Knowledge against violence The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation examines enduring and urgent problems of violence, such as war, crime, and human aggression. Through basic and applied research, we aim to understand the causes, manifestation, and control of violence. Conversations The Polarization Project ‘When People Spend Time Together, They are Less Inclined to See Each Other as the Enemy’: A Conversation with Matt Grossmann On the current state of American politics, the potential for political violence, and strategies to reduce polarization In Practice Lessons from Research In Ukraine and Elsewhere, Is Third-Party Diplomacy Helpful in Ending Wars? Publications HFG Report The Impact of Climate Change on Conflict In Practice Lessons from Research In the Balkans, Barriers Made Neighbors Bad Conversations HFG Knowledge Against Violence Speaker Series Pathways to Conflict: The Impact of Climate Change on Violence Publications See all publications HFG Report The Impact of Climate Change on Conflict How climate variability and extreme weather events can lead to violence, an HFG report by Dr. Vally Koubi. Read Report Violence, Politics & Democracy "We Want You To Be A Proud Boy" ‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’: How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence, an HFG-funded report from the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, details how social media use can enable or contribute to political strife. Based on a review of more than 400 social science studies, the report by Paul M. Barrett identifies particular features of social media platforms that make them susceptible to exploitation and suggests how to mitigate the dangers. Read Report Violence, Politics & Democracy Government Legitimacy, Social Solidarity, and American Homicide in Historical Perspective In Government Legitimacy, Social Solidarity, and American Homicide in Historical Perspective, Randolph Roth, professor of history and sociology at The Ohio State University, argues that shifts in citizens’ beliefs about the legitimacy of their government and the character of political leadership, feelings of affinity for — or alienation from — fellow citizens, and acceptance or resentment of their place in the social order affect the frequency with which Americans kill each other. Read Report HFG Report International Sanctions against Violent Actors In International Sanctions against Violent Actors, Dursun Peksen observes that international sanctions rarely operate on the ground as their proponents intend. They succeed in only about 30 percent of cases and often prompt harsh treatment of a targeted state’s citizens. Read Report Research and Policy in Brief The White Power Movement at War on Democracy In The White Power Movement at War on Democracy, University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew traces the origins of the white power movement and connects its most violent manifestations—from the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995 to the 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol—as part of a global, distributed effort to assert and maintain white dominance. Read Report HFG Report Is Bail Reform Causing an Increase in Crime? In Is Bail Reform Causing an Increase in Crime?, criminologists Don Stemen and David Olson examine crime rates in eleven states and cities that adopted bail reforms, finding “no clear or obvious pattern” connecting bail reform to changes in violent crime rates. Read Report HFG Report At the Crossroads: Behind the Rise in Gun Violence in New York and Other American Cities HFG's 'At the Crossroads' series concludes with the publication of “Behind the Rise in Gun Violence in New York and Other American Cities,” a compilation of the twelve interviews conducted by Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Fellow of Practice Greg Berman with an essay illuminating common themes and practical approaches to ending such violence. Read Report See all publications