April 28, 2022

Exploring the Social-Ecological Factors that Mobilize Children into Violence

This article applies the social-ecological model to children’s mobilization into two violent groups—Central American gangs and terrorist organizations. While these two groups clearly differ in important ways, there are contextual similarities that frame a child’s involvement in each. For example, both flourish in low-resource settings where governmental structures may have been weakened or disrupted.

April 13, 2022

Minerva-funded Research Reveals How Misinformation can be Re-invigorated in Discourse Through the Novelty of a Major Event

Analysts of social media differ in their emphasis on the effects of message content versus social network structure. The balance of these factors may change substantially across time. When a major event occurs, initial independent reactions may give way to more social diffusion of interpretations of the event among different communities, including those committed to disinformation.

April 7, 2022

Rising Power Alliances team from the Fletcher School new publication "Brazilian alliance perspectives: towards a BRICS development–security alliance?"

This study examines Brazil’s perceptions by introducing and analyzing a new data set of Brazilian expert discourses on alliances since 1990 and using its participation in BRICS as an empirical case.

March 29, 2022

Mia Bloom's new article "How fairy tales shape fighting spirit: Ukraine’s children hear bedtime stories of underdog heroes, while Russian children hear tales of magical success" published in The Conversation.

"The difference in traditional Russian and Ukrainian folklore might in part explain the difference between the Russian and Ukrainian armies’ performances".

March 10, 2022

The Ukrainian refugee crisis could last years – but host communities might not be prepared

Based on Minerva-funded research on host communities’ responses to refugees, it has been observed that patterns in attitudes change over time.

March 1, 2022

Minerva-funded researchers new publication, "Can BRICS De-dollarize the Global Financial System?"

Recent article, "Can BRICS De-dollarize the Global Financial System?" published by Cambridge University Press identifies and examines the de-dollarization pathways that BRICS countries, particularly Russia and China - have used to de-dollarize and avoid sanctions. Rising Power Alliances and the Threat of a Parallel Global Order

Feb. 25, 2022

Department of Defense Awards $28.7M in Grants for the FY2021 Minerva Research Initiative

DoD announced today awards of $28.7 million in grants to 17 university-based faculty teams through the FY2021 Minerva Research Initiative to support research in social and behavioral science.

Feb. 11, 2022

Minerva-funded researchers recent publication, "Spiritual over physical formidability determines willingness to fight and sacrifice through loyalty in cross-cultural populations"

"Across 11 studies involving six countries from four continents (n=3,285), we extend insights from field investigations in conflict zones to offline and online surveys to show that personal spiritual formidability—the conviction and immaterial resources (values, strengths of beliefs, character) of a person to fight—is positively associated with the will to fight and sacrifice for others."

Feb. 9, 2022

Afghan women face increasing violence and repression under the Taliban after international spotlight fades

In Minerva-funded researcher, Mia Bloom's recent article, she states "violence against women in Afghanistan also appears to again be worsening, according to local Afghan colleagues I know. But these reports are not eliciting international political concern."

Feb. 7, 2022

New Publication from Minerva-funded Researchers, "Leading in Artificial Intelligence through Confidence Building Measures"

New publication from Minerva-funded researchers, "Leading in Artificial Intelligence through Confidence Building Measures". This paper discusses why the United States could lead in promoting some specific artificial intelligence confidence-building measure's and why that will likely enhance, rather than undermine, U.S. military artificial intelligence leadership.