diplomacylab.orgdiplomacylab.org/.../2016/05/Fall-2016-Project-Menu.docx · Web view2016. 5. 10. · Diplomacy Lab Project Requests: Fall 2016. Click on the project name to go to

Diplomacy Lab Project Requests: Fall 2016Click on the project name to go to its description:

*Highlighted projects are no longer available for bidding

1. A Tropical Gangster and The $30 Million Problem 2. Sprout Diplomacy: Growing Sprouts, Feeding People and Changing Lives in the Lake Chad

Basin 3. Documenting Our Diplomatic Treasures at African Posts 4. Assessing the Wide-ranging Impact of the Revolution in Public Health 5. Explain a Complicated Process- Passport Website Instructional Videos in Spanish 6. Economic and Social Impacts of Labor Migration to Gulf Countries from the states of

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP) 7. To Be or Not to Be – How to Evaluate Decision Making in Visa Adjudications 8. Saving Endangered Species in the Upper Gulf of California 9. Gender dynamics of violent extremism: Program Overview & Literature Review 10. Build the first “Electoral Violence Dataset” for Africa 11. Understanding Local Peace Agreements and Conflict Prevention 12. Build the “Diplomatic Exchange” dataset – the first dataset recording global head of state

visits from 1950 – 201513. Terrorists & Trucks: Methods to Degrade Mobility of Terrorist Groups in the Maghreb-

Sahel14. Key Indicators for measurement and analysis of the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and

Development Review’s Strategic Priorities 15. From Military to Civilian Leadership: Preparing for Transition in Burma 16. Tracking Rohingya and Uighur Migration Flows in Central, South, and Southeast Asia 17. China Population Control 18. Artificial Intelligence and International Relations 19. Effective Intercultural Communication: Cultural Trend Analysis and Developing Strategies

for Information Sharing on Agricultural Biotechnology20. Climate Change and Agriculture: A Comparative Analysis of Policies and Programs 21. Finding More U.S. Host Families and High Schools 22. Finding the lost generation in the Central African Republic 23. Women Soldiers: The Case of Lebanon’s Male-Dominated Army 24. Friend-to-Friend: American Diplomats in Dhaka 1949 – 1972 25. Costs and Benefits of Migrant Labor for Tajikistan 26. Whither Civil Society in Tajikistan? 27. Mitigating the Role of State Sponsors of Insurgents in Peace Negotiations

28. 70 years of Diplomatic Relationship between the U.S. and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

29. Jamaican Lotto Scamming: Root Causes and Policy Alternatives 30. Kuwaiti Land Use : Understanding A Distorted Market and Improving Efficiency in Land

Allocation31. Democracy in Donbas? Investigating the status of democracy in separatist-controlled eastern

Ukraine, and issues associated with the territory’s eventual reintegration32. Is Libya like Somalia and Syria? We don’t think so, but want to do know more! 33. Libya’s Vast Cultural Heritage – A survey of the most important 34. Gender Based Violence – Successes and Failures in the Arab World 35. Mapping of Smuggling Routes into Libya from Neighboring Countries and Identifying Those

Groups That Lead Nefarious Efforts36. Tackling Poverty and Illicit Coca Cultivation in Peru: Analysis of Economic Dynamics

among Households in Post-Eradication Communities 37. Making Democracy More Compelling for at-Risk Youth 38. Facebook in the Kingdom of Wonder: Cambodian Youth and the Power of Social Media 39. Economic Benefits of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act 40. Urbanization Challenges in South Africa 41. Boosting the Financial Sustainability of Ecuador’s Civil Society 42. Trends in Local Volunteerism - The Impact of the 2016 Rio Olympics and Other Mega

Events on Brazilians’ Involvement in Volunteer Activities43. Reviving the Yugosphere 44. Mapping political patronage networks in Bosnia & Herzegovina using d3.js force layouts 45. ICT Investment: Engine of Growth or Boulevard of Broken Dreams? 46. Analyzing Radical Ideology Messaging on Facebook 47. Namibia’s Voting Behavior in International Bodies 48. Azerbaijan’s Political Past and Democratic Potential (Democracy Project) 49. Azerbaijan’s Political Past and Democratic Potential (Economy Project) 50. Identifying Islamic Extremism in the South Caucasus 51. Develop Foreign Assistance Data use Handbooks 52. Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Domestic Resource Mobilization 53. Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Better Foreign Assistance 54. Making Democracy Assistance More Effective 55. Using Data Science to Assess and Plan U.S. Foreign Assistance Activities 56. What’s better for Global Health? Multilateral Funding or Going in Alone? 57. Technological and Data Improvements for Foreign Assistance Reporting 58. Rebalancing Public Diplomacy in Asia 59. “ Borat Make Glorious Kazakhstan—Not! ”: Public Opinion & Public Diplomacy Project for

the Real Kazakhstan 60. Predictive modeling of countries’ voting behavior in UNGA 61. Text analytics of public opinion on humanitarian issues

62. Potential Impact of Emerging Technologies on International Security, Regional Stability and The Multilateral Export Control Regimes

63. Combating WMD Proliferation Databases 64. Mapping Efforts to Combat WMD Proliferation 65. The Costs and Benefits of a Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle (reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel) 66. Fostering Inclusion in the Workplace – Regional Survey 67. The Influence of Student Activism on Domestic and Foreign Policy 68. Why Fight Bribery? A study of the benefits of joining the Anti-Bribery Convention 69. Sharing Native American Culture and Perspectives with International Audiences 70. Evaluating U.S. Security Sector Assistance in the Middle East and North Africa 71. Modeling the Political Economy of the Middle East: Investigating the regional economic and

political impact of changing energy prices72. DIPLOMACY + ARCHITECTURE: Designing and Planning the Consular Landscape and

Building Entry Sequence for U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Diverse Contexts to Promote Global Diplomacy

73. Trade & Environment: How do trade agreements improve the environment? 74. Delivery of Health Care and Other Services in Mixed Migration Emergencies: Lessons from

History for the Current Crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 75. Arctic Healthy Homes: Civil Society Perspectives on Arctic Innovation 76. Marine Policy at the Bottom of the Planet 77. Measuring the Health of Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Impact of Capacity Building

Activities, Using the GIST Initiative as a Test Case 78. Assessing Security Assistance and Security Cooperation Programs 79. Women’s Participation in Latin American Militaries 80. History of U.S. Military Assistance 81. Political Impact of Increases and Decreases to Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Allocations

on Partner Nations 82. The Impact of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) on Today’s Post-Conflict Societies 83. Big Data or Big Deal? Using Data and Research in The Public Domain to Produce

Actionable Guidance for Public Diplomacy 84. Assessment of International Efforts to Build the Cybersecurity Workforce Through

Education, Training, Recruitment and Retention85. Evaluation of Cybersecurity Public Awareness Campaigns 86. Has U.S. Government assistance reduced conflict, increased inclusive economic growth, and

promoted democratization in Latin America since the end of the Cold War?87. Urbanization! What about Food Security? 88. Developing New Case Studies for Public-Private Partnerships 89. Systems Thinking for Diplomacy: Conceptual Mapping of U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities 90. How to Effectively Combat Anti-Semitism in 21 st Century Europe 91. Branding and Marketing Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the

Caribbean

92. Assessing the structure and impact of the Association of Bi-National Centers of Latin America – a 160 member English and cultural program network in the Western Hemisphere.

93. Public Diplomacy Digital Media Strategies 2.0 – Are we reaching the right audience? 94. The OAS Inter-American Democratic Charter: Wanted Dead or Alive? 95. The Risk Assessment Index for Security and Human Rights 96. Organizational Network Analysis of OSAC Country Councils 97. Emerging Security Technology applications for Country Council 98. Hybrid Legal Systems: The Convergence of Common Law and Civil Law Legal Traditions

and Implications for Global Justice Reform 99. Police Force Development: Academic Foundation for Good Practices 100. Corrections Systems and Local Community Public Health Implications 101. Developing Maintenance Cultures in UN Police Peacekeeping Missions 102. Measuring the effect of USCG Port Security Advisory notices on trade and port

security procedures 103. Vory z Zakone in Georgian Prisons: Development and Adaptation 104. Adapting U.S. Law Enforcement Knowledge/Experience for Overseas Assistance 105. Women’s Inclusion in Criminal Justice Programming in the Countering Violent

Extremism Context106. Diversification and Retention of the Police Work Force 107. Developing Good Practices for Monitoring and Evaluation of Wildlife Crime and

Trafficking Programs 108. Examining Gender-Based Violence in the Eastern Caribbean Through Civil Society

and Compliance Under Convention of Belém do Pará 109. Tackling the Corruption Conundrum; Successful Strategies from a U.S. Foreign

Policy Perspective 110. Working Together: The Role of Subnational and Religious Actors in Advancing U.S.

Foreign Policy 111. Cuba Ariba! A baseline study of Cuba’s economy after normalizing relations with

the United States112. Economic Factors of Violent Extremism 113. Women’s Participation in Peace and Security 114. State of the Future: How Emerging Technology Trends Will Impact Foreign Policy 115. Social Media’s Butterfly Effect: How to Clip Terrorists’ Wings Online 116. Energy Options for Vietnam 117. Benefits and Drawback of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on Vietnam 118. True U.S. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into Vietnam in 2015 119. Vietnam Visa Waiver Value 120. Analysis of Internet Transparency Reports Pertaining to India 121. Evaluating India’s Role in the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime

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Project 01

A Tropical Gangster and the $30 Million ProblemOffice of Central African Affairs (AF/C)

Overview:On October 10, 2014, The United States reached a settlement of a civil forfeiture cases against assets in the United States owned by the Second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue that he purchased with the proceeds of corruption. Nguema Obiang looted his government and shook down businesses in his country to support a lavish lifestyle, while many of his fellow citizens lived in extreme poverty.The settlement forces Nguema Obiang to relinquish assets worth an estimated $30 million, including a mansion located in Malibu, California, a Ferrari automobile and various items of Michael Jackson memorabilia purchased with the proceeds of corruption. Of those proceeds, $20 million will be given to a charitable organization to be used for the benefit of the people of Equatorial Guinea. Another $10.3 million will be forfeited to the United States and will be used for the benefit of the people of Equatorial Guinea to the extent permitted by law.

This project will focus on how to use the forfeited money to benefit the people of Equatorial Guinea. Significant challenges in the research include a lack of independent non-governmental organizations operating in the country, limited civil society groups, and capacity issues for firms when dealing with large amounts of money and the required levels of monitoring and evaluation.

Format of Final Product:The deliverable for this project should be in the form of a case study, not to exceed 15 pages and should include an executive summary.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project will draw on expertise and skills gained from, but not limited to, research in international affairs, management, human rights, political science, international development, African studies, law. The project will seek to develop student’s critical thinking and analysis as applied to a real world problem.

Comments:On October 14, 2014, The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets in the United States owned by the Second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue that he purchased with the proceeds of corruption. The Department of Justice will be seeking assistance from the Department of State on who or what

organizations should actually receive this money to benefit the people of Equatorial Guinea. High levels of corruption surround senior officials in Equatorial Guinea who conveniently also own or lead most of the major and legitimate business, charities and limited civil society organizations.

Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/7221.htm2014 Human Rights Report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236566.pdfDepartment of Justice Settlement Press Release: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/second-vice-president-equatorial-guinea-agrees-relinquish-more-30-million-assets-purchasedForeign Policy article on Teodorin’s World: http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/02/21/teodorins-world/

Maximum Number of Projects: 2

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http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/02/21/teodorins-world/

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/second-vice-president-equatorial-guinea-agrees-relinquish-more-30-million-assets-purchased

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/second-vice-president-equatorial-guinea-agrees-relinquish-more-30-million-assets-purchased

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236566.pdf

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/7221.htm

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Project 02

Sprout Diplomacy: Growing Sprouts, Feeding People and Changing Lives in the Lake Chad Basin

Africa Bureau, Office of Central African Affairs (AF/CA)Overview:The Lake Chad Basin is a living example of the devastation that climate change is wreaking on Africa. Nearly 20 million people depend on the lake for fishing, agriculture, and pastoralism. Poor water management – exacerbated by climate change – has fueled physical, food, and economic insecurity in a region long neglected from the reaches of their central governments. Moreover, many people in the Lake Chad region can no longer fish or tend their fields due to fear of Boko Haram attacks. The situation is exacerbated by a galloping birthrate ranging from 4.8 (Cameroon) to 7.6 (Niger) live births per woman. The changing political, economic, demographic and social landscape of the lake is forcing those who depend on the lake for their livelihood to adapt to a changing environment. Sprouting beans, lentils, and/or other seeds would provide one potential adaptation that could increase food security for the general population, address malnutrition in refugee camps, develop agricultural lands, and provide for economic exchange.

Beans/lentils/other seed sprouts are a common part of the diet in many cultures, especially in East Asia, but are not native to the Lake Chad Basin. Sprouting beans, lentils, and other seeds typically takes only a few days to create an edible product. Sprouts are densely nutritious due to a process called biotransference, which causes sprouts to have 10 to 20 percent more nutritional value than the adult plant. Sprouts are inexpensive and can be produced in simple containers requiring no soil and are highly portable. Sprouts can help address problems of malnutrition in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Sprouts require limited cooking time and, therefore, less fuel, or can even be eaten raw. Sprouts could contribute to stabilizing an unstable region.

This project should provide a primary market evaluation and risk assessment for a possible U.S. Government-funded program to support sprouting. The report should include recommendations for an education campaign to inform governments, commercial stakeholders and, most especially, consumers of the food, of the nutrition and health benefits for sprout consumption by the local population.

Format of Final Product:Research should be presented in a Word document not to exceed ten pages plus appendix as necessary. Research should include an executive summary, relevant maps and include a recommendation on how to launch this project with the national, regional and local governments of the Lake Chad Basin region and with potential donors to support implementation of projects to support sprouts production and consumption.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Business development, agri-business, international business, marketing, international development, food security, and humanitarian law would be important to the carrying out the research. French language skills might be useful for research, but are not required.

Comments:


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Project 03

Documenting Our Diplomatic Treasures at African PostsBureau of African Affairs, Office of Economic and Regional Affairs (AF/ERA)

Overview:Join the Africa Bureau’s efforts to document culturally significant U.S. embassies, chanceries, ambassadorial residences, and missions on the African continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region of the world not yet represented on the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Property. The Bureau seeks historic preservation, architecture, museum studies, and conservation teams to assist in research and identification of properties eligible for the Secretary’s Register.

The Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Property uses criteria analogous to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Criteria used to evaluate properties for eligibility for the Secretary of State’s Register include acknowledgement by an African government as a significant property, or documentation indicating the property is integral to U.S. overseas heritage. Properties can also be listed based on association with a significant historical person or event, representation of an important architectural style or design by a noted architect, unique objects or visual features, distinctive themes or manufacture, and associated archaeological sites.

Project results will contribute to commemorating U.S. diplomatic heritage on the African continent and to preserving and promoting American history and architecture overseas. The project’s evaluation of culturally significant U.S. properties in sub-Saharan Africa will contribute to our knowledge of historic U.S. diplomatic engagements on the African continent and bolster documentation of intersections in our shared past with African partners.

Format of Final Product:A report documenting culturally significant U.S. properties in sub-Saharan Africa suitable for submission to the Department of State’s Office of Overseas Buildings Cultural Heritage Office for review.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Historic preservation, architecture, archaeology, museum studies, conservation majors will gain skills at eligibility review for the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Property, which uses analogous criteria to the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the Secretary of the Interior for domestic U.S. Properties. Depending on expertise and interests—ranging from architecture to archaeology—students can delve into the unique features of U.S. buildings, embassies, and chanceries overseas.

Comments:Africa is the cradle of humanity with natural and cultural diversity matched only by its long history. Focused on pressing development and security concerns, many African authorities have not yet taken stock of cultural properties or identified mechanisms to protect those properties from loss or

destruction. Without attention and mechanisms to classify and safeguard heritage, African countries are at risk of losing markers of cultural identities, material evidence of rich histories, and unique ties connecting communities to landscapes. Efforts to document the significance of U.S. cultural properties in sub-Saharan Africa, some of which represent properties of importance to African governments, will provide a mechanism to engage authorities on heritage protection mechanisms such as the Register, and initiate a conversation on the connection between protecting heritage and combatting economic development and poverty issues.

The rich diversity of African cultural heritage and the intricate history of U.S. diplomatic relations on the African continent provide a lens to evaluate properties critical to our collective understanding of world history. The identification and protection of cultural heritage is a vector of development and social stability, both for present and future generations. These efforts can also serve as the baseline to initiating a conversation with African local authorities on the management of both tangible and intangible heritages, and fostering cooperation with African institutions dedicated to heritage protection and preservation including the School of African Heritage (EPA), theAfrican School of Urbanism and Architecture (EAMAU) and the Center for Heritage Development in African (CHDA).

Information on the Secretary of State's Register of Culturally Significant Properties: http://overseasbuildings.state.gov/register/register/


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http://overseasbuildings.state.gov/register/register/

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*Project not available for bidding

Project 04

Assessing the Wide-ranging Impact of the Revolution in Public Health

Office of Verification, Planning, and Outreach/Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (AVC/VPO)

Overview:A revolution is moving public health from a focus on curing diseases to preventing them by leveraging modern information technologies. Interactive and easily accessible databases are coupled with a new generation of digital devices and analytic techniques to capture and interpret health and wellness data of a granularity and variety that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. In particular, personal wellness devices (such as Fitbits) monitor individual activities and biometric functions and they increasingly also collect environmental data to detect both harmful and beneficial exposures. These developments raise important technical and social questions about the use and protection of privacy in the information age, social attitudes to big data, the appropriate use of group-gathered data, and the power of persistent ubiquitous sensing.

The project is divided into three broad areas of inquiry (for three teams). 1) How is the public health paradigm being impacted by new developments in science and technology? What is coming over the next few years? Who are the principal actors in pushing the field forward? 2) What additional public interests may be advanced by these developments? For example, could data from citizen sensors be used to monitor climate change or to detect sudden population movements and/or biological stress indicators associated with humanitarian crises? If personal devices can detect chemical exposures over time by many individuals, could this open the door to monitoring of commercial chemical producers? How about greatly improved pollution monitoring or societal verification of the presence of biological or chemical agents and/or contaminants. The study should consider real-world examples, such as the water contamination crisis in Flint, MI. How would such scenarios have played out differently had citizen medical monitoring been in place? The participants should propose monitoring architectures that might have provided more satisfactory outcomes (What kind of measurements need to made? What devices would be suitable collectors? How would the data be verified?). 3) What privacy issues (ethical and legal) are posed by the use of “citizen sensors” to further public interest goals? What are the ethics of, and appropriate tradecraft for the use of data generated by citizen sensors? What are the legal issues? Is it possible to maintain access to aggregate information of legitimate public interest while protecting privacy? How might privacy protections be incorporated into the procedural and technical architecture? How do we support and constructively

participate in conceptual design work for the institutional framework to oversee and regulate the use of citizen sensors?

