Atrocity Forecasting Project

The project has the overall purpose of enhancing capacity for forecasting mass atrocities and genocide globally and in the Asia-Pacific region. The specific aims are to:

• develop sophisticated, appropriate, and cutting-edge quantitative forecasting models,
• improve understanding of the causes of political instability and conflict which greatly increase the probability of mass atrocities or genocide,
• improve understanding of the crucial causal processes which lead from instability to mass atrocities or genocide, and
• produce forecasting software and reports which are useful as early warning tools for protection of vulnerable populations.

The aim is to provide tools for analysts and policy makers. The project builds on the current academic literature, and employs econometric and machine-learning based forecasting techniques, which can greatly enhance analytical capacity in combination with standard qualitative and quantitative social science methods. The forecasts are intended to be used in combination with other quantitative and qualitative analysis and expert knowledge.

The image above is from the painting Never Forget by Wang Xu, part of his series titled The Silenced: from 1957 to Today

Latest News

• Forecasting the Onset of Genocide and Politicide: Annual Out-of-Sample Forecasts on a Global Dataset, 1988-2003

  

  Our article “Forecasting the Onset of Genocide and Politicide: Annual Out-of-Sample Forecasts on a Global Dataset, 1988-2003” has been accepted by the Journal of Peace Research, with expected publication in July 2013 [http://jpr.sagepub.com/].

• Dr Goldsmith received a Medium Grant from the Electoral Integrity Project

  

  Benjamin Goldsmith has received a Medium Grant from the Electoral Integrity Project to investigate “Authoritarian Elections, Electoral Integrity, and Political Violence”