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 forecasts and reports which are useful as early warning tools for protection of vulnerable populations.

The project builds on the current academic literature, and employs 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.