Format of Final Product:Ten-page paper for each of the three areas of inquiry.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:For the three areas of inquiry, expertise in the following disciplines and skills will be useful: 1) Healthcare, Information technology; 2) Healthcare, information technology, environmental science and policy; 3) Healthcare, ethics, law, information technology.

Comments:

Here is some background reading to get the groups started:

The report for the JASON 2014 Summer Study titled “Health Information Technology” (for HHS) is posted on line at

https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/2014-JASON-data-for-individual-health.pdf

there is also an earlier, somewhat related report at:

https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/ptp13-700hhs_white.pdf

These articles may be helpful as well:Your Next Fitbit Should Detect Nuclear Bombs, DHS Hopes:

http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/11/your-next-fitbit-should-detect-nuclear-bombs-dhs-hopes/123512/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

Michael J Fox in Parkinson’s smartwatch drug trial tie-uphttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/83bc7ffa-b4c7-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f.html#axzz3waGNBbPh

Why Cows Could Soon Be Wearing Fitbitshttp://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/why-cows-could-soon-be-wearing-fitbits/ar-BBlhdd3?srcref=rss&ocid=winrs

New Smart Street Corners That Will Act like a Fitbit for the Cityhttp://www.wired.com/2014/10/chicagos-new-smart-street-corners-will-act-like-fitbit-city/


http://www.wired.com/2014/10/chicagos-new-smart-street-corners-will-act-like-fitbit-city/

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/why-cows-could-soon-be-wearing-fitbits/ar-BBlhdd3?srcref=rss&ocid=winrs

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/why-cows-could-soon-be-wearing-fitbits/ar-BBlhdd3?srcref=rss&ocid=winrs

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/83bc7ffa-b4c7-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f.html#axzz3waGNBbPh

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Project 05

Explain a Complicated Process- Passport Website Instructional Videos in Spanish

Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services, Community Relations (CA/PPT/S/PMO/CR)

Overview:Travel.State.Gov is the only official resource customers can access to get the most up-to-date information on all things passport. The website tends to be text-heavy due to the amount of information that must be communicated to the customer, and a series of videos would help condense that information. This project seeks to develop a series of visually coherent videos that explain the complicated passport process in a way the public understands. The topics would likely include renewing a passport, applying for the first time, and minor passports, but are up for discussion.

Format of Final Product:A series of 4-5 short videos in Spanish explaining how to undertake basic passport tasks, such as renewing a passport, applying for the first time, getting a child’s passport, etc. Ideal production would include a mix of animation, graphics, and text. Any sound would need to meet current 508 Compliance for the disabled or hard of hearing (example: closed captioning).

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Marketing, Graphic Design, Photography, Film, Advertising, Tourism Studies, Spanish

Comments:We are very open to suggestions for how these videos might look- and we will provide you all of the content you need.


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Project 06

Economic and Social Impacts of Labor Migration to Gulf Countries from the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP)

Consulate General Hyderabad, India, Political and Economic SectionOverview:The project aims to better describe the scale and structure of labor migration from Telangana and AP states to the Gulf. In contrast to states like Kerala, where there has been considerable research on this issue, scholars and policy analysts have not produced substantial work to document Gulf labor migration from Telangana and AP. Anecdotally, we know that there is a huge flow of labor migrants – from drivers to coffee shop staff to construction workers and white collar workers – who stay for longer periods in the Gulf countries. Often the residence in the Gulf can be long, and the economic/cultural/religious influences substantial. Accompanying the positive economic development impact that remittances likely bring, there are abuses of labor trafficking (in the name of domestic work, marriage, etc.) to the Gulf, the scale of which is little understood. Similarly, there is little research done on the impact on religious attitudes and practices for workers who have spent long periods in the Gulf.

The purpose of the project is to chart the scale of labor flows from Telangana and AP, the source districts, destination countries in the Gulf and sectors. From there, we hope to delve into discrete qualitative analysis of: what role remittances play in Telangana and AP states’ economies; what are some of the underreported abuses that accompany these labor flows (either in working conditions or in the form of sexual exploitation); and what are the larger impacts on the cultural-religious attitudes of workers who spend considerable time in the Gulf. Importantly, the research should ideally unveil a clear picture of where and how the labor outflows that start from the two states, as a form of pure voluntary migration for better livelihood opportunities, degenerate into trafficking.

Format of Final Product:Data analysis of the scale and district level sources of labor flows from Telangana and AP, and breakdown of destination countries and employment sectors; Qualitative analysis of the method and impact of remittances from the Gulf on livelihoods and economic mobility in Telangana and AP; Qualitative assessment of labor trafficking and trafficking in persons abuses in the Gulf; and qualitative assessment of the impact of religious influences from the Gulf on attitudes and religious organizations in Telangana and AP.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Labor migration, remittances and development policy, trafficking in persons, familiarity with cultural and religious influences between the Gulf and India.

Comments: We are a small political and economic section at the U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad, Telangana state, India. We are responsible for political and economic reporting in the three states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. Telangana is India’s newest state, created in 2014 after Parliament voted to bifurcate the original state of Andhra Pradesh. Telangana state’s population is around 35 million inhabitants and its territory largely covers the area once ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad, the wealthy Muslim dynasty whose reign ended in 1948. Hyderabad’s Muslim community is historically, culturally, and linguistically distinct from other Muslim communities in India. Centered in the Old City of Hyderabad, the community shares many values and concerns, and the Deccan dialect of Urdu. But within the community are divisions between religious sects (both Shiite and Sunni Muslim populations exist); geographic origin (including the Barkas community, which traces itself to Yemen, and the many Hyderabadi families who claim descent from ancient royalty originating in Iran); and the same divisions of wealth, class, and education that divide communities across India. After the bifurcation of the original Andhra Pradesh state in 2014, the residual coastal area and inland region, collectively referred to as Seemandhra, kept the state name Andhra Pradesh (AP). AP currently has a population of approximately 50 million people.

Although labor migration to the Gulf is quantitatively far higher from Telangana than Andhra Pradesh, the idea of including AP in the project is because at least two districts of AP – East Godavari and West Godavari –have been known to be active source districts in sending a large number of women as domestic help. Several of these women have been reportedly abused physically and sexually. We understand that most of these migrants hail from lower social strata and their migration and eventual trafficking is a phenomenon whose scale and social impact is not yet well understood.


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Project 07

To Be or Not to Be – How to Evaluate Decision Making in Visa Adjudications Office of Criminal Justice

U.S. Consulate General Sao Paulo, Brazil (SPL)Overview:Consular management at the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo Brazil seeks best practices on measuring personnel for their decision making.

Consular officers for the U.S. Department of State conduct in-person interviews to make decisions on who is eligible to receive a visa. A typical consular officer conducts 15,000+ interviews per year and receives a yearly written evaluation.

Effectively and appropriately reviewing a consular officer’s performance is challenging for a variety reasons, including:

(1) Variation in the complexity of interviews;(2) The sheer volume of data points (number of interviews, foreign language use, unique

circumstances)(3) Limited management opportunities to observe interviews; and (4) Necessary subjectivity of the decisions themselves

The goal of our proposal is to improve the way we measure officers making thousands of decisions in a fairly subjective environment by comparing the methods used by private industry/universities.

Format of Final Product:2-4 pages describing the advantages and disadvantages of current employee evaluation models. Analyses of positions that perform tasks similar to visa decisions (i.e. subjective decisions, multiple variables, large number of decisions) will be especially useful.

For example: An Ivy League college admissions officer must select the best applicants from a large number of applications. They take many data points into account (SAT, GPA, essay, extracurricular activities) and make thousands of decisions. How is an admissions officer’s performance evaluated with an inherently subjective process that has many different variables? What are the challenges?

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Management training, Human Resources expertise

Comments:We are in the process of implementing a feedback tool but it is still in the early stages of testing. If selected, we are interested in using knowledge gained from these studies to evaluate this tool.


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Project 08

Saving Endangered Species in the Upper Gulf of CaliforniaU.S. Consulate General Tijuana, Political/Economic Section

Overview:The upper Gulf of California, Mexico, is home to the world’s most endangered porpoise, the vaquita marina (Phocena sinus) and the endangered totoaba fish (Totoaba macdonaldi). The vaquita has been in severe decline for several years, with an estimated population of less than 100 left on earth, and is primarily threated due to the illegal gillnet fishing of the totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder (buche) is a prized delicacy in Asia. Both species are listed in the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) “red list” of Critically Endangered Species, and Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Since the vaquita marina is often the unintended bycatch of illegal totoaba fishing, eliminating the illegal trafficking of totoaba is crucial to saving the vaquita marina.

We are looking for any ideas to save the vaquita and the totoaba, but would particularly appreciate an analysis of a proposal from some local residents to create a “white market” for the totoaba by implementing a permit system for legal sport fishing. Promoters of this idea propose charging a high fee to sports fishermen to catch totoaba with rod and reel only, and then investing the proceeds of both the fee and the legal sale of the totoaba bladder into the local community. An analysis of the feasibility of this proposal would be very helpful, as well as an explanation of the process (and any precedent) for changing the totoaba’s status in CITES to allow for the legal sale of the totoaba bladder.

In addition, we would like an analysis of clean energy options in the San Felipe area, to include wind, solar, and tidal power. The analysis should include the economic viability of any such project and the number of jobs it would generate.

Format of Final Product:Written, detailed analysis of options to save the totoaba and vaquita, with particular focus on their economic impacts to fishing communities in the upper Gulf of California.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economics and environmental science


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Project 09

Gender Dynamics of Violent Extremism: Program Overview & Literature Review

Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), Office of Analysis, Planning, Programming, and Learning (APPL)

Overview:The Bureau of Conflict and Stabilizations Operations (CSO) is seeking teams to conduct research on the factors contributing to gender dynamics in violent extremism through a review of academic literature, and to gather information and assess CVE gender programs being conducted by NGOs in the field for the Africa, Near East, and South Central Asia and East Asia and Pacific regions. This research will contribute to CSO’s broader gender CVE research and CSO’s research on factors that contribute the emergence, spread, and escalation of violent extremism.

Format of Final Product:Long-form research paper with citations and bibliography

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:International Relations, Gender Studies, Counter-Terrorism, Conflict Studies, Africa Studies, Middle East Studies, Asian Studies.

Comments:The Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) advances the Department of State's understanding of violent conflict through analysis and planning; monitoring, evaluation, and learning; and targeted, in-country efforts that help the U.S. government anticipate, prevent, and respond to conflict and promote long-term stability.

Maximum Number of Projects: 3Three projects divided by region: 1) AFRICA, 2) NEAR EAST/ASIA, 3) SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA and EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

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Project 10

Build the first “Electoral Violence Dataset” for Africa Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), Office of Analysis, Planning, Programming,

and Learning (APPL)Overview:There has been an increasing policy focus on electoral violence in recent years, yet there are no good datasets which capture the type and magnitude of electoral violence across space and time. This high-resolution dataset would be of similar quality to the Armed Conflict Location Event Dataset (ACLED) and would capture several main types of electoral violence (such as violent riots/protests, assassinations, harassment/intimidation) and for each event would include the date, location (including province and town), event type, perpetrator name, victim name, and total fatalities (if any). The dataset would include events at least 18 months before and six months after an election day (most datasets on electoral violence only include events within a few days of an election).The dataset would focus only on Africa, and could use existing ACLED data as a starting point, adding an additional event type or additional event types to capture those events which could be directly attributed to an electoral cycle. Ideally, the coding would differentiate those events related to national elections from those events related to sub-national elections.

Format of Final Product:Deliverables would include 1) A complete dataset from 1997 – present 2) A clear, useable codebook that can be used by analysts in the USG to extend the dataset and keep it current.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Knowledge of conflict datasets such as ACLED and MEPV will be helpful; knowledge of IR theory and conflict theory in particular would be helpful; knowledge of and experience using quantitative methods to investigate issues of conflict and crisis will be key, as will familiarity with electoral violence.

Comments:Extension of the dataset beyond just Africa would be beneficial, but is not likely doable in one semester. Follow-on projects could extend the dataset to additional regions.


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Project 11

Understanding Local Peace Agreements and Conflict PreventionBureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), Office of Analysis, Planning, Programming,

and Learning (APPL)

Overview:This project will explore the effectiveness of local peace agreements in preventing conflict.

There is a robust academic research literature on national level peace agreements. The literature explores the sheer volume of peace agreements, their characteristics, their effects, and a host of other variables.

However, to date, there is little to no exploration of peace agreements that do not happen at the national level. That is, there is little to no exploration of subnational peace agreements between say-- tribal groups, warring factions, militias, gangs, etc.

We envision a team of students (graduate level or advanced undergraduates) who will complete two tasks. First, we would like a robust literature review (e.g. of case studies, books, or even news articles -- probably multiple sources) on the subject of local peace agreements. Second, we would like the team to quantify the results of the literature review into a data set/ catalogue of local peace agreements. Lastly, an optional component of the research would be for the team to conduct a statistical analysis of the data set to identify trends. To our knowledge, no such catalogue of such agreements exists and the field would benefit from a data set in order to conduct more advanced research on the subject.

Questions for the researchers to consider include: How have informal or locally negotiated agreements contributed (either positively or

negatively) to conflict resolution processes at the national level? (For instance, the community ceasefires in Syria or Libya)

Are there examples of local ceasefire agreements being supported or made more effective via international support or involvement?

What are best practices for supporting local ceasefires? What are potential drawbacks of local/informal ceasefire?

Format of Final Product:

20-25 page research paper from each university participating. Paper should be polished and professional to the point where the authors could potentially publish the document. Any major formatting style (e.g. APA, Chicago) is acceptable. The paper should include data visualization with citations. Recommended software and data visualization tools include MS Excel, Tableau, R, SPSS, STATA, and/or Python.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project should incorporate multiple methods and domains of expertise. We would expect the team to have strong writing and research skills, basic to moderate statistical skills, data visualization skills, and the ability to take qualitative data and skillfully find ways to quantify that data.

Comments:Potential data sources:ACLED: http://www.acleddata.com/GDELT: http://www.gdeltproject.org/Peace and Conflict Research: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_peace_agreement_dataset/Political Instability Task Force: http://eventdata.parusanalytics.com/data.dir/atrocities.htmlPRIO: https://www.prio.org/Data/


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https://www.prio.org/Data/

http://eventdata.parusanalytics.com/data.dir/atrocities.html

http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_peace_agreement_dataset/

http://www.gdeltproject.org/

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Project 12

Build the “Diplomatic Exchange” dataset – the first dataset recording global head of state visits from 1950 – 2015.

Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), Office of Analysis, Planning, Programming, and Learning (APPL)

Overview:The neo-realist concept of IR argues that structure (the distribution of material resources across units) drives outcomes in IR. The network approach, on the other hand, argues that a different kind of structure drives outcomes in IR – the structure of relationships and the property and patterns of those relationships between and amongst actors. In that vein, a global dataset recording all visits of heads of state would have great value. Head of state visits are the highest form of diplomatic exchange. As such, understanding the patterns and networks of head of state visits at the global level helps us to identify diplomatic power brokers and trace the flow of diplomatic influence around the world. There is currently no global dataset on head of state visits. Such a dataset would have immense value, especially for conducting classic Social Network Analysis.

Format of Final Product:The deliverable would be a complete dataset, in matrix form, showing by year and country all visits, and recording the direction of the visit, the head of state doing the visiting, and the respective country and head of state being visited. A codebook will also be requested so that USG analysts could keep the dataset current.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Experience with quantitative approaches to IR and IR datasets will be critical.

Comments:Suggest that this definition be used: “A head of state visit is defined as either a formal head of state visit or a meeting specifically between the two heads of state scheduled for that purpose. For example, a visit with a leader that takes place during an international conference or on the sidelines of one is not counted as a head of state visit. A visit by a head of state to an international conference where a head of state then holds separate bilateral talks with the head of state of the host nation is counted. A visit by one leader to a country where the head of state is not met by his or her counterpart is not counted.”


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Project 13

Terrorists & Trucks: Methods to Degrade Mobility of Terrorist Groups in the Maghreb-Sahel

Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), Regional Affairs and Programs, Office of South and Central Asia and the Near East (CT/RAP/NEA)

Overview:Terrorist groups infest regions across the globe. Their potential to threaten neighbors – and also innocents far away – depends on their relative mobility. The Lord’s Resistance Army, bogged down trekking through the mountainous jungles of Africa, is confined to threaten only its direct neighbors. Da’esh/ISIS, driving pickup trucks over a network of flat roads in the Middle East and invading cyberspace with propaganda, is able to threaten a much larger part of the world.

In the Maghreb-Sahel region, terrorist groups traverse a variety of ungoverned spaces: open deserts, uninhabited shorelines, and public internet cafes – often in the bed of a pickup truck with a smart phone in-hand. Counterterrorism forces are limited in their scope and capacity to interdict the terrorists as they move freely across borders and into vulnerable communities.

The operating assumption is that terrorist groups in the Maghreb-Sahel utilize specific mobility advantages – such as pickup trucks in the desert – to increase the range of their threat.

The goal of this project is to source methods to reduce this range. Physical, market, or legal inefficiencies (imposed by the community, government, or terrain) can shackle even the most ambitious terrorists.

1. The first stage will be to pick two terrorist groups of interest to the students – Da’esh/ISIS in Libya and AQIM in Mali, for example – and study their mobility characteristics.

2. The second stage will be to source specific recommendations for reducing their mobility.3. The third and final stage will be a collaboration with State/CT to match the study’s

recommendations with USG policy initiatives and funding streams to turn academic ideas into actionable programs.

Format of Final Product:Three parts: (1) One-page executive summary “info-graphic” that integrates imagery, colors, maps, or other visual aids to summarize the project findings, (2) a ten-page detailed report to supplement the executive summary , and (3) a Facebook of those who contributed with contact information for future engagement.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Business Expertise: “Supply Chain Efficiencies (Management)” … Except in this case, the study would focus on how to create “Supply Chain In-Efficiencies” for terrorist groups.Geography Expertise: “Terrain Characteristics” … How to position counterterrorist forces to give a mobility advantage or deny that advantage to terrorist groups.

Comments:The Bureau of Counterterrorism will provide unclassified background information for the Maghreb-Sahel region, info-graphics for reference, and an example case study.


