WSU political science researchers received a $3.9M Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative grant to help counter destabilizing disinformation campaigns and violent extremism in African crisis regions.
“Our work will provide publicly available data that can help local NGOs, think tanks, and international development organizations seeking to strengthen democracy better understand how social cohesion can shield communities from anti-democratic threats,” said Jacob Lewis, lead researcher for the grant and an assistant professor in the WSU School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs.
Over the next five years, researchers will study social cohesion and collect data in 20 communities across five African countries, each of which is dealing with a democracy in crisis and issues of domestic unrest and foreign interference.
The result will be one of the most complete over-time data sets of its kind and a predictive modeling tool designed to provide actionable insights into group and community dynamics. These insights can then be used to inform and improve anti-radicalization interventions and efforts to foster positive group formation in Africa and around the world.
Read the full story at WSU Insider.