scientific research that improves the capacity of security-related basic social science research and education.

Aug. 11, 2023

DOD Selects 2023-2024 Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Dissertation Fellows

The Department of Defense today announced the 21 awardees of the 2023-2024 Minerva-U.S. Institute of Peace’s “Peace and Security Dissertation Fellowship,” providing fellowships of up to $20,000 to doctoral candidates who show great potential to advance policy and practice in the peacebuilding and security fields. To view the full

Aug. 11, 2023

Minerva and Economic and Social Research Council Notice of Funding Opportunity

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is interested in receiving proposals for the Bilateral Academic Research Initiative Pilot Program (BARI), which is jointly sponsored by the US Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI). The

July 25, 2023

Minerva-funded White Paper: Defense Implications for US and NATO Polymakers and their Staffs

Steven E. Lobell of the University of Utah is the Principle Investigator of the Minerva-supported team whose work has resulted in a paper prepared for the “Near Crisis Project: Why What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You” workshop, in partnership with the Atlantic Council, Washington, DC, January 27, 2023.

July 24, 2023

New Minerva-funded article: The Fish That Ate an Agreement: How Migrating Mackerel Undermine International Fisheries Cooperation

A grant funded by the Minerva Research Initiative has resulted in a policy brief for the Carnegie Endowment for International Piece: The Fish That Ate an Agreement: How Migrating Mackerel Undermine International Fisheries Cooperation

June 7, 2023

New Minerva-funded study: "Transcultural Pathways to the Will to Fight"

Upon entry into WWII, the United States committed to unconditional victory through overwhelming force. But paramount focus on material capacity to the neglect of “will to fight” in subsequent regional wars—Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan—has carried woeful costs in lives, treasure, and policy failures. This nearly happened with Ukraine. Despite political and military leaders acknowledging its importance after the fact, consensus remains that will to fight is “imponderable.” Without rigorously assessing nonmaterial sensibilities, including among civilian populations, conflict can appear intractable or only resolvable with massive force, and the United States and partners may continue to overrate or underrate allies, armies, and peoples in disregard of the spirit that can only arise from one’s own cultural identity and values.

May 26, 2023 May 31, 2023

DoD Awards $18 Million for Academic Research on the Socio-Political Drivers of Future Conflict

The Department of Defense today announced $18 million in grants to 11 university-based faculty teams under its Minerva Research Initiative, which supports basic research in social and behavioral sciences on topics of particular relevance to U.S. national security.

April 3, 2023

New Minerva-funded White Paper,"Defense Implications for US and NATO Policymakers and their Staffs"

New Minerva-funded White Paper, "Defense Implications for US and NATO Policymakers and their Staffs" is now available at West Point Press. This White Paper introduces the concept of near crisis, and the importance of managing the pre-crisis space as part of crisis prevention rather than crisis management alone.