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Project 14

Key Indicators for measurement and analysis of the 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review’s Strategic Priorities

Office of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (D-MR/QDDR)

Overview:The 2015 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review identifies four strategic priorities related to foreign policy challenges: Preventing and Mitigating Conflict and Violent Extremism; Promoting Resilient, Open, Democratic Societies; Advancing Inclusive Economic Growth; and Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change. In each of these priority areas, the QDDR has reviewed efforts and made related recommendations for the Department and USAID. Measurement and evaluation of these strategic priorities can be difficult, and there is a need to improve the mechanisms and methods of assessing progress in these areas. The QDDR office would benefit from an analysis of the mechanisms and methods available, and recommendations for which ones should be considered key leading indicators for each priority area.

Format of Final Product:Deliverables include:

- All summary analysis, methodology, and data related to the investigation of the project- A final report making key lead indicator recommendations and summarizing research- A presentation with visual aid that is suitable to senior officers and leaders

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:The four strategic priorities cover a wide variety of subject matter expertise, including politics, sociology, climate science, and economics. However, researchers are not being asked to create new measures, but rather synthesize and amalgamate current measurements in order to adopt existing indicators or create an indicator. Ideally a multi-disciplinary team is likely best suited to solving the problem set.

Comments:The focus of this research is to improve our understanding of the analytical tools available to measure progress towards the 2015 QDDR strategic policy recommendations and introduce this information in internal discussion and analysis. The adoption of key indicators will enable the

Department to increase the amount of data being used in discussion, evaluation and measurement as well as decision-making processes.

Maximum Number of Projects: 2-4

No more than 4, preferably 2. Strategic Priorities could be broken up into separate projects, provided the whole collection is addressed.

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Project 15

From Military to Civilian Leadership: Preparing for Transition in Burma Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor/East Asian and Pacific Affairs (DRL/EAP)

Overview:The sweeping victory by the National League of Democracy (NLD) in the November 8 Burmese elections represented a potentially significant step forward in Burma’s historic transition toward democracy. The world continues to watch with cautious optimism, hoping that the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the powerful military will follow through on their stated commitments to support the peaceful transfer of power to the NLD.

DRL/EAP requests a research project to analyze past examples of militaries peacefully reducing their political and economic role and accepting civilian command. Which three to four transitions were most successful, judged in terms of completeness of the transition, its peacefulness and sustainability, and timeframe? What factors did those successful cases hold in common? What types of domestic and international engagement most effectively supported these transitions? Which best practices are most applicable to the Burma transition?

The answers to these questions will inform policymaking with respect to the promotion of democracy and human rights. While this project is immediately applicable to the case of Burma, the findings may apply to other cases.

Format of Final Product:DRL/EAP would like a written analytical report focusing on a small set of key factors that contributed to the successful transition of power in 3-4 case studies. As previously stated, identify common themes and how they relate to the situation in Burma.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:

Comments:Many countries have transitioned from military governments to democratically elected ones, from Indonesia to South Korea to Chile. As you get started, it may be helpful to determine a spectrum of successful and failed military disengagements with the case studies you analyze, ranging from sustained democracy and open markets fully regulated by a civilian government on one end, to

military retrenchment on the other. Think about what the common mechanisms were in the transitions of power on both sides of the spectrum. How were democratic concepts institutionalized in each country, or not? How did the international community positively or negatively engage in different transition efforts? These questions can serve as a jumping off point, and help you identify which cases most relate to Burma.

Lastly it is worth noting that by the time you begin your research, the new Burmese government will have been in power for roughly five months (beginning April 2016). Keep this in mind when researching other countries’ experiences, and as you monitor the Burmese government’s early successes and failures.


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Project 16

Tracking Rohingya and Uighur Migration Flows in Central, South, and Southeast Asia

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor/East Asian and Pacific Affairs (DRL/EAP)

Overview:Southeast Asia experiences regular, high migration flows every year, due in some cases to systematic discrimination by the government, including religious and political repression. DRL/EAP requests a research project to track migration flows from 2012-2015 with an analysis of those flows in terms of country and regional policies or initiatives. Please focus your efforts on the Uighurs from the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region in Northeast China and the Rohingya.

Format of Final Product:DRL/EAP would like to receive three deliverables:

Migration maps that detail major migration routes for each group for each year from 2012-2015.

Two migration databases that will be used to generate timelines for 2012-2015, one each for the Rohingya and the Uighurs. The databases and resulting timelines will include basic migration patterns as well as the broader policy initiatives, changes, incidents and other events that may have shaped the migration patterns, including crackdowns by police and non-government actions.

Analysis of the relationship between government policy (domestic, regional, and international), other events, and the flow of people from 2012-2015.



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Project 17

China Population Control Office of Multilateral and Government Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

(DRL/MLGA)Overview:Explain how responsibility for population planning in China has changed following the 2013 merger of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) with the Ministry of Health. The restructure combines most of the responsibilities of the previous two organizations into a new ‘‘National Health and Family Planning Commission’’ (NHFPC), whose responsibilities are to execute "unified planning on resource allocation for medical care, public health, and family planning services, organize and establish a national basic drug system, formulate the family planning policy, oversee and regulate public health and medical care services, and take charge of such work as family planning administration and services.’’ The family planning responsibilities were purportedly transferred to a new agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, whose duties include "studying and drawing up the population development strategy and program and the population policy.’’

Federal law provides that the State Department may not issue a visa to "any foreign national whom the Secretary finds...to have been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of population control policies forcing a woman to undergo an abortion against her free choice or forcing a man or woman to undergo sterilization..." Prior to the 2013 merger of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) with the Ministry of Health, it was relatively easier for our consular officers adjudicating visas requests in China to determine what types of Chinese government officials could be deemed to be “directly involved” with population control policies, as they would typically have been affiliated with the NPFPC and would disclose this on their professional resumes, submitted as part of the visa application process. However, in 2013 at least 90 medical professionals from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) voiced their concern that merging the NPFPC with the Health Ministry might cause China to ‘‘encounter difficulties’’ in its international exchanges of medical and scientific experts, because of international controversy over China’s population planning policy. This is precisely our concern as well. We don’t want to deny visas to all doctors and all health personnel who might otherwise be able to participate in important scientific and medical collaboration with their U.S. counterparts; at the same time, we are obligated to enforce this law. Thus, what we need is a more detailed description of what exactly changed in

2013 and how we might better identify the types of work or official positions that would tend to lend themselves to direct involvement in population control policies.

Format of Final Product:A research paper or papers, no more than 50 pages in length. Address(es): (a) which parts of the new ‘National Health and Family Planning Commission’’ (NHFPC) are charged with which aspects of population planning;; (b) which parts of the National Development and Reform Commission are charged with which aspects of population planning; (c) to what degree medical practitioners and/or public health personnel are directly involved with the enforcement of population control policies, particularly those in the OB/GYN medical specialty; and (d) any other governmental or Communist Party components (e.g., village cadres, county government officials) who might be said to be “directly involved” in the establishment or enforcement of population control policies. Students could choose to take on only one of these topics, or students could work on 3-4 different teams.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This research requires the ability to read and analyze official documents issued in the Mandarin language by the government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.

Comments:Students should read as background several of the Annual Reports issued by the Congressional Executive Committee on China (CECC), available at http://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports. There is a section in each annual report devoted to “Population control.” These provide an excellent overview of the PRC’s population control policies and who is responsible for enforcing them. They are exhaustively footnoted, and the footnotes would give students a good sense of the types of sources we would expect to be used for this research.

Maximum Number of Projects: 3-4Students could choose to take on only one of these topics, or students could work on 3-4 different teams.

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http://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports

http://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports

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Project 18

Artificial Intelligence and International Relations Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Office of Regional and Security Policy (EAP/RSP)

Overview:We are on the verge of an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. However, the international affairs community is primarily fixated on concerns with autonomous, lethal drones. Little attention is focused on the broader social, political and economic impacts of changes in employment, capital and income inequality caused by the geometric growth of artificial intelligence.

This project will focus on these broader impacts. The core research for this project is an assessment of the industries most likely to face significant employment displacement due to AI and the countries this displacement will impact significantly. This data will support analysis of these impacts in the students’ areas of expertise: an international affairs team could assess impacts to internal political stability and external international relations; an international finance team could focus on balance of trade and international labor flows; both teams could work together to analyze potential negative impacts to income inequality and implications for internal relations.

Format of Final Product:The deliverables for this project will be: 1) a well-cited document summarizing the data on AI employment impacts and key countries impacted by this displacement; and 2) an analytical document extrapolating potential international implications based on this data.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project is targeted towards students with a focus in any of the following areas: international relations; foreign service; international finance and economics; international development; and international science and technology policy. Prior knowledge of AI is not necessary but an interest in the subject is essential.

Comments:Additional Background: AIs are increasingly displacing middle-class, knowledge-worker jobs worldwide. The impacts cut across every industry. Machine intelligence already facilitates our relationships (eHarmony),

optimizes our driving (Waze) and searches knowledge (Google) in ways that exceed human capabilities. Some professions, like payroll clerks, are already extinct due to machine intelligence. Many others, like call center operators, insurance appraisers, medical technicians and transactional attorneys, face increasing displacement pressure as AI quality improves rapidly. Companies are actively seeking ways to replace human jobs. Facebook (through ‘Project M’) is actively teaching AIs how to perform a broad swath of service jobs so costly human employees can be eliminated. Google, Apple, Uber and others are piloting autonomous vehicles which threaten to eliminate 4.1 million transportation jobs in the U.S. by 2022. A 2013 paper by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne of the University of Oxford, argued that 47% of jobs in all occupational categories (like accountancy, legal work, technical writing and other white-collar occupations) will be eliminated by artificial intelligence over the next 20 years.

The political, social and economic upheavals from companies outsourcing jobs to other nations will pale compared to the challenges posed by global outsourcing of jobs to machines. Countries like China are banking their future on a transition from a manufacturing to Service-oriented economy. If the rising services sector is displaced by artificial intelligence, the Communist Party’s legitimacy and internal social stability will face extreme pressure. Additionally, capital (AI) is increasingly replacing labor (employees) with potentially profound negative impacts on income equality. The rise of the global middle class has been one of the most transformational social and political trends in international affairs over the last fifty years. If this trend reverses, it will have serious implications for economic and political liberalization in the developing world.

A list of books related to AI and the future of work can be found at: http://amzn.com/w/VFP6SM3F4QW2

Timeframe: while the core research for this project can be completed in a semester, the analytical components will continue on into spring 2017, building off the work performed in the Fall semester. There is space for a student group to engage for a semester or for the entire academic year.

Maximum Number of Projects: 2-4Two teams and could consider up to four teams if the work is divided based on regional or functional focus.

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http://amzn.com/w/VFP6SM3F4QW2

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Project 19

Effective Intercultural Communication: Cultural Trend Analysis and Developing Strategies for Information Sharing on Agricultural Biotechnology

Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of Agricultural Policy (EB/TPP/AGP)

Overview:We are looking for teams to conduct in depth research on cultural attitudes toward agriculture and biotechnology in European, African, and South Asian countries. The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of how to most effectively distribute information to people in these countries (i.e. best medium for communication, language, tone, source of information). As the Office of Agricultural Policy looks to engage in more outreach with these countries to inform them of the benefits of agricultural biotechnology to address hunger and climate change, we want to ensure that they are receiving information through the clearest and most understandable methods. By conducting analyses of cultural trends and the current climate surrounding agricultural biotechnology, each team will have clear understanding of which communication methods each culture is most receptive towards.

Format of Final Product:The final product will be a 10 page report addressing cultural features based off Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, current policies on climate change, agricultural biotechnology, and general opinions on ag biotech.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Communication, Marketing, Business, Public Relations, Sociology, Varied Cultural Studies, Political Science, International Relations, or related fields


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Project 20

Climate Change and Agriculture: A Comparative Analysis of Policies and Programs

Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of Agricultural Policy (EB/TPP/AGP)

Overview:The Paris Climate Change Agreement marks a significant milestone in the global battle to fight climate change and keep the rise in temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. For the first time ever in a global climate agreement, food security was recognized as a fundamental priority and over 80% of countries mentioned agriculture in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). In order for the promise of climate change mitigation to become a reality, much work will be needed to turn INDCs into reality. As part of this work, we propose a project for students to form teams and select a country for analysis. The analysis would be composed of background on the country’s agricultural sector, with particular attention paid to emissions, agriculture related policies or programs in INDCs, and forward looking proposals for how the country could improve climate change mitigation and adaption in the agricultural sector. Teams should pay special attention to the impact upon smallholder farmers, as they are the most impacted by climate change, and on the use and regulation of agricultural biotechnology, as the Office of Agricultural Policy conducts educational outreach on the food security and climate change benefits of biotechnology. A list of priority countries and/or regions will be mutually decided by the professor and the Office of Agricultural Policy.

Format of Final Product:The final product will be both a 10 minute group presentation and a 5-10 page report. The project sponsor would like to hear the final presentations through video conferencing.


Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy, Environmental Science, Agricultural Sciences, Economics


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Project 21

Finding More U.S. Host Families and High Schools

Bureau of Economic and Cultural Affairs, Office of Public Affairs and Strategic Communications(ECA/PASC)

Overview:Every year the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs seeks to find volunteer families and high schools for about 2,000 international high school exchange students studying in the US for an academic year through ECA’s academic year inbound programs (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, Future Leaders Exchange, and Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study programs). As part of this process PASC organizes regular campaigns to spread the word about this unique program and opportunity, and encourage families to open their homes to these students and schools to enroll the students. Despite these efforts, the Bureau has come up short the last few years. Word of mouth remains the primary vehicle for reaching potential host families. In the absence of a robust marketing division, and plentiful resources, PASC has found it difficult to effectively reach this audience and promote this campaign. Moreover, in the absence of direct contact with host family alumni networks, we have found that our promotional efforts have been unproductive. Through this project we are looking for support in rebranding the hosting campaign to make it more appealing to outside audiences and looking for assistance in identifying alternate ways of promoting this program. We are also looking for ways to tweak and/or incentivize the program to families as they are not paid for hosting and must undergo a thorough vetting process. How can we better promote the value of hosting ECA-funded students over other exchange students and/or other exchange programs that pay its host families and schools, which we are prohibited from doing by J-1 visa regulations? What might make the program more appealing? How can we expand awareness of the programs and extoll the benefits of hosting. What new partners could we work with?

Format of Final Product:Marketing strategy

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Public affairs, marketing, digital marketing, communications, international affairs, international education


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Project 22

Finding the lost generation in the Central African Republic Public Affairs Office, U.S. Embassy Bangui

Overview:The Central African Republic has been buried in decades of violence, turmoil, and political unrest. While the country’s instability has impacted its economy and society, the most disturbing impact has been on the next generation of citizens and leaders. With the disruption of government operations and services, schools closed, and in the regular periods of violence, children stayed home instead of going to school. Worst of all, as the security situation declined and young people saw their role models giving up on the country or engaging in violence with militias, they began to follow in their footsteps.

Now, as the Central African Republic faces an important turning point--presidential elections in December 2015 and January 2016--and the country has an opportunity to move forward from the violence and instability of the past, there are few young leaders with the motivation and education to step forward. The Embassy wants to support democratic institutions, accountability, and transparency and believes that encouraging the participation of the next generation is the key to these concepts. Embassy Bangui seeks input on two major questions: how can the Embassy and the United States best invest in a new generation of leaders; and how can the Embassy engage and support the existing youth, who are ready to advance the country?

Format of Final Product:Post would like to receive a memorandum from the university(-ies), which includes two parts.

1. The first part should be a list of recommendations of specific programs, initiatives, or investments, which would support the development, training, or education of the next generation of leaders. These recommendations could be program proposals that they Embassy would make to the Central African Republic government, or programs, which the Embassy would administer.

2. The second part should be a list of events, trainings, or platforms that the U.S. Embassy could use to identify and develop young leaders.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Students with French language ability will be able to communicate more easily with Central Africans, however, French language ability is not required. Embassy Bangui believes that persons from a range of disciplines from education to social policy to international affairs can each offer extremely useful insights on this project.

Comments:Embassy Bangui encourages interested schools and universities to review the Embassy’s Facebook page, which captures the outreach work currently being done (https://www.facebook.com/usembassy.bangui/?ref=hl). Embassy Bangui is also prepared to host an in-brief session to provide context on the Central African Republic, and will also coordinate at least one session between the school/university and the English-speaking Young African Leadership Initiative alumni (https://youngafricanleaders.state.gov/)


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https://youngafricanleaders.state.gov/

https://www.facebook.com/usembassy.bangui/?ref=hl

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Project 23

Women Soldiers: The Case of Lebanon’s Male-Dominated ArmyU.S. Embassy in Beirut, Public Diplomacy Section

Overview:Women’s enrollment in the Lebanese Army remains a highly controversial issue in the country. With women having pre-conceived stereotypes about the manner in which they will be treated within a male-dominated environment, coupled with the manner in which the army stigmatizes women, it is not anticipated that this dynamic will witness a shift anytime soon.

Moreover, their ranking, promotion, and issues related to their competencies and skills in high ranking positions remains a taboo subject within the army itself.

There has not only never been a female army commander in the history of the institution, but women are most often placed within administrative positions, and within positions that do not capitalize on their potential physical capabilities, which they are usually not to possess in the first place.

Taking into account the high levels of corruption and the overwhelming and constant political instability in the country, coupled with the country’s social, cultural, religious, and patriarchal values, combatting the notions of gender stereotyping and sexism hardly stands a chance.

The important role of women in the military has yet to be shed light upon in Lebanon, and has yet to be discussed in separate discourse from the study of the army as one homogeneous entity.

The project will focus on accessing as many women in the military as possible, through one on one interviews as well as the collection of testimonies in order to document this reality and come up with potential solutions. It will also focus on accessing: a sociologist, a psychologist, a historian/military expert, and a high-ranking male military official.

The project will strike a comparison between the gender dynamic of the military in Lebanon and that of at least 3 case studies abroad – namely one European Country, the US and one other ME country.

Format of Final Product:The final format of the project will be a 20 page research paper, complete with both the transcription of the highlights of the interviews as well as with recommendations and prospects.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:The project will contribute to the fields of: Gender Studies, Military Studies, Women’s Rights, and will also assist within the realm of Comparative Analysis.

Comments:The team must consist of the authors of the paper, the interviewers and a supervisor.

I. Initial Readings:

The Changing Role of Women in the Armed Forces by Nancy Goldman: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2776610?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents


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Project 24

Friend-to-Friend: American Diplomats in Dhaka 1949 – 1972U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Public Affairs Section

Overview:Despite decades of development support, the United States’ commitment to Bangladesh is often publically called into question when there are modern-day differences in the bilateral relationship. The historical lynchpin is the Nixon Administration’s support for erstwhile Pakistan when Bangladesh declared its independence in 1971. The courage of diplomats at then Consulate General Dacca, including the famous Blood Telegram, is heralded when times are good and forgotten when there is friction. Likewise the opposition of U.S. Senators such as Edward M. Kennedy and J. William Fulbright and the people power of moments like the Concert for Bangladesh similarly fall by the wayside.

This digital story-telling project would pull together the key elements of the United States’ support for the nascent Bangladesh during the East Pakistan period and onward to recognition in 1972. Key milestones include the founding of U.S. Consulate General Dacca in 1949 (post Partition), Founding Father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s exchange program to the United States in 1957, and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus’s Fulbright Fellowships in the late 1960s and early 1970s that led right into the War of Liberation, the Blood Telegram Period, events in the United States during the Summer of ’71, and Edward M. Kennedy’s visit in 1972. Other key events include the Mother Language Movement of 1952 and the Apollo 11 Astronaut’s tour of Dacca in 1969 after landing on the moon. All of these events are often noted, but few sources have delved deep into the archives for photos, anecdotes, speeches, papers, recordings, and other records. Somewhere in ancient cable traffic, dusty exchange archives, Voice of America reels, and Congressional records lie all of this information. We just need a bright team to do the research and package it into a 21st Century format.

Format of Final Product: Online timeline compatible with the Embassy website. Short documentary video that will weave together archival documents, photos, audio, and

video.

Companion photo book

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:History/Archival Research

Comments:1949: U.S. Consulate General Dhaka Established1952: Mother Language Movement1957: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman goes on a leadership exchange programSheikh Mujibur Rahman: The Unfinished Memoirs Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood and The Rape of Bangladesh by Anthony Mascarenhas 1960s: Dacca Daze by Barry Nemcoff1965-1967: Muhammad Yunus’s first Fulbright to Vanderbilt University1969: Apollo Astronauts tour Dhaka in October after mad celebrations reported by Voice of America when the Moon Landing Occurred1970: Muhammad Yunus goes on second Fulbright to Vanderbilt University. Starts action committee to support Bangladesh.Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus1971: Consulate General Dacca issues the famous Blood Telegram, Senators including Edward M. Kennedy support Bangladesh in press and from Halls of CongressThe Cruel Birth of Bangladesh by Archer K. BloodThe Blood Telegram by Gary Bass1972: February 14, 1972, Edward M. Kennedy delivers “Real Foreign Policy of America” speechhttp://photos.state.gov/libraries/bangladesh/19452/pdfs/Kennedy_s%20speech_%20Feb%2014_%201972.pdfApril 4, 1972, United States formally recognizes BangladeshOther: Making U.S. Foreign Policy Toward South Asia: Regional Imperatives and the Imperial Presidency Edited by Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Lloyd Rudolph

Maximum Number of Projects: 1-21. 1949- 19642. 1965-1972

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http://photos.state.gov/libraries/bangladesh/19452/pdfs/Kennedy_s%20speech_%20Feb%2014_%201972.pdf

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/bangladesh/19452/pdfs/Kennedy_s%20speech_%20Feb%2014_%201972.pdf

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Project 25

Costs and Benefits of Migrant Labor for TajikistanU.S. Embassy Tajikistan, Political-Economic Section (Pol-Econ)

Overview:Tajikistan’s economy relies on remittances from its export of labor migrants to Russia for more than 50% of its Gross Domestic Product. The Tajik population continues to boom ensuring that there will be an ample supply of labor available for the foreseeable future. However, the proceeds from these remittances do not appear to be contributing to improved economic prospects for Tajikistan. There has been no development of domestic opportunities sufficient to take the place of labor migration as a source of employment for Tajiks in the near future and reliance on remittances ties Tajikistan to the economic and political decisions of Russia and makes the sovereignty of Tajikistan vulnerable to economic pressure. Russian society treats unskilled Tajik laborers poorly and Tajik recruits of ISIS have come almost exclusively from the labor migrant population because of their separation from Russian society, the carefully cultivated networks of mosques for migrants, and their isolation from moderating influences at home. Additionally, because of early marriages in Tajikistan, young men are often forced to go to Russia to find sufficient money to support their families. However, the long separation and the tendency of many to divorce or abandon family at home impose other societal costs. In short, while remittances form the bedrock of Tajik GDP the system of labor migration currently in place passes on significant costs to society as a whole. This takes the form of abandoned wives and children who in some cases become wards of the state. There is also the increased cost to government from having to monitor and try to account for Tajik extremist elements and individuals cultivated by ISIS networks in Russia.

Your project will be to look at what costs, estimated in dollar terms, labor migration creates for Tajikistan in addition to the benefit is confers in the form of remittances. The ability to demonstrate the actual cost in dollars to Tajik government/society is a much needed data point to help Tajik and U.S. policy makers understand the real benefits and drawbacks of Tajik labor migration in order to make informed policy choices when it comes to on-going educational and economic development in Tajikistan.


We would like an estimate of total costs and then a breakdown of the total into logical subcategories along with an explanation of the methodology used to come to these estimates.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:A strong fluency of both the Tajik and Russian languages will aid immensely in the research.


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Project 26

Whither Civil Society in Tajikistan?

U.S. Embassy Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Political-Economic Section (Pol-Econ)

Overview:Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan experienced a flourishing of civil society in the relative new freedom and open space for competing viewpoints. The number of independent media outlets exploded, and many international NGOs set up offices, and an even greater number of domestic NGOs were founded, to help fill the gaps that the new government was struggling to cover in the development of the new nation

Yet a cursory glance at the social and political events in Tajikistan of the past year show that the space for civil society and freedom of speech is rapidly shrinking, as Tajikistan’s economy contracts even further and the fear of instability and terrorism leaking across its borders increases. Tajikistan remains vital both to regional stability and to U.S. interests in Central Asia for many reasons: the presence of an estimated 70% of the potential water reserves of Central Asia in the form of the glaciers and ice-caps of the Pamir mountains; its unique status as an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a very open and tolerant attitude towards Western, secular culture; its geographic proximity, as it shares borders with Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and China; and its unique status as a very accessible cultural bridge between Persian culture and the West.

Your project will provide a key historical summary up to the present time of the development of civil society in Tajikistan and its relationship to the central government, the predominant religions practiced within its borders, and with foreign entities. Most importantly, your project will attempt to forecast the evolution – or devolution – of civil society in the next several years in Tajikistan, and attempt to answer the question “What will civil society organizations look like in Tajikistan in 2020, and how active will they be, and in which sectors?”


Deliverable: Please submit an executive summary with a 4-page options memo, with suggested courses we could take to improve civil society development and survivability

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:A strong fluency of both the Tajik and Russian languages will aid immensely in the research.


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Project 27

Mitigating the Role of State Sponsors of Insurgents in Peace NegotiationsU.S. Embassy Kabul, Political Section

Overview:The United States is pressing to restart direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. At the same time, there are credible reports that the Taliban continues to receive significant support from several state actors. As the peace process moves forward, one challenge will be to either appropriately engage these state actors in the process, or to determine a way to minimize their ability to act as a spoiler. Understanding how previous peace processes have dealt with these state sponsors, either as a best practice when successful or as a lesson-learned when unsuccessful, would be very useful for the teams supporting the negotiation process.

The essential question is whether state sponsors of insurgents groups must be part of the solution in a peace process. Is it possible to end an insurgency without ending our significantly reducing the insurgency’s support from state actors? How have state sponsors been engaged to ensure productive participation? When state sponsors are not part of the peace process, what steps have been taken to mitigate their ability to act as a spoiler?

Format of Final Product:The end product would be a research paper of not more than 20 pages using a case study approach to develop recommendations on how to either engage state sponsors of insurgent groups or mitigate the potential damage that state sponsors can do when engaged in a peace process.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Police peacekeeping, international police training, peacekeeping developments, rule of law in peacekeeping

Comments:While results will be used to inform participants in the Afghan government peace talks with the Taliban, researchers do not have to have any prior knowledge of the Afghan conflict. The end product should be based on several case studies of peace processes around the world, with recommendations developed from a careful review of those peace efforts.


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Project 28

70 years of Diplomatic Relationship between the U.S. and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

U.S. Embassy Kathmandu

Overview:The United States recognized Nepal in 1947, and has remained a strong partner since. Bilateral relations have always been friendly, and U.S. policy objectives toward Nepal center on helping it build a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic society.

Next year, 2017, U.S. Embassy Kathmandu in partnership with Government of Nepal would be celebrating 70 years of friendship. To commemorate, U.S. Embassy plans to launch a series of outreach events throughout Nepal and educate rural public about the strong diplomatic ties that the countries hold. During these 70 years Nepal has grown immensely, but not without setbacks, such as a revolution and devastating earthquake. Due to this, many records have been lost. These anecdotal stories and qualitative statistics about U.S. Nepal relations is a strong public diplomacy tool. PAS Kathmandu would like to use the expertise of the students from the U.S. Universities to do a historical research to analyze the foreign relationship of both countries towards each-other. Not only this, PAS Kathmandu would like to ask that students conduct a research on how much funding Nepal has received so far from the USAID on which sectors. IN addition to the advances that Nepal has made on which the U.S. has had a direct effect. These details would be made available for public outreach events during the 70 years of partnership celebration.

Format of Final Product:Deliverables:

1. One complete report of as many pages as the students compile 2. Infographics on USAID funding per sector on a five year interval 3. Coffee-table books with some positive highlights

4. Booklet for outreaches 5. Pamphlets with some eye-catchy photos and Ambassadorial quotes, if found

somewhere[optional]

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Any group of students who have expertise in conducting historical researches based on the secondary data would be able to perform this project. Students who are studying International Relations and/or political science and Development Studies would ideally be able to use diplomatic jargons.

Comments:PAS, Kathmandu is delighted to work with Diplomacy Lab on one of the most empowering citizen diplomacy projects. The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu would be pleased to work with the selected group of students for the successful completion of the project.

Maximum Number of Projects: 2Two: One team would look after the diplomatic relationship between the two countries and the second team would analyze the total USAID support/funding that Nepal has received over the past 70 years.

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Project 29

Jamaican Lotto Scamming: Root Causes and Policy Alternatives U.S. Embassy Kingston

Overview:Telemarketing fraud, known in Jamaica as “lotto scamming” because of the prominence of the tactic of the fraudsters’ luring American victims with tales of lottery winning, has grown dramatically in recent years. Anderson Cooper 360 did a segment on this crime in 2015 and CNBC’s “American Greed” will devote an entire show to it in 2016. Some of America’s most vulnerable citizens are losing significant sums of money – estimates range from $300 million to over $1 billion per year – and this has led to intense human suffering including a spate of suicides. This scourge is also damaging Jamaica’s international reputation and undermining Jamaica’s social stability and rule of law. Scammers are using their immense illicit gains on lavish lifestyles. This distorts the Jamaican economy writ large and serves as a major factor in driving up violent crime, specifically the homicide rate. The cultural justifications of lotto scamming – “Robin Hood”, informal “reparations for slavery” or victim blaming – are widely accepted, most disturbingly and increasingly among children in the regions of Jamaica with a high concentration of this fraud. Jamaican judges tend to give scammers suspended sentences, allowing them to go back to committing the crime. A professor of criminology in Jamaica projected that another major conflict, similar to the 2010 extradition operation in Tivoli Gardens that left 74 dead, could occur between authorities and criminals with lotto scamming ties in the phenomenon’s epicenter, Montego Bay, in western Jamaica.

What are the sociological factors driving this epidemic? What are the best policy alternatives, including but not limited to social marketing and economic development, to combat this scourge? What law enforcement practices work best to apprehend and prosecute criminals, deter future scamming, and eliminate this menace?

The answers to these questions will help inform the policy that Jamaican and U.S. officials implement to repair the severe damage it has done to Jamaican society and U.S. citizens.

Format of Final Product:A four-page memo with a presentation and a data analysis describing research findings.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Criminology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, Public Policy, Psychology


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Project 30

Kuwaiti Land Use: Understanding a Distorted Market and Improving Efficiency in Land Allocation

U.S. Embassy Kuwait, Economics Section

Overview:In Kuwait, 95% of land is owned by the government or controlled by the oil and gas sector. Less than five percent of the country’s land is available for other uses. With only a small fraction of the country’s land area available for building, competition is fierce and prices are astronomical. A 400 square meter (4500 square foot, 0.1 acre) residential lot can cost more than $1 million, even in outlying areas. Larger plots can sell for more than $10 million per acre. At the same time, Kuwait is littered with old and abandoned buildings serving no productive purpose. With no land taxes, property owners can let a valuable plot of prime land sit undeveloped for decades, further restricting the limited supply of usable land. Disinterest in selling land makes it difficult to assemble larger parcels needed for commercial and industrial use. This makes it more difficult for the non-oil parts of the economy to grow and substantially raises costs for large construction projects. Questions:What can be done to make the Kuwaiti land market more efficient? Could property taxes provide the impetus to return unproductive land to the market? How can the government extract hydrocarbons without limiting access to the land above them? Would a more efficient land ownership system increase investment and GDP? Would such a system lead to lower costs for residential land?

Format of Final Product:The final product would be a package of documents, including an analysis of pricing under various simulations (Excel workbook); a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the findings for an executive-level audience; a policy paper of 10-20 pages; and an executive summary of less than two pages.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economics, tax policy, petroleum exploration, Bedouin culture, Arabic language, land use, real property law.

Comments:Government websites are not always kept up to date, so it might be difficult to get information or statistics.


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Project 31

Democracy in Donbas? Investigating the Status of Democracy in Separatist- Controlled Eastern Ukraine and Issues Associated with the Territory’s

Eventual Reintegration U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Political Section (POL)

Overview:Since early 2014, when Russia-backed separatists declared independence, conflict has raged in eastern Ukraine. Despite multiple ceasefire agreements signed by the Russians and Ukrainians during OSCE-led negotiations in Minsk, the security situation remains tenuous. If the fighting subsides, there is hope for political progress, which would include Ukraine integrating decentralization provisions into its constitution, elections for legitimate local leaders in the east, and eventual reunification of Ukraine.

Our proposal invites exploration of this optimistic scenario of conflict resolution in the Donbas. We would like students to evaluate – both qualitatively and quantitatively – the state of the political structures in the separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine. We are interested in acquiring information about leadership, the diffusion of power, the state of civil rights, civic participation, civil society, and media freedom. This research could help understand how to move democracy forward in the Donbas and the specific areas that may require the most significant capacity building. European-linked measures of democracy would provide the most useful baseline.

Format of Final Product:We would be most interested in receiving a 20-page research paper, as well as an accompanying presentation summarizing the research and findings.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:In performing this research, experience in the fields of political science, international relations, democracy studies, and eastern Europe/Russian studies may be useful. Russian language skills will likely be necessary, as most reports from the present-day, separatist-controlled Donbas are produced in Russian.

Comments:

As the external unit of Embassy Kyiv, we report on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, relations with Russia, international organizations in Ukraine, and Ukraine’s relationship with the EU, among other topics. This research would be extremely helpful to us as we continue to work toward political resolution of the conflict via the Minsk negotiations, as well as to our colleagues both in the internal unit of the political section as well as USAID, who contribute to political reform in Ukraine.

In addition to media and separatist “authority” information, other sources might include reports from the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, and updates from international humanitarian entities (which have varying degrees of access to separatist-controlled areas).


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Project 32

Is Libya like Somalia and Syria? We don’t think so, but want to do know more!

U.S. Embassy to Libya, Office of Public Affairs

Overview:Currently, getting to a peace agreement in Libya has been very difficult and much still remains to be done. The embassy is very interested in a comparative study between Libya, Somalia and Syria to investigate the similarities and differences in the causes that led to these failed states. Findings will illuminate policy makers with regard to putting forth the best policy in Libya.

Format of Final Product:Research Paper

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Arabic might be helpful, but not necessary.

Comments:The embassy to Libya was evacuated July 2014. The embassy has relocated in Tunisia staffed by a group of 8 officers working mostly virtually as they cannot go into Libya at this point in time.


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Project 33

Libya’s Vast Cultural Heritage – A survey of the most important U.S. Embassy to Libya, Office of Public Affairs

Overview:Libya is home to some of the most important ancient cities and ruins in the world.The embassy would relish a listing of the cultural sites in Libya according to importance, and group whether Greek, Phoenician, Roman or other. In addition to the list of important sites, the embassy would greatly appreciate an analysis of what help could be given to these sites and what the priorities are according to the importance of the sites.

Format of Final Product:Presentation




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Project 34

Gender Based Violence – Successes and Failures in the Arab World U.S. Embassy to Libya, Office of Public Affairs

Overview:Gender Based Violence is a pervasive problem in the Middle East that is often ignored even by Law Enforcement who regard the issue as an internal family issue. In order to inform our thinking on how best to approach combatting gender based violence, we are interested in knowing what was worked in the Middle East in regard to combatting gender based violence. Some countries have set up Family Protection Units, some countries have focused on incorporating gender based violence modules in Police Training Academies, others have sought assistance from the NGO community.

Thus, in order to understand what programs have worked best in reducing gender based violence and increasing public awareness, we would like to know what was worked best in the Middle East in order to apply the most effective approach to Libya.

Format of Final Product:Deliverable could be a presentation or paper.




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Project 35

Mapping of Smuggling Routes into Libya from Neighboring Countries and Identifying Those Groups That Lead Nefarious Efforts

U.S. Embassy to Libya, Office of Public Affairs

Overview:Libya has become a nexus for trafficking in people, weapons, drugs and oil. The embassy is extremely interested in mapping out these smuggling routes from Chad, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt and identifying what is smuggled, mapping the routes and generally identifying what groups are responsible for maintaining these smuggling routes.

Format of Final Product:Research Paper with maps




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Project 36

Tackling P overty and I llicit Coca C ultivation in Peru: Analysis of E conomic Dynamics among Households in Post-Eradication C ommunities

U.S. Embassy Lima, Alternative Development (AD) Office, USAID/Peru

Overview:Coca farming in Peru is a poverty trap. Families that grow coca do so because they live in poverty. Growing coca ensures that they remain poor. The Human Development Index (HDI) – which factors in health, education, and economic status – in districts where coca farming is not practiced is 60 percent higher than in those with coca farming. Even within coca growing regions, the HDI of coca-farming districts is lower than the HDI of non-coca-farming districts.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Peru’s Alternative Development (AD) program aims to break the poverty trap associated with coca farming. USAID’s strategy is based on the following hypothesis: If the Government of Peru (GOP) provides integrated rural development assistance to targeted coca growing communities in coordination with forced eradication, with viable options to earn a living, then more communities will organize themselves and pursue licit economic opportunities, leaving coca cultivation behind. To test this hypothesis, USAID needs to understand the economic dynamics among households in post-eradication communities. Specifically, this research project will focus on understanding and articulating: (1) a baseline of household incomes and/or assets in coca-growing communities; (2) the impact on household incomes and/or assets immediately before and after eradication; and (3) the kinds of coping strategies that families employ

subsequent to eradication. USAID expects that this analysis will require the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, and likely involve extensive interaction with Peruvian farmers, GOP representatives, and private sector institutions. USAID Peru will work with Peruvian partners on data collection. The U.S. institution will be responsible for background research, project design, and data analysis.

Format of Final Product:The AD office would like an executive summary with specific recommendations, as part of a 20-page research paper. The paper and findings/recommendations should be based on both quantitative and qualitative analysis, and also summarized in a PowerPoint presentation. A short video would also be useful.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Academic Discipline: Economics/International developmentExpertise/Skills: Quantitative and qualitative analysis; communicationsLanguage: Spanish

Comments:https://www.usaid.gov/peru/our-work


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Project 37

Making Democracy More Compelling for at-Risk Youth

U.S. Embassy Madrid, Public Affairs Office

Overview:Spanish youth drop out of high school at the highest rate in the EU (just under 22%) Additionally, Spain suffers from soaring unemployment among youth (over 47% and estimated at over 70% for second generation immigrant youth). Disaffected young people can be susceptible to extremist ideologies which provide a sense of purpose, inclusion and idealism. At a recent conference on countering violent extremism, one expert suggested that societies need to make the democratic experiment as compelling and motivational as building the caliphate. What can USG players do to help restore faith in a system, which by many indicators has failed in its promise? What are the narratives (inclusion, tolerance, rule of law) that could successfully counteract the allure of radical extremism? What are the best methods for engaging youth and involving them in democratic initiatives?

Format of Final Product:Data analysis as to what might lure youth to the side of democracy, as well as options for programs that could effectively present democracy as a worthy project to disaffected youth.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Disciplines such as psychology, education, religious studies or foreign affairs would be helpful.

Comments:Public Affairs Officers, indeed USG officials, are not well-placed to counter extremist ideologies. Experts have suggested that we instead focus on our real areas of expertise – democracy, and promoting democratic values – when providing alternate narratives to youth audiences. What types of programs/messaging could we use to reach marginalized youth and present democracy as a viable and attractive project in which young people could become involved and through which they could build a better society?


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Project 38

Facebook in the Kingdom of Wonder: Cambodian Youth and the Power of Social Media

U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh, Public Affairs Section (PAS),

Overview:Cambodia is a least-developed country that is still scarred by years of civil war and the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s. Although nominally democratic and with a large youth population, Cambodia has so far failed to enjoy the sustained success of other Southeast Asian economies such as Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. One specific area where Cambodia lags behind many of its neighbors is Internet penetration, which was as low as 5 percent in 2012 and is just 30 percent today (approximately 5 million people).

Given this background, it is truly remarkable that Cambodia is the U.S. State Department’s greatest social media success story. The U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh Facebook page has more than 784,000 fans, making it the sixth largest U.S. Embassy Facebook page in the world in absolute numbers and almost certainly the largest relative to population. Of Cambodia’s three million Facebook users, nearly 20 percent follow the U.S. Embassy. Most of this growth is recent, with more than 500,000 fans signing up in the last 18 months. We currently add more than 1,000 new fans per day.

Beyond the Embassy, social media is reshaping Cambodia’s political, economic, and social

development. Social media played a significant role in the contested 2013 national elections and will certainly be a major factor in the 2017 and 2018 elections, although there are some signs that the ruling party may attempt to restrict or limit social media usage in the future if it feels threatened.

We have some educated guesses about the reasons behind the growth of social media, but in order to truly understand what is going on (and whether it can be replicated elsewhere) we need quantitative research and analysis, which is sorely lacking in Cambodia. We are looking for a multi-disciplinary team that can dig behind the numbers to see what is really going on and to offer recommendations about how we can continue to build our social media presence in the future. We’re also interested to know how Cambodians are adapting to other platforms besides Facebook and what the future of social media might look like.

Format of Final Product:We are looking for data, data analysis, and recommendations. The format is flexible, but we would want a one-page executive summary to share with the Ambassador and other senior officials.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Communications, statistics, sociology, political science.

Comments:An article about Embassy Phnom Penh’s Facebook page appeared in the July/August edition of State Magazine: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245789.pdf. Since the article was published we have added more than 250,000 new fans. The only U.S. Embassies with a larger Facebook presence than us are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Brazil, and Egypt.

Maximum Number of Projects: 1One multi-disciplinary team is preferred.

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Project 39

Economic Benefits of the Africa Growth and Opportunities ActU.S. Embassy in Pretoria, Economic Section

Overview:The Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) was first passed in 2000 to foster economic development in Africa by provided free market access to the United States. It was reauthorized in 2015 for an additional 10 years. In South Africa, the issue was advanced that the United States benefits from AGOA more than the African countries it was established to help. We would like to quantify and qualify the direct and indirect benefits accruing to the United States, and to South Africa from this trade concession.

Format of Final Product:A research paper of sufficient length, supplemented by a presentation.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economic.

Comments:

The renewal of AGOA has sparked great interest in South Africa as the debate rages over government policy on trade protectionism, support for local industries, and the benefits of free trade. In the world context of the Trans Pacific Partnership, South Africa is also looking at two African free trade agreements, the Tripartite FTA (eastern and southern Africa) and the Continental FTA. The United States is also encouraging all African countries to ratify and implement the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. Opening trade and development are critical to Embassy Pretoria’s core policy goals in South Africa. The project will directly contribute by building local advocacy for our key policy priorities. On the U.S. side, this research will direct the conversation to considering core U.S. economic interests in South Africa by identifying key economic sectors and trends. It will also help develop the mandate in AGOA that we develop a strategy for moving African beneficiaries towards a long-term reciprocal trade and investment partnership.


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Project 40

Urbanization Challenges in South AfricaU.S. Embassy in Pretoria, Economic Section

Overview:South Africa is rapidly urbanizing, though it is constrained by historic settlement patterns and the legacy of Apartheid. As the economy grows, most jobs are created in the urban centers, forcing longer and more difficult commutes on residential patterns concentrated on townships surrounding the urban centers. Changing demographics complements the economics in pushing towards more development of the urban centers with residences and businesses. How will these changes overcome myriad challenges such as water limitations, developing critical pieces of urban infrastructure, and overcoming historic land registration difficulties? Are there lessons to be learned and applied from U.S. urban revitalization efforts? Can job creation efforts be shifted to the townships to reduce the need for commuting?

Format of Final Product:A research paper of sufficient length, supplemented by a presentation.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Urban Planning, Environmental, and Economic

Comments:South Africa is undergoing a demographic shift resulting in rapid urbanization. This shift is causing major societal upheaval and faces numerous obstacles. Among these obstacles are land registration, providing affordable housing, overtaxing limited water resources, sufficiently treating wastewater and solid waste, extending the modern infrastructure for energy, communications, and transportation, all considered against the need to transform the economy to include all South Africans. The historic settlement patterns around cities provide stability on one hand, but form an obstacle as employment

patterns shift and residents are forced into longer commutes with an overburdened transportation infrastructure.


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Project 41

Boosting the Financial Sustainability of Ecuador’s Civil Society

U.S. Embassy Quito, Political Section (POL)

Overview:International cooperation activities have decreased significantly in Ecuador over the past several years. This reduction stems in part from Ecuador’s economic growth, but also is related to the politicization of development assistance by the current administration under President Rafael Correa. Within the last couple of years, several major international donors, including USAID, have closed their offices in Ecuador. In addition, many civil society organizations (CSOs) have found it more difficult to obtain funding from the cash-strapped Ecuadorian government, and some complain that government resources are only available to those organizations that align themselves politically with the government. The combination of a reduction in international and government support has created severe challenges to financial sustainability for many CSOs, which must adapt by seeking new sources of funding from, for example, private companies, philanthropic organizations (both in Ecuador and overseas), and private donations from Ecuador’s emerging middle class.

In September 2013, President Obama launched Stand with Civil Society, a global call to action to support, defend, and sustain the operations of CSOs amid a rising tide of restrictions globally. The following year, the President issued a Presidential Memorandum that directions U.S. agencies to defend and strengthen civil society abroad. This includes exploring new approaches and partnerships around civil society sustainability. The objective of this project is to compile best practices and innovative strategies that will assist Ecuadorian CSOs in pursuing new sources of funding from crowdsourcing and fundraising on social media; partnerships with private foundations, businesses, and universities; the development of services that create revenue flows; and so on.

Format of Final Product:The final product format should be a memo of 10-15 pages that highlights different potential fundraising options for CSOs and describes the pros and cons of each option. The memo should also provide specific, real-world examples for the different options (i.e., CSO X used a crowdsourcing platform in Colombia that generated XX in monthly revenue and built the CSO’s number of regular donors by XX percent), which would include analysis on why the real-world examples were successful or not.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project is open to any academic discipline.

Comments:Suggested reading:

- Rachel Hayman, “Civil society sustainability: Stepping up to the challenge,” International NGO Training and Research Centre. http://www.intrac.org/blog.php/69/civil-society-sustainability-stepping-up-to-the-challenge

- Douglas Rutzen, “Civil Society Under Assault,” Journal of Democracy 26.4 (October 2015): 28-39.

- Human Rights Watch, “Ecuador: Clampdown on Civil Society.” https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/12/ecuador-clampdown-civil-society


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https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/12/ecuador-clampdown-civil-society

http://www.intrac.org/blog.php/69/civil-society-sustainability-stepping-up-to-the-challenge

http://www.intrac.org/blog.php/69/civil-society-sustainability-stepping-up-to-the-challenge

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Project 42

Trends in Local Volunteerism - The Impact of the 2016 Rio Olympics and Other Mega Events on Brazilians’ Involvement in Volunteer Activities

U.S. Consulate General Rio de Janeiro, Public Affairs Office

Overview:In August and September 2016, Rio de Janeiro is hosting the largest event in its history: the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rio organizers are engaging 60,000 volunteers to take part, one of the largest mobilizations of volunteers Brazil has ever undertaken. Brazil does not historically have a strong national culture of volunteerism, but the Olympics will be the third international mega event with volunteers held in Rio over the past three years (after the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day in 2013 and the World Cup in 2014). The number of people applying for volunteer positions has outnumbered the available slots for each of these three events.

Notably, the local economic picture during the Olympics and Paralympics will be markedly worse than during the previous two mega events. While the volunteer participation rate has been strong so far, the call for volunteers has not been without criticism. Some have called for these jobs to be remunerated, particularly in a time of economic downturn and high unemployment rates.

This project aims to answer the following questions: Does volunteering for a mega event inspire more volunteerism in the city or country as a

whole? Are individual volunteers more apt to continue volunteering within their communities after

the mega event is over? Does mega event volunteering increase interest in English-language programs? How might the U.S. government engage groups of these volunteers within our own

programs?

What opportunities exist for the U.S. government to provide a platform or expertise to help volunteers build local networks?

Could the U.S. government use any lessons learned about volunteerism in Rio for other posts in future mega event cities?

What are benchmarks for sustained local volunteerism from previous Olympic and Paralympic Games?

Does the local/national economic climate impact the trend of volunteerism?

This list is not exhaustive, and groups are welcome to explore other ideas and perspectives not included here. The project should concentrate on the experience in Rio de Janeiro, but may incorporate other examples in Brazil, if applicable.

Format of Final Product:This should be a research paper of up to 20 pages with an executive summary and an action plan (if appropriate).

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Volunteerism, social engagement, Portuguese language

Comments:http://www.rio2016.com/en/volunteer/programmehttp://www.rio2016.com/en/news/first-50000-volunteers-for-rio-2016-olympic-and-paralympic-games-selectedhttp://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/unpaid-volunteers-worth-millions-to-organizers-of-2016-olympic-games-1.2070935http://www.si.com/olympics/2015/08/19/rio-de-janeiro-brazil-2016-olympicshttp://worldyouthday.com/over-84000-volunteers-already-enrolled-for-wydhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-many-sacrifices-few-perks-for-volunteers.html?_r=0


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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-many-sacrifices-few-perks-for-volunteers.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-many-sacrifices-few-perks-for-volunteers.html?_r=0

http://worldyouthday.com/over-84000-volunteers-already-enrolled-for-wyd

http://www.si.com/olympics/2015/08/19/rio-de-janeiro-brazil-2016-olympics

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/unpaid-volunteers-worth-millions-to-organizers-of-2016-olympic-games-1.2070935

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/unpaid-volunteers-worth-millions-to-organizers-of-2016-olympic-games-1.2070935

http://www.rio2016.com/en/news/first-50000-volunteers-for-rio-2016-olympic-and-paralympic-games-selected

http://www.rio2016.com/en/news/first-50000-volunteers-for-rio-2016-olympic-and-paralympic-games-selected

http://www.rio2016.com/en/volunteer/programme

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Project 43

Reviving the YugosphereU.S. Embassy Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Economic Section

Overview:This project will assess top barriers to greater regional economic integration among the countries of former Yugoslavia – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Slovenia. University teams will identify barriers to trade and economic integration; estimate the economic impact the barriers have on the economies of each individual country and on the region as a whole; and estimate the cost and benefits of removing each barrier. The potential impact of increased trade among these countries is huge. According to the World Bank, if Bosnia and Herzegovina could reach the same volume of trade with its neighbors as it had during the time of Yugoslavia, its exports would triple.

Participants will directly influence U.S. foreign policy in the Balkans by providing Embassy economic teams with the data they need to have effective, convincing internal and external conversations at the highest levels of government about economic reform in the region. Economic sections in the individual countries will work to partner U.S. university students with in-country universities for exchange and additional project support.

Background:Despite politically complicated relations between former Yugoslav countries, increased regional cooperation on trade and commerce makes economic sense and is essential to the long-term development of each country in the region. Geographic proximity makes the countries natural trading partners, especially because foreign investors shy away from small markets that do not have easy access to other local markets. All of the countries except Macedonia use variants of the same language, officially known as Serbo-Croatian but called something different in each, as either an

official language or a minority language. Lastly, and most importantly for the future of the region, each country is already either a member of the European Union (Croatia and Slovenia) or aspires to be a member (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia).

Format of Final Product:The final product will have three parts for each country:

1. A one to two page paper that identifies top barriers to greater regional economic integration and cooperation on trade. Example – Difficulties with the visa regime between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are harming Bosnian businesses and decreasing trade.

2. Data estimating how each barrier affects the region as a whole, and the specific country to which it is applicable. Example – Visa problems with Kosovo cost Bosnian businesses at least $1 million monthly. Econometric analysis indicates a causal connection between the change in the visa regime and decrease in trade. In 2013, before BiH citizens needed visas to travel to Kosovo, exports from BiH to Kosovo were $95 million. In 2014, when new visa requirements went into effect, exports fell to $73 million, a 23 percent decrease.

Projections for the cost to remove each trade barrier and how the removal of each barrier would impact the economy of the region as a whole, and the economy of the specific country to which it is applicable. Example – If visa requirements which currently restrict travel between Bosnia and Kosovo were removed, this could result in an $(xx) million increase in trade between the two countries with little to no additional cost.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:European Economies, International Trade, Market Analysis, Economic Forecasting

Comments:

Preliminary Reading Materials:Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Webpage: http://www.cefta.int/ “Entering the Yugosphere,” The Economist 2009: http://www.economist.com/node/14258861“The Former Yugoslavia: Let’s Hear it for the Yugosphere,” The Economist 2011: http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/06/former-yugoslavia

Maximum Number of Projects: 7 (one per country)

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http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/06/former-yugoslavia

http://www.economist.com/node/14258861

http://www.cefta.int/

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Project 44

Mapping political patronage networks in Bosnia & Herzegovina using d3.js force layouts

U.S. Embassy Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, USAID

Overview:Political leaders in Bosnia & Herzegovina, most of whom have been in power since the 1995 Dayton Accords, remain entrenched in ethnic-based complex patronage systems of state control. Corruption and political influence over state-owned enterprises are key sources of ongoing dysfunction and instability.

The goal of this project is to visualize the connections between political parties, elites, and state-owned enterprises. Students will produce an octopus-like diagram of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s political patronage networks. Students will identify connections by crawling through public records and databases, interviewing key informants, and conducting original research and investigations.

Format of Final Product:The final product will be a hard-hitting visualization of corruption and political patronage in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Students are encouraged to use an interactive, web-based platform to create their visualization, such as d3.js force-directed graphs or a kumu.io network map.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:The project is suited for a multidisciplinary team of students from the fields of design, computer science, and political economy. Students in the physical or biological sciences are encouraged to participate for their systems thinking. Students with knowledge of Bosnian or Serbo-Croatian will have an easier time conducting original research.

Comments:

Students will work closely with Foreign Service and locally employed staff in Embassy Sarajevo. Embassy staff will guide students’ research, assist with translation, and provide technical advice in designing the visualization. Prior research will be shared with students, including an illustrative visualization of the patronage networks (see attached) and a recent political economy assessment conducted by USAID.


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Project 45

ICT Investment: Engine of Growth or Boulevard of Broken Dreams?

U.S. Embassy Tunis, Political Economic Section

Overview:All governments pursue the mandate of increasing economic growth, and the latest fad is investment in ICT. There is a pervasive belief that if we teach unemployed youth how to code, they will go out and become entrepreneurs, or find jobs in the ICT sector. If the government builds fiber infrastructure and brings high-speed internet to rural areas, people will be resourceful and lift themselves out of poverty. Even the USG runs many programs in the innovation and entrepreneurship space, hoping that training and capacity-building today will create the Mark Zuckerbergs of tomorrow.

Is this actually true? Does investment in the ICT sector, entrepreneurship, and innovation actually bear fruit? How effective are these programs? What are appropriate metric for success? Is there regional variation – is India an anomaly? Is ICT investment more effective in lower income, middle, or upper income countries?

Format of Final Product:Comparative study of effectiveness of ICT investment across a diverse collection of case studies. This should be a 10-15 page research paper with data analysis, with a one-page summary of policy conclusions.


Computer science background is nice-to-have, though not critical. This could be a good collaborative project between engineering and public policy schools.

Comments:

Some food for thought: http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/23/coding-academies-are-nonsense/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/502ab0ec-e430-11e0-b4e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3rlsiys2D


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Project 46

Analyzing Radical Ideology Messaging on Facebook

U.S. Embassy Tunis, Public Affairs Section

Overview:This project stems from a disconcerting reality: the number of young people recruited to terror groups by Facebook messaging. Statistics show that radicalization has reached people from all walks of life, ordinary people who spend a significant amount of time on social media, including young engineers, architects and bankers, many of whom have graduate degrees.

This project aims to examine this phenomenon by dissecting radical ideology messaging on Facebook and proposing ways to challenge this propaganda.

Format of Final Product:The teams will compile a manual that will outline their findings and make recommendations on how to counter the radical messages.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:One team will analyze the language of the messages; the second will interpret the graphics and videos; and the third will examine statistics. The teams will come from university departments that specialize in each of these disciplines.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/502ab0ec-e430-11e0-b4e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3rlsiys2D

http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/23/coding-academies-are-nonsense/

Comments:Our Social media specialist may also join the teleconferences to be organized with the teams of students.


Post recommends that three teams of four students from three universities work on the project.

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Project 47

Namibia’s Voting Behavior in International Bodies

U.S. Embassy Windhoek, Namibia, Political Section

Overview:In the last year, Namibia, widely regarded as a beacon of peace and stability in Africa, has lodged a series of curious votes in international bodies, seemingly contrary to how the country has voted in previous years. In 2015’s UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, the southern African nation abstained on a U.S.-run elections and democratization resolution after supporting a Russian amendment aimed at gutting it. Some of the other 14 countries that abstained include Russia, China and the DPRK (North Korea). In the same session, the Namibians abstained on a Norway-run resolution to protect human rights defenders across the world. Other countries to abstain were Belarus, Venezuela and Cuba. And in September 2015 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Namibia abstained on a U.S.-led resolution on Countering Violent Extremism. Namibia’s unusual votes have drawn the attention of senior government officials in Washington.

U.S. Embassy Windhoek proposes a research project into Namibia’s voting record in international fora during the past 25 years to determine if any discernable pattern exists or if these recent votes signal a shift in the country’s foreign policy. We would be interested if – from the data collected – any conclusions could be drawn about motivations, consistency (including within stated policies) and predicting future voting behavior. Additionally, we would be interested to know which countries Namibia typically votes with in international bodies to determine which countries hold influence over Namibia. The information gained from this project will help the U.S. government and our embassy

in Windhoek determine how best to approach Namibian officials when delivering demarches and lobbying host-nation officials to support U.S. positions and/or resolutions in international fora.

Format of Final Product:A no-more-than 10 page report highlighting any voting patterns that emerge, if/when there was a discernable split from siding with the U.S. in votes. Within the 10-page report there could be charts/graphs/spreadsheets showing how Namibia voted on major resolutions, how often (percentage-wise) Namibia voted with the U.S., and with which other countries Namibia typically voted when it did not side with the U.S. on a vote. The report shall also contain an annex of Namibia’s voting history.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Data/statistical analysis, multilateral affairs, international organizations and political science

Comments:A great starting place for information on votes is www.un.org/en/ga and search for the different committees. Another source for information we found valuable when taking an initial look at this was “Voting Practices in the United Nations 2014” (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245163.pdf), which is a U.S. State Department Report that was submitted to Congress in July 2015.


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http://www.un.org/en/ga

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Project 48

Azerbaijan’s Political Past and Democratic Potential (Democracy)

Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Caucasus and Regional Conflicts (EUR/CARC)

Overview:A comprehensive political and historical analysis about the factors that helped the New Azerbaijan Party and the Aliyev family stay in power since 1993. Through primary sources, it would examine the economic, social and cultural factors that have enabled the family to remain in control of the country without significant opposition. It would highlight the role charismatic politics and small populations have in such political situations, but also bring a region specific focus to improve the understanding about the drivers of Azerbaijani political influence. This study would offer ideas about the potential for and limits of democracy in the region. Consequently, the US could more effectively encourage human rights and democracy not only in the country, but beyond.

Format of Final Product:20-30 page research paper.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This would involve researchers in history or political science departments and should ideally include a native Azerbaijani speaker.

Comments:There are books about the Azerbaijan’s political history, but not one that assesses potential for democratic reforms or political changes.


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Project 49

Azerbaijan’s Political Past and Democratic Potential (Economy Project)

Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Caucasus and Regional Conflicts (EUR/CARC)

Overview:Azerbaijan’s economy is nearly completely dependent on its exportation of oil and natural gas. Since the decline of oil prices, the single-party ruled government has been struggling and has recently moved to diversity its economy.

This study would examine the efforts of Azerbaijan to expand its tourism and transport economic sectors. While the Azerbaijani government has spoken highly of these projects, this research would explore the extent of these changes and how they impact the people in communities where tourism is promoted and transportation hubs are being constructed.

Format of Final Product:20-30 page research paper.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This would involve researchers in economic or political science departments and ideally should include a native Azerbaijani speaker.

Comments:The public materials about the government’s projects promote the construction, but neglect to mention the scale and impact of these efforts. The goal of this project is understand the scale of changes and what the local populations think about them.


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Project 50

Identifying Islamic Extremism in the South CaucasusBureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Caucasus and Regional Conflicts (EUR/CARC)

Overview:A study that examines extremist attitudes and how people become radicalized across the South Caucasus. Recently, there have been numerous verified cases about Muslims from Georgia and Azerbaijan traveling to Syria and joining the Islamic State. There has not been an anthropological study to identify specific issues in at-risk communities that are factors in radicalization. Due to South Caucasus’ proximity to both Syria and Chechnya, this problem will only increase if it is not addressed.

This research would be helpful in directing counter-radicalism initiatives and aid. Moreover, it would also be useful given the current wave of extremists in neighboring Syria, Chechnya and Dagestan. Notably, the Caucasus Emirate has made statements about expanding into Azerbaijan and the Islamic State has announced that Georgia is one of its targets. The study would explore susceptibility in specific South Caucasus areas, providing useful data for preventing radicalization or de-radicalization projects (such as in prisons where detainees become radicalized).

The research would identify key communities, religiosity, education level, economic lives, ethnicity and political attitudes in the interview data set. In turn, the project would help counter future terrorist

threats by, for example, knowing what counter-terror education programs would work better in a particular region of the country.

Format of Final Product:20-30 page research paper

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This research could be conducted by students with anthropology, political science or sociological educations.

Comments:There are surprisingly few scholarly publications that have used primary sources to examine the lives and communities of at-risk Muslim populations. Thus, this study must look at key communities, including Pankisi Gorge and Adjara in Georgia, where there have been active Islamic State recruiters.


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Project 51

Develop Foreign Assistance Data use HandbooksU.S. Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F)

Overview:The U.S. is the largest global donor for foreign assistance. In an effort to bring transparency and accountability to U.S. Foreign Assistance, the Department of State maintains the website ForeignAssistance.gov (FA.gov). FA.gov currently provides budget, financial, and programmatic data from across ten agencies, representing 98% of the total foreign assistance portfolio, who are contributing to U.S. efforts on issues ranging from health, peace and security, democracy, environment, and humanitarian/emergency assistance at a global scale. The website includes many different data elements including activity titles, descriptions, partner names, dates of performance, and locations as it relates to foreign assistance support.

In September 2015, the U.S. published its third Open Government National Action Plan which called for increased focus on improving the use of foreign assistance data openly provided by the government. We are seeking motivated students to help the U.S. government further this goal by

creating data handbooks for foreign assistance data. Teams will assume the role of an important FA.gov stakeholder group in Congress, Agencies, media, civil society, academia, USAID, or other development organizations. In this role, they will identify the data most important to their group’s work, design messages to promote the use of foreign assistance data by others in their community, and create data visualization examples using FA.gov data to demonstrate how their group can use the data. They will also develop recommendations to help make FA.gov more useful to their stakeholder group. This work will contribute significantly to the State Department’s open government and aid transparency goals, and the recommendations provided by students will be seriously considered for FA.gov website design and communications.

Format of Final Product:Presentation of major takeaways and recommendationsData Handbook (Word or Powerpoint are acceptable)

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economic Development, International Development, Diplomacy, Health, Education, Foreign Affairs, Government


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Project 52

Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Domestic Resource MobilizationOffice of US Foreign Assistance Resources (F)

Overview:A component of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) includes the prioritization of Domestic Resource mobilization (DRM), as first alluded to by Secretary Kerry in his remarks from the 2014 Frontiers in Development Forum, wherein which less developed countries that are experiencing stable economic growth may now be able to supplement foreign aid inflows with their own domestic tax revenues, to leverage this stable growth for greater gains and improved economic development impact. To do this requires significant technical assistance from donor countries in the discipline of Public Financial Management (PFM). Often, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), State Department/International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), and State Department/Counter Terrorism (CT) bureaus provide funding for the US Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance to provide PFM technical assistance (TA). However, the scope and scale of PFM TA required for the SDG vision of DRM to be successful is going to drastically exceed current delivery models, and outstrip availability of PFM TA experts. This is not only true with the US

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/231902.htm

Government; it is true of the methodologies and capacities of other donor governments and even multilateral development banks.

This project leverages existing popular technology, with emerging cutting edge technology to achieve an economy of scale in PFM TA whereby which the SDG vision of DRM not only becomes much more realistic and actually implementable, it does so in a revolutionary new way that could qualify as one of the greatest innovations in modern international development, specifically in PFM TA. The goal of this project is to determine the feasibility of adapting Bitcoin’s underlying “distributed ledger (a.k.a.: Blockchain)” technology as a smart phone app through which citizens can pay their taxes through their smartphone. While the Bitcoin technology was originally developed to support digital crypto-currency, several private firms are proving that this is also an ideal technology for the secure collection and maintenance of records for various information and knowledge management applications, such as complex and dense medical records that need to be secure, frequently updated, and still able to provide target data immediately on demand, all while reducing the human labor required to do so, and thereby reducing the rates of human error in data management. This then opens up the possibility of leveraging the ubiquity of mobile phones and smartphones in many less developed countries to essentially leapfrog over the anachronistic tax and revenue administration methodologies still used in industrialized countries in favor of technologically superior method, much the same way the massive popularity of mobile phones in many less developed countries obviated the need for hard line phone service to connect communications.

This approach, “Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Domestic Resource Mobilization”, has the added benefit of being vastly superior to traditional methods of tax and revenue administration in terms of secure and transparent transaction that bypass many layers of typically corrupt civil service corruption. It is estimated that this project could require the intellectual labor of people with knowledge in computer science, mobile computing, government budgeting and tax administration, international finance, and ideally these people will periodically collaborate with others that have “human centered design” knowledge (the two most reputable schools for this being Rhode Island School of Design, which who State has a pre-existing relationship, and the Stanford “d.school”). With these resources, this project will be able to design and possibly test an app that can be used on a smartphone and uses qualities inherent in the distributed ledger technology to not only take tax payments from citizens, but also provide other features and services, such as surveys about the effectiveness of public service delivery, election results, and any number of other government to citizen communications. This can all be done non-SBU.

Format of Final Product:The scope of the final product is scalable to what resources are available. At the upper end of the spectrum, ideally, the final product will be a functioning prototype app that can be used as a demonstration tool in advocating for the full scale up and implementation in pilot countries for further real-world testing. At the lower end of the spectrum the final product could be a feasibility

study with recommendations on how to actually implement the pilot described herein – what’s required in terms of programmers, testing, etc.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:As noted above, skills related to computer science, knowledge management, mobile computing, government budgeting and finance, and Human Centered Design, would be useful.

Comments:This project proposal should be feasible based on considerable work already completed from various sources, all of which is publicly available to draw from, both conceptually and technically. Examples include, but are not limited to:

A mandate for this type of work has already been approved by UN member States as the Third Financing for Development Conference in July 2015, where the United States pledged, through the Addis Tax Initiative, to significantly increase foreign assistance that supports countries in mobilizing their own domestic resources.1 Domestic resource mobilization (DRM).

Additionally (not for public consumption), Eric Postel, Associate Administrator of USAID shared internally that they got the final green light to undertake a five year, up to $40m a year, DRM pilot where up to 2.5 % of the funding for participating Missions from all directives (except PEFAR because it has its own DRM program) plus FTF and GCC can be used, if a Mission and host country wish to participate, for a DRM program of work. If the program succeeds, the first increased revenues, up to the cost of the work program, will be spent on programs in the relevant sectors (i.e. basically repaid) but thereafter all other increased spending goes into general government resources. Programming of these funds has not yet started as of this writing, so conceivably any actionable outputs of this project could be funded.

There is a solid body of literature indicating there is a need for this type of project, and that this type of project is technically feasible. Here is a sampling: file:///C:/Users/BurgJE/Downloads/

paper_29_domestic_resource_mobilization_2015_0.pdf http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-

technology/ http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2016/01/11-how-blockchain-change-

financial-wessel


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http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2016/01/11-how-blockchain-change-financial-wessel


http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/

http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/02/13/emerging-nations-embrace-internet-mobile-technology/

http://www.taxcompact.net/documents/Addis-Tax-Initiative_Declaration.pdf

http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/

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Project 53

Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Better Foreign AssistanceOffice of US Foreign Assistance Resources (F)

Overview:Ensuring the effective and coordinated use of US foreign assistance has been a perennial challenge since its first application in 1812 to benefit victims of a massive earthquake in Venezuela. Great strides towards this goal have been made in recent years, but there is still plenty of room for dramatic improvement, with the creative adaptation of various emerging technologies. The best current example of this is the application of Bitcoin’s underlying “distributed ledger (a.k.a.: Blockchain)” technology. While this technology was originally developed to support digital crypto-currency, several private firms are proving that this is also an ideal technology for the secure collection and maintenance of records for various information and knowledge management applications, such as complex and dnese medical records that need to be secure, frequently updated, and still able to provide target data immediately on demand, all while reducing the human labor required to do so, and thereby reducing the rates of human error in data management.

It is estimated that this project will require the intellectual labor of people with computer science knowledge, and ideally these people with periodically collaborate with people who have “human centered design” knowledge (the two most reputable schools for this being Rhode Island School of Design, which who State has a pre-existing relationship, and the Stanford “d.school”). With these resources, this project will be able to design a management architecture, both for human users/consumers/managers, as well as for the storage and retrieval of data, such that the structure of the system itself will bring efficiencies to the process of applying data to decisions, and in the process create an enabling environment for being able to draw causal linkages between specific US foreign assistance investments, and long term development outcomes – which is a critical missing link in making resource allocations that will (or will not) best support US foreign policy, and by doing so, possibly assist in shaping the policy formulation process itself towards more effective impacts and better outcomes. This can be done non-SBU.

Format of Final Product:The scope of the final product is scalable to what resources are available. At the upper end of the spectrum, ideally, the final product will be the results of having created the program described above and applied it to a case study as a pilot application. Take a policy, test various investments, and determine what worked best and what didn’t, and then use those result to inform how the policy should or should not be changed accordingly. At the lower end of the spectrum the final product could be a report with recommendations on how to actually implement the pilot described herein – what’s required in terms of programmers, computing power, etc.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:As noted above, skills related to computer science, knowledge management, and Human Centered Design, would be useful.

Comments:This project proposal should be feasible based on considerable work already completed from various sources, all of which is publicly available to draw from, both conceptually and technically. Examples include, but are not limited to:

A mandate for this type of work has already been approved by Secretary Kerry (S_275542), and plans are underway for Deputy Secretary Blinken to publicly launch the, “Innovation Forum”, the proposal for which lists nine illustrative topics, one of which is to leverage disruptive technology like the blockchain platform of Bitcoin. The QDDR also specifically commits State to , “…harness data for decision-making…” (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/241430.pdf).

I already published a conceptual paper detailing why something like this would be beneficial, and how it could be structured, in designing the work plan for this project: http://www.icgfm.org/journal/2015/vol1/1.pdf

http://www.icgfm.org/journal/2015/vol1/1.pdf


The World Bank Group is experimenting with applications of Human Centered Design and are happy to sit down and share their work so far, which is considerable work to leverage, obviating the need to reinvent the wheel. This is especially notable in light of remarks made by WB Vice President, Bertrand Badre, at the October 2015 “F University”, when he criticized the Department for not taking better advantage of the WB’s resources. Additionally, I am already in contact with the WB’s Innovation Lab’s director, Adarsh Desai.

Other organizations have already started applying distributed ledger technology to non-financial applications, as referenced in these related articles:

http://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/practical-ways-to-use-blockchain-technology-could-win-over-banks-1074001-1.html

file:///C:/Users/BurgJE/Downloads/Factom_Whitepaper.pdf

http://p2pfoundation.net/Blockchain


https://www.devex.com/news/bitcoin-technology-for-land-administration-86362

http://www.bis.org/press/p151123.htm

https://ripple.com/insights/why-central-banks-should-use-distributed-ledger-technology/

http://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d137.pdf


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http://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d137.pdf

https://ripple.com/insights/why-central-banks-should-use-distributed-ledger-technology/

http://www.bis.org/press/p151123.htm

https://www.devex.com/news/bitcoin-technology-for-land-administration-86362


http://p2pfoundation.net/Blockchain



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Project 54

Making Democracy Assistance More EffectiveOffice of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, Policy Analysis (F/PA)

Overview:Democracy, human rights and governance (DRG) programs seek to address problems of huge scope with very limited funding. Additionally, both the range of issues that DRG programs seek to address and the contexts in which it seeks to address them are varied and complex. It is therefore very challenging to evaluate which countries—or even regions—present the best opportunities for investments in DRG that maximize their impact. This project is intended to marshal information that could help generate more informed and systematic choices about how to allocate limited DRG funds. Ideally, this project will help simplify such choices by highlighting the most relevant set of indicators, or other information, about where DRG funds are best spent.

In short, the question we seek to address is: What information should State/U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign assistance policymakers use to determine where DRG assistance is likely to have the greatest impact?

Study Questions:

- Given the difficulty of measuring outcomes for DRG projects, how should the success of DRG funding be defined and compared across countries and regions? Are there any numerical metrics that are useful for such comparisons, or should more emphasis be placed on case-by-case qualitative evaluations?

- Does the literature identify any useful patterns in terms of where DRG assistance (through the U.S. or other donors) has been most effective in the past? Should we expect those patterns to hold for current and future DRG assistance?

- What country performance indicators should be used in determining where to allocate DRG resources? For example, are there any patterns by region, size, economic status, or level of democratic development?

- What other factors can be identified as significant and useful determinants of DRG aid effectiveness? Examples might include the presence or absence of conflict, an enabling or restrictive legal environment, length of intervention, and the diversity or homogeneity of political actors and civil society.

- Lastly, for any of the patterns or indicators discussed above, how confident can we be in using them to guide decision-making? Ultimately, because of the complexity of these issues, country-specific expertise will continue to be a very important source of information. Are the indicators strong enough to be a major factor in allocating DRG foreign assistance around the global?

Format of Final Product:15-20 page research paper including a literature review as well as specific recommendations on how to prioritize opportunities for limited DRG funding.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project lends itself to students studying Political Science; International Relations; International Development; Economics; and/or Data Analysis/Statistical Methods

Comments:Information about the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F) can be found at: http://www.state.gov/f/ as well as at www.foreignassistance.gov


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http://www.foreignassistance.gov/

http://www.state.gov/f/

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Project 55

Using Data Science to Assess and Plan U.S. Foreign Assistance Activities

Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, Policy Analysis (F/PA)

Overview:In his 2016 State of the Union Address, President Obama stated that “American leadership in the 21st century ... means seeing our foreign assistance as part of our national security, not charity.” The U.S. government is one of the largest donors globally for foreign assistance, and its efforts are intended to promote our national interests abroad. Effective and efficient allocation of foreign assistance resources is critical, and requires understanding the effects of specific foreign assistance activities across the broader context rather than in isolation.

This project is intended as a two-semester project to explore the application of data mining and machine learning techniques to publically available data in order to better understand the outcome of past foreign assistance programs and to assist in planning future foreign assistance programs. The first semester should focus on assessing past foreign assistance programs and will involve data collection, data curation and data mining activities. Publically available data will be used, and should include, but need not be limited to, U.S. foreign assistance funding and country performance indicators. Foreign assistance activities should be represented in terms of funding according to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC5) Sector Classification for Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) and, if possible, further resolved according to the related OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) classification. The second semester will build on the first, utilizing machine learning techniques to develop and test models for predicting the outcome of foreign assistance programs. Model input variables should be U.S. foreign assistance funding in terms of OECD DAC5 or CRS categories, and outputs should include country performance indicators.

To learn more about OECD ODA classifications and to view ODA funding data (both U.S. and non-U.S. assistance funding), see http://www.oecd.org/development/stats/idsonline.htm . There are many other high-quality public data sets that are available, including data provided by the US Government at http://data.gov, http://foreignassistance.gov, https://explorer.usaid.gov, and by non-governmental entities such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Format of Final Product:Oral presentation and paper summarizing methodology and results.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Data Science (a combination of computer science and statistics)

Comments:This project is intended for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) departments, and involves the hybrid discipline of data science which includes the fields of computer science, statistics and applied mathematics. It is expected to last for two semesters, as described in the above Project Description. Three teams will be selected to participate, and will be ranked at the end of the semester according to the quality of their work. Undergraduate-level participation is desired, but graduate-level participation is also welcome.

Maximum Number of Projects: 33 Universities, one team each.

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https://explorer.usaid.gov/

http://foreignassistance.gov/

http://data.gov/

http://www.oecd.org/development/stats/idsonline.htm

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Project 56

What’s better for Global Health? Multilateral Funding or Going in Alone?Office of US Foreign Assistance Resources, Policy Analysis (F/PA)

Overview:What is the value of multilateral funding versus bilateral funding as a way to make gains in

global health? U.S. government foreign assistance spending goes both to bilateral programs (directly to benefit a country) and to multilateral organizations, like the Gavi Alliance, the Global Fund, and the Global Financing Facility. The bilateral and multilateral funding can have similar or complimentary goals

We are interested in understanding what factors to consider when deciding where to put scarce taxpayer dollars to have the biggest impact in health gains. Analysis may include examining trends in U.S. foreign assistance spending on multilaterals v. bilateral programming in health, and would identify factors that would allow us to discern the value of one type of program versus the other (bilateral or multilateral) and/or make recommendations on the balance between multilateral and bilateral funding. Additionally, what are the international donor community trends in terms of bilateral vs. multilateral contributions? Factors to be examined could include establishing international consensus or standards on policy issues, amount of money leveraged, overhead costs of multilateral institutions compared to overhead costs of bilaterally funded agencies, nature of funded programs, transparency of impact/outcomes, and programmatic assessments of results. The result may be a framework of considerations to take into account when choosing the most effective way to reach foreign assistance goals. Finally, it would be of interest to consider whether the findings in the health sector might be generalized to the choice between bilateral and multilateral funding in other sectors.


This can be flexible, and might include a paper (not longer than 20 pages), a framework for consideration, quantitative analysis, areas for further research, etc.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:An interest in development. Finance experience may also be helpful, quantitative skills may also be helpful.

Comments:We are happy to steer you to useful information and to craft a more concrete question with a scope that is answerable during the semester. Information about the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F) can be found at: http://www.state.gov/f/ as well as at www.foreignassistance.gov.


http://www.foreignassistance.gov/

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Project 57

Technological and Data Improvements for Foreign Assistance ReportingU.S. Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources (F)

Overview:The U.S. is the largest global donor for foreign assistance. In an effort to bring transparency and accountability to U.S. Foreign Assistance, the Department of State maintains the website ForeignAssistance.gov (FA.gov). FA.gov currently provides budget, financial, and programmatic data from across ten agencies, representing 98% of the total foreign assistance portfolio, who are contributing to U.S. efforts on issues ranging from health, peace and security, democracy, environment, and humanitarian/emergency assistance at a global scale. The website includes many different data elements including activity titles, descriptions, partner names, dates of performance, and locations as it relates to foreign assistance support.

The website has been in existence for over 5 years and the team is seeking to continually grow the data and its applicability on the site to improve its usability. The team is looking for the development of strategies and the subsequent code/scripts to provide additional context for data elements. Specifically, we would like to explore data tagging, uncovering of derived information, and how to tie the data to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Students can work to identify a strategy and plan for how the data on FA.gov can integrate with the SDGs or they can work on developing how to tag our data with valuable metadata such as gender. We would also like a group to explore if there is a way to derive some type of sub-national information based on the currently available data: e.g., this could mean developing formulas to read for a city/county/province name in a descriptive narrative or in a project title. The aforementioned are a few areas that the FA.gov team would like to explore, but is also open to other data focused advancements as it relates to the FA.gov dataset.

Format of Final Product:Word, PPT, PDF (Reports), Can also provide code/scripts

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economic Development, International Development, Diplomacy


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Project 58

Rebalancing Public Diplomacy in AsiaBureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Opinion Research, Asia (INR/OPN/ASIA)

Overview:The Office of Opinion Research has historically supported public diplomacy officers with empirically-based research on public views across a broad range of issues that affect U.S. political, economic, and strategic interests. Our research helps public diplomacy officers design messages and programing to engage the public. The proliferation of web-based platforms over the last two decades has fundamentally changed the nature of U.S. outreach, increasing the number of requests our office receives to assess how online engagement shapes public views, and this entails thinking about how to analyze text as data and work with BIG DATA.

Focusing on U.S. Embassy Tokyo (and depending on feasibility, building out to include other missions in Asia), OPN/ASIA requests research teams to scrape two decades worth of the Embassy’s public webpages—available freely online through the Internet Archive’s Way Back Machine is the name of the software—to identify dominant themes, analyze how they were/are presented for public consumption via messaging and programming, and assess how these themes and associated outreach efforts have changed over time. We are particularly interested in how Embassy Tokyo (and others in the region) has shifted its messaging following the White House announcement of the U.S. rebalance to Asia. Format of Final Product:One written report, not to exceed 10 pages, that presents key findings and data visualization in a format that is easily accessible to the layperson with a 1 page executive summary.Syntax file with code/commands used to generate analyses.


Political Science, computer science, communications, Asian studies, qualitative and quantitative methodology, proficiency with R and Python, data visualization, experience working with big data and conducting web crawls

Comments:Useful Links:https://archive.org/ https://blog.archive.org/2013/01/09/updated-wayback/ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html?_r=0 http://scholar.harvard.edu/msen/big-data-trends http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/is-big-data-a-big-deal-in-political-science/ http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/polana/bdpsvirtualissueintromonroerev.pdf http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/polana/virtualissue4.html http://stanford.edu/~jgrimmer/bd_2.pdf


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http://stanford.edu/~jgrimmer/bd_2.pdf

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/polana/virtualissue4.html

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/polana/bdpsvirtualissueintromonroerev.pdf

http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/is-big-data-a-big-deal-in-political-science/

http://scholar.harvard.edu/msen/big-data-trends

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html?_r=0

https://blog.archive.org/2013/01/09/updated-wayback/

https://archive.org/

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Project 59

“ Borat Make Glorious Kazakhstan—Not! ”: Public Opinion & Public Diplomacy Project for the Real Kazakhstan

Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Opinion Research (INR/OPN/EUR)

Overview:The 2006 movie “Borat” popularized Kazakhstan to Americans, but the truth is that it had nothing to do with Kazakhstan at all. It was actually filmed in Romania and it offended many people for its unfair portrayal. Kazakhstan is actually a vibrant, up and coming place in Central Asia, the size of Europe. When the Soviet Union collapsed 25 years ago, Kazakhstan gained its independence and started to really take off. It is now one of the world’s largest producers of oil and will host the World Expo in 2017, with an energy theme. Situated right between Russia and China, and along the historic Silk Road, a trade route of ancient times, Kazakhstan is a place of increasing importance to the United States. It shares a neighborhood with Afghanistan and Iran and is emerging as a serious player on the regional and global scene.

Our modern relationship with Kazakhstan is young and full of opportunities, challenges, and risks. We need to gain a better understanding of public opinion in Kazakhstan and thereby know our audience better, so that we can engage with them more effectively. Half of their population of 17 million people is under the age of 25. They are looking for models as Russia and China circle around them and turmoil unfolds to the south, especially in Afghanistan. There is risk of increased extremism and intolerance that we want to reduce. The United States would like to see Kazakhstan to continue to develop as a secure democracy with a market economy and people that are friendly toward America. We could use your help to make that happen!

Our goal for the Diplomacy Lab would be to tap into the energy of American college students to generate analytic and strategic public diplomacy reports on Kazakhstan that not only give us a better understanding of how Kazakhs think, but also how we can better engage with them to promote our goals in Kazakhstan so that we can have a great friend in the region and a mutually beneficial future. This project plays to Diplomacy Labs strengths because it is brand new ground and the subject matter involves a high percentage of young people looking for answers and a bright future. Russia and China already recognize the importance of Kazakhstan and are directing state resources toward the place in attempts to win favor. Kazakhstan wants a “multi-vector” foreign policy where it balances its relations with foreign powers, including the United States. We would therefore welcome your reporting, analysis, and your recommendations for how the United States should approach Kazakhstan and why—the more specific the better. The focus should be on strategic communication and engagement with everyday Kazakhs.

Our foreign policy goals toward Kazakhstan fall into four different areas and we would welcome Diplomacy Lab teams in any of them: 1) Security & Stability Team, 2) Market Economy Team, 3) Democratic Practices Team, 4) U.S. Policies & Culture Team. We cannot guarantee recommendations will be implemented, but we can guarantee they will be read by our diplomats and very thoughtfully considered. For those recommendations that do get implemented, we will be happy to provide feedback over the coming years on how they fared.

Format of Final Product:Final products should include written reports that provide at least three components: 1) assessments, 2) analysis, and 3) recommendations. The source material for information you will collect is limited only by your capabilities and legal and professional parameters. You can consult public opinion research, news reports, non-fictional and fictional accounts, travel experiences, interviews, etcetera, so long as the content has real-world bearing. However, you may not claim or state that you are undertaking official U.S. Government work—your work must be described as university research/studies. The deliverables can include Power Point slides or other formats, with the key characteristic being a format that can read and passed around easily by U.S. diplomats. Succinct and catchy reports will make a much bigger impact than long or overly-academic papers. We are looking for something that will not only inform us but give us tangible ideas for public diplomacy projects to actually implement in Kazakhstan to make a difference.

Policy recommendations are appreciated for context, but we are mainly looking for recommendations for how to influence public opinion with specific public diplomacy projects aimed at engaging the Kazakh public, especially young adults in Kazakhstan. What themes, narratives, and messages would resonate best with Kazakhs to best engage them on U.S. priorities? What are some methods, events, and programs we could use to engage Kazakhs in a way that will be productive? Are there particular campaigns the U.S. should undertake in Kazakhstan with members of the public? What would make a difference with our goals? What is the evidence? How do we win the hearts and minds? Are there speaker programs or public outreach programs that would help? Something using social media? Particular grants or exchanges? Cultural performances and initiatives? What should the U.S. be doing in Kazakhstan with public diplomacy to succeed there? Projects can also identify key resources and networks for influencing public opinion in Kazakhstan.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Desired skills & talents: Creativity, Russian and Kazakh language skills, Central Asian history background, knowledge of Kazakhstan, knowledge of the former Soviet Union’s history with Kazakhstan, understanding of Russia and China’s influence in Kazakhstan, understanding of Islam, the Silk Road, nomadic tribes of Central Asia, natural resources-based economies, countering violent extremism, fostering democratic principles and market economies, public opinion research, influencing foreign publics, making strategic recommendations, formulating recommendations for public diplomacy projects. Social science research skills including data analysis and SPSS are also desirable. An understanding of social media, social media analytics, and reaching youth populations could be of great help as well.

Comments:The Diplomacy Lab project should be completed in one semester, but could be considered as early as Spring 2016. Continued contact is encouraged and may lead to future opportunities over the course of the primary POC’s assignment to Kazakhstan. Depending on the skill set of the Diplomacy Lab team(s), there may also be a chance to analyze public opinion data from surveys, focus groups, and/or social media. Specific recommendations that emerge also stand a realistic chance of being implemented in Kazakhstan and if that happens there may be a chance for program evaluation and reporting in the future, if there is continued interest. If a team would like to propose a different project theme or a combination of project themes, that will be considered too.

Here are some websites that may be useful for a head start:http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/english/#axzz3xLSLh6rhhttp://eca.state.gov/programs-initiativeshttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/kz/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5487.htmhttp://kazakhstan.usembassy.gov/http://almaty.usconsulate.gov/index.htmlhttp://newscenter.lbl.gov/2011/06/23/kazakhstan-research-center/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.htmlhttp://www.kazakhembus.com/http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g293943-Kazakhstan-Vacations.htmlhttp://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/12/18-china-russia-kazakhstan-fight-kirisci-lecorre

Maximum Number of Projects: 4Four Project Teams Possible:1. Security & Stability Team. What are Kazakhs’ views of the threats they face to their security and stability? How can we best inform and influence them to have a better partnership with the U.S. in order to counter violent extremism, fight terrorism, and reduce crime and corruption?

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/12/18-china-russia-kazakhstan-fight-kirisci-lecorre

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/12/18-china-russia-kazakhstan-fight-kirisci-lecorre

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g293943-Kazakhstan-Vacations.html

http://www.kazakhembus.com/

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2011/06/23/kazakhstan-research-center/

http://almaty.usconsulate.gov/index.html

http://kazakhstan.usembassy.gov/

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5487.htm

http://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/kz/

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/index.htm

http://eca.state.gov/programs-initiatives

http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/english/#axzz3xLSLh6rh

2. Market Economy Team. What are Kazakhs’ views of their economy? How can we best inform and influence them to have a better partnership with the U.S. in order to help them transition to a liberal, market economy with a rules-based trading system that also improves commercial opportunities for the United States?

3. Democratic Practices Team. What are Kazakhs’ views of their government and of democracy? How can we best inform and influence them to increase and improve democratic practices for more accountability, transparency, and representative government?

4. U.S. Policies & Culture Team. What are Kazakhs’ views of U.S. policies and culture? How can we best inform and influence them to improve their view of the United States and cement a good relationship with Kazakhstan where Kazakhs are more open to U.S. policies and perspectives?

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Project 60

Predictive modeling of countries’ voting behavior in UNGABureau of International Organization Affairs (IO), Office of Regional Policy & Coordination

(IO/RPC)

Overview:Research question: Why do countries vote with the United States at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)? This project aims to identify the key factors driving countries to vote along with the United States at UNGA; these factors can be social, political, economic, and/or geographical. UNGA voting patterns have been researched by scholars for over 20 years but a predictive model is yet to be developed. Having such a model and knowing the key factors are crucial for the United States to advance its policy priorities at the UN.Students will be given a dataset of voting outcomes of the last five UNGA sessions and a list of relevant research articles. In addition, guidance will be provided to help identify the key factors based on preliminary analyses done within the Department.

Format of Final Product:The expected deliverables are:1. A research paper outlining the key findings and the predictive model2. A list of the data sources and the actual dataset usedComputer programs or scripts that perform the analysis

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project requires students with strong statistical training (R preferred) and experience in research and analysis. Knowledge in data visualization is a big plus.We welcome students from any discipline with a solid technical background and strong willingness to learn.

Comments:This project is suitable for graduate students who are interested in researching the UN. The product can be used as a part of a Master’s thesis or a chapter in a dissertation. This project is likely to last longer than one semester.

About us:IO/RPC develops strategies and provides guidance on U.S. engagement with key regional and non-traditional actors to support U.S. policy priorities across the multilateral system. The office works with regional bureaus to promote a coherent approach to bilateral and multilateral U.S. priorities with regional actors. RPC provides data analytics capability to support decision- and policy-making in multilateral negotiations.


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Project 61

Text analytics of public opinion on humanitarian issuesBureau of International Organization Affairs (IO), Office of Regional Policy & Coordination

(IO/RPC)

Overview:In the last two years, we have experienced various humanitarian challenges such as the Ebola outbreak, Syrian refugee crisis, and fallout from natural disasters. Citizens rely on their governments and multilateral organization, like the United Nations (UN), to address those challenges. The question is: Do the citizens agree with the responses?

Students of this project will pick a country and a humanitarian challenge, and then (1) analyze the public sentiment towards the responses of the selected country and the UN, (2) identify any agreements or contradictions between the two. Public opinion data should be collected from respectable news sources and polling agencies as well as social media.

Findings from this project will not only inform IO/RPC’s new text analytics initiative but also provide an overview of citizens’ approval of their governments’ and UN’s responses to humanitarian challenges.


The expected deliverables are:1 A summary analysis of the key findings (5 pages max. plus appendix)2. A list of the data sources and the actual dataset used3. Computer programs or scripts that perform the analysis

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project requires students with statistical training (R preferred) and competence in computer programming. Experience in text analytics is not required but students should be able to learn Python and Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) quickly. Knowledge in data visualization is a big plus.We welcome students from any discipline with solid technical background and strong willingness to learn.

Comments:This project is suitable for students who want to apply technical skills in finding insights on social issues. About us:IO/RPC develops strategies and provides guidance on U.S. engagement with key regional and non-traditional actors to support U.S. policy priorities across the multilateral system. The office works with regional bureaus to promote a coherent approach to bilateral and multilateral U.S. priorities with regional actors. RPC provides data analytics capability to support decision- and policy-making in multilateral negotiations.

Maximum Number of Projects: 22 groups, each group should have 3 to 4 undergraduate students OR 1 to 2 graduate students

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Project 62

Potential Impact of Emerging Technologies on International Security, Regional Stability and The Multilateral Export Control Regimes

Bureau of International Security, Office of Conventional Arms Threat Reduction (ISN/CATR)

Overview:Across the world new technologies are being developed at a very rapid pace. These technologies will certainly disrupt our lives in positive as well as negative ways. We can expect that emerging technologies will affect international security, regional stability, and multilateral export control regimes. Some examples of potentially disruptive technologies are: 3d-printing (also known as additive manufacturing, AM), artificial intelligence and robotics (with the prospect of the so-called “Killer Robots”), the internet of things (IoT) and big data, novel man-made materials, and quantum computers. To see the disruptive aspect of these technologies (from the security point of view) consider the case of 3d-printing. The technology was first commercialized in 1984 and has shown a tremendous growth during the past two decades. Airplanes and satellite components, rocket engines, and weapon system components have been fabricated using 3d-printing. Digital files for the fabrication of small arms are available in the internet and some countries (for example the UK) have passed laws making it illegal to post or distribute these types of files on the internet. Governments across the world have embraced the technology because of its potential to bring fundamental changes

to the countries’ economic development by enabling local manufacturing with minimum investment and limited know-how (just download the file), making manufacturing more responsive to local needs, empowering creativity, and greatly facilitating and accelerating research and development. The technology also has a dark side. In Australia, 3d printed arms have been found by police during raids of illegal drugs facilities. In the US, a teenager recently attached a 3d-printed gun and a 3d-printed flame thrower to a small drone; both worked well. Also many countries are researching its use in the manufacturing of new weapon systems, from conventional weapon applications to nuclear applications. This illustrates the potential for the technology to be used by rogue governments, terrorist or criminal organizations to circumvent export control laws and avoid detection. Some writers have suggested that 3d-printing can severely limit the effectiveness of export control regimes such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Missile Technology Control Regime, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Other emerging technologies raise similar issues. For example new developments in artificial intelligence and robotics makes it now possible for countries to develop robotic weapon systems capable of making life or dead decisions without human intervention. Big data and the IoT can make it easier for countries or organizations to conduct surveillance and persecute people. Some questions that could be pursue in this research Are: What policy challenges are raised by these emerging technologies? How can policy makers and international organizations manage the risk pose by emerging technologies while fostering development of their beneficial uses? Are current international organizations capable of dealing with the security issues raised by emerging technologies or are new mechanisms necessary? These are just illustrative questions many other avenues of research may be explored on this topic.

Format of Final Product:A paper describing the research and potential policy recommendations.

Comments:Recent articles on this subject:1. Internet article: The Truth About 3-D Printing and Nuclear Proliferation by Amy Nelson, 14 Dec, 2015. At: http://warontherocks.com/2015/12/the-truth-about-3-d-printing-and-nuclear-proliferation/

2. 3-D Printing the Bomb? The Nuclear Nonproliferation Challenge, Matthew Kroenig and Tristan Volpe, The Washington Quarterly, Fall 2015, pp. 7–19. Article can be downloaded at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0163660X.2015.1099022


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Project 63

Combating WMD Proliferation DatabasesBureau of International Security, Office of Counterproliferation Initiatives (ISN/CPI)

Overview:UN Security Council 1540 Committee monitors what measures all UN Member States take to implement the more than 200 obligations and recommendations of UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004). These legally binding obligations require States to prohibit some activities and to control others related to combating the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery, especially to terrorists and other non-State actors. In December 2015, the 1540 Committee posted matrices, each with nearly 400 elements, of these measures for 183 of the 193 UN Member States on its website (see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/committee-approved-matrices.shtml). The Committee also publishes information on effective international and national practices and on offers of and requests for assistance. The project seeks development of up to three searchable databases:

Legal Measures: A searchable database of measures taken by each State. This database should help the 1540 Committee, UN Member States, civil society and industry identify which States have taken which measures to implement the resolution. By including links to specific national laws, regulations, and guidance, it will help all parties understand the current legal framework of

http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/committee-approved-matrices.shtml


nonproliferation, provide examples to States seeking to develop new measures, and allow more complex analysis of the existing data.Effective Practices: A searchable database of effective international and national “effective” or good practices associated with implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1540. It will help States more readily identify well-recognized effective implementation practices.Assistance: A searchable database of requests for and offers of assistance. This database will make it easier to match assistance offers and requests, as well more sophisticated analysis of requests and offers.

Format of Final Product:1-3 searchable databases, in English (but preferably with compatibility for creating versions for the other five UN languages, i.e., Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish users), and ready for posting on the 1540 Committee or similar website.

Although each database need not capture all the relevant information held by the UNSCR 1540 Committee on implementation measures, effective practices or assistance, they should allow for easy expansion to incorporate the full scope of information and future expansion.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Information technology skills, particularly searchable databases for web-based applications. Knowledge of international relations and nonproliferation helpful.Comments:For more information on UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/ (the UN Security Council 1540 Committee’s website). For a brief video from UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas on UNSCR 1540, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/transparency-and-outreach/un-multimedia.shtml. For PDF and Word templates of the new version of the 1540 Committee matrix, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/matrix-template.shtml. To see the completed national matrices, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/committee-approved-matrices.shtml.

Maximum Number of Projects: 3One for each possible database, i.e., laws/regulations, effective practices, and assistance)

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http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/matrix-template.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/transparency-and-outreach/un-multimedia.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/

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Project 64

Mapping Efforts to Combat WMD Proliferation

Bureau of International Security, Office of Counterproliferation Initiatives (ISN/CPI)

Overview:UN Security Council 1540 Committee monitors what measures all UN Member States take to implement the more than 200 obligations and recommendations of UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004). These legally binding obligations require States to prohibit some activities and to control others related to combating the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery, especially to terrorists and other non-State actors. In December 2015, the 1540 Committee posted matrices, each with nearly 400 elements, of these measures for 183 of the 193 UN Member States on its website (see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/committee-approved-matrices.shtml).

Mapping what these States have done could provide a powerful visual tool for the international community. In particular, it should help the 1540 Committee, UN Member States, civil society and industry visualize the status of implementation of different obligations of the resolution, including providing links to specific national legal frameworks and effective practices. In doing so, it will help



States more easily understand how to implement the resolution domestically and how to promote implementation globally.

Format of Final Product:One to five interactive maps (with compatibility for creating a single global), in English (but preferably with compatibility for creating versions for Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish users), and ready for posting on the 1540 Committee or similar website. The maps should allow users to choose a country in a region and see:

- Links to the information the Committee has for that State; and- Whether or not the Committee has identified that the State has a relevant measure or

measures in place for some obligations of the resolution (which obligations or an index of such obligations to be determined by project participants in consultation with the primary POC).

As important, the regional map or maps should allow users to see at a glance which States the Committee has identified as taken relevant measures for a set of obligations across the entire region.Although a map need not capture all the information contained in the UNSCR 1540 Committee matrices, they should allow for easy incorporation of such information in the map in the future. Although geographic political mapping is preferred, alternative approaches to visualization could be considered.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Information technology skills, particularly data visualization for web-based applications. Knowledge of international relations and nonproliferation helpful.

Comments:For more information on UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/ (the UN Security Council 1540 Committee’s website). For a brief video from UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas on UNSCR 1540, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/transparency-and-outreach/un-multimedia.shtml. For PDF and Word templates of the new version of the 1540 Committee matrix, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/matrix-template.shtml. To see the completed national matrices, see http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/committee-approved-matrices.shtml.

Maximum Number of Projects: 5Up to 5, based on the 5 UN regional groups (i.e., African Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eastern European Group, Latin America and the Caribbean Group, and the Western European and Others Group)



http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/national-implementation/1540-matrix/matrix-template.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/transparency-and-outreach/un-multimedia.shtml

http://www.un.org/en/sc/1540/

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Project 65

The Costs and Benefits of a Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle (reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel)

Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), Office of Regional Affairs (RA) and Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security (NESS)

Overview:Japan for decades has been, and continues to be one of the closest and most trusted partners of the United States in the field of civil nuclear cooperation. However, delays in the start of its reprocessing plants and resultant plutonium balance have been called into question by third parties as a potential threat to the nonproliferation regime. We are interested in examining the true costs and BENEFITS – in terms of broad ECONOMIC (long-term energy independence), POLITICAL (mitigating risks to the overall nuclear sector) AND NONPROLIFERATION GOALS - associated with a closed fuel cycle. We invite the participants of Diplomacy Lab to team with us on a detailed study of the costs and benefits of a closed fuel cycle in Japan.

Format of Final Product:A detailed research paper that includes cost analysis

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Technical expertise in nuclear fuel cycles, nuclear energy sector, cost estimation expertise


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Project 66

Fostering Inclusion in the Workplace – Regional SurveyJ/FO – Special Advisor for International Disability Rights (SADR)

Overview:Despite progress made around the world towards advancing the rights of persons with disabilities, unemployment continues to be a challenge. Governments around the world have tried to address this challenge by promoting more inclusive work environments through a variety of programs including quota systems, incentive programs, public private partnerships, and awareness campaigns. The office of the Special Advisor for Disability Rights is interested in learning which countries have developed programs to support the employment of people with disabilities (and which ones haven’t), if they have implemented these programs, and to what degree of success. SADR is interested in collecting information from comparable countries in the same region or economic community (for example, a survey or MERCOSUR members, Sub-Saharan African countries, or Gulf Cooperation Countries, or the MENA region).

The final report analyzing a region’s efforts to promote employment and any particularly successful programs, will help SADR in promoting the employment of people with disabilities around the world by highlight gaps and providing best practices that can be scaled up or replicated elsewhere.

Research for the report would seek to understand laws, policies and programs on disability and employment/labor rights and vocational training systems. Sample questions might include:

- What government institutions, if any, are responsible for promoting the employment of persons with disabilities?

- Does the government collaborate with businesses in promoting the employment of persons with disabilities? If so provide further details.

- Does the government collect data on persons with disabilities in the labor market? If so, provide details. (unemployment, type of work, education level or worker, salary compared to non-disabled)

- Is there employment data on students who complete higher education and vocational training programs that show the number of students with disabilities placed in integrated/mainstream employment?

- Does the government address disability in the context of occupational diseases and injury? For example, does the government promote “stay-at-work” and “return-to-work” programs to ensure that workers affected by occupational disease and injury can either stay on the job or return quick to work after illness/injury?

Format of Final Product:A final report (up to 3 pages per country, not to exceed 40 pages total); a presentation of data; one-page case studies on success stories

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Political Science; International Relations; Regional Studies programs; Disability Rights

Comments:The Special Advisor for International Disability Rights (SADR) leads the U.S. comprehensive strategy to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities internationally. The United States, as part of our foreign policy, works to remove barriers and create a world in which disabled people enjoy dignity and full inclusion. Discrimination against people with disabilities is not simply unjust; it hinders economic development, limits democracy, and erodes societies.

In pursuing diplomacy that is inclusive and empowering of persons with disabilities, the United States: opposes discrimination against persons with disabilities everywhere and in all its forms; urges foreign governments to combat discrimination, prejudice and abuse against persons with disabilities in their countries, and to protect the rights and ensure the dignity and inclusion of all persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others; encourages and assists governments to learn about the development and effective implementation of laws to protect the rights of persons with disabilities;

encourages and assists civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities and their families, to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities; and encourages U.S. businesses operating overseas as well as domestic host country businesses to take into consideration persons with disabilities in relation to employment practices and local stakeholder engagement, including in their labor and human rights corporate social responsibility policies, programs, and practices.

Maximum Number of Projects: 3One per region or sub-region

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Project 67

The Influence of Student Activism on Domestic and Foreign PolicyU.S. Mission to South Africa, Political and Economic Section

Overview:Student activism to effect political, economic, social, and environmental change around the globe has been effective at focusing the broader public’s and government’s attention on matters that may otherwise go undetected or continue operating under the status quo. Racial discrimination, wars, corruption, inflation, limited job opportunities, cuts to government education and health care spending, sexual violence on campuses, elections, the killing of unarmed minority citizens by law enforcement officials, prison labor, and government censorship are but some of the issues that have prompted students around the world to organize themselves and transform into activists. Student activism in the United States reached its peak in the 1960s, largely due to protests against U.S. involvement in Vietnam. While it has not returned to this level, student activism arguably is on the rise (see this May 2015 The Atlantic article).

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/the-renaissance-of-student-activism/393749/

In several instances, student activism has prompted government response quicker than the activism of well-funded and organized civil society groups. As one example, student demonstrations on 130 U.S. campuses against school administrators’ handling of campus-based sexual violence allegations placed several of these learning institutions under increased U.S. Department of Education scrutiny and investigation throughout 2015. In South Africa, nation-wide student protests in 2015 under the #FeesMustFall movement led to the South African President announcing the planned 10.5% tertiary fees increase for 2016 would instead be 0%. The movement also demanded social transformation on campuses, including the permanent hiring of temporary and outsourced labor; several universities complied with these additional demands. Labor unions and political parties had been making similar demands against outsourcing for decades, with little effect.

Format of Final Product:As part of our efforts at U.S. Mission South Africa to better understand student activism both in South Africa and globally, and its implications for domestic and foreign policy, we request university teams:

1) Compile a comprehensive timeline of student activism from 1960 to the present in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Illustrations that augment the catalogue, such as boxed case studies, tables, photos, and info-graphics would be ideal. The timeline should provide information on:

- the duration and scope of the activism;- government response and assessment on whether the activism yielded the intended results;- the recorded number of student activists and other supporters killed or injured during

protests, as well as the estimated cost of vandalism, if any, and; - the political alignment, if any, of student organizations leading the activism.

2) Provide a report of no more 45 pages, with a one-page executive summary, that analyzes the overall success of student activism in these developing regions and its future direction, the extent to which groups have found a voice in the democratic process through activism, and the risk it may pose to governments. Five case studies could illustrate the research teams’ overall analysis; South Africa should be one of the case studies.

3) Present to U.S. Department of State officials a white paper that is no longer than 10 pages with a one-page summary of conclusions outlining whether the U.S. government should consider engaging with student activists and student-led campaigns in these regions to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives, similar to how it engages with other civil society groups. What are the risks associated with doing so, as well as practical limitations on U.S. government funding mechanisms? Would the U.S. government get more bang-for-the buck or expose itself to unnecessary risk?

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Classes exploring the social sciences, youth issues, foreign policy, public policy, civic engagement and organizing, history, and area studies (Africa, Asia and/or Latin America) would be ideal, though

no particular academic discipline, skill, or language is necessary to successfully complete this project.

Comments:Details on the U.S. Department of State’s Global Youth Issues platform can be found at http://www.state.gov/p/af/index.htm

Additional information on the U.S. Mission to South African can be found at https://za.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/

Maximum Number of Projects: 2-32 Teams Would be Ideal: One team could focus on the student activism timeline, while a second team focuses on the case-study report analyzing the success and future direction of student activism. Both teams could develop the white paper for presentation to the Department.

3 Teams Would Also Work: Each team would create a time line and case-study report, selecting one of the three regions for their focus: Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Each of the three teams would develop a white paper for presentation to the Department.

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Project 68

Why Fight Bribery? A study of the benefits of joining the Anti-Bribery Convention

U.S Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Economic Section

Overview:We all recognize that corruption is a scourge on economic growth (not to mention good governance, rule of law, and human rights), and leaders around the world have pledged to do more to combat it. The Anti-Bribery Convention tackles one niche of the corruption puzzle by establishing legally binding standards that criminalize the bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions. The Convention and its monitoring mechanism, the OECD Working Group on Bribery,

https://za.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/

http://www.state.gov/p/af/index.htm

have proven very effective in combatting corruption in the 41 signatory countries. While these countries account for the majority of global exports and foreign investment, four G20 countries are still not parties to the Convention.

The purpose of this project is to identify, and where possible quantify, how joining the Anti-Bribery Convention and actively prosecuting cases of foreign bribery might benefit a country. Are there impacts on trade and/or investment flows? Are companies from adhering countries more likely to win contracts or find it easier to enter global supply chains? These findings would be used to engage non-WGB members and encourage them to adhere to the Anti-Bribery Convention.

Format of Final Product:The final product should be a research paper of no more than 20 pages. It could take a number of forms, such as:

A review of existing literature on the costs/benefits of combatting bribery; A macroeconomic or firm-level analysis of the effects of joining the Anti-Bribery

Convention (including econometric/statistical analysis where possible); One or more country case studies.

In addition, the paper should include an annex of main findings (with visual aids if possible) for potential use in public diplomacy campaigns.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economics, Econometrics/Statistical analysis (as necessary), Political Science

Comments:More information can be found at the OECD’s website (http://www.oecd.org/corruption/) and USOECD’s website (http://usoecd.usmission.gov/mission/combating-corruption.html).

The importance of fighting bribery is also highlighted in the U.S. Global Anticorruption Agenda: (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/24/fact-sheet-us-global-anticorruption-agenda).Maximum Number of Projects: 2

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https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/24/fact-sheet-us-global-anticorruption-agenda

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/24/fact-sheet-us-global-anticorruption-agenda

http://usoecd.usmission.gov/mission/combating-corruption.html

http://www.oecd.org/corruption/

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Project 69

Sharing Native American Culture and Perspectives with International Audiences

Joint Submission: Native American Foreign Affairs Council (NAFAC), Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), Bureau of Counterterrorism and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)

Overview:Join the Native American Foreign Affairs Council’s (NAFAC) and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) efforts to highlight the importance of Native American culture to American identities in diplomatic engagements abroad, foster international dialogues on indigenous issues, and facilitate partnerships on identifying and returning sacred and irreplaceable Native American cultural patrimony overseas. Everyday across the world, the Department of State’s public affairs officers lead educational and outreach efforts on American culture as a fundamental component of our

diplomatic mission abroad. Native American culture is an intrinsic part of the United States’ rich history, and offers an essential piece of the narrative our officers present to school children, foreign diplomats, and government officials on what it means to be American. Native American cultures and history are of intense interest to foreign audiences and partners, and the relationships between the U.S. and tribal governments over time is of interest to foreign governments and citizens as they seek to improve their own relationships with indigenous groups and multiple layers of culture and identities.

Research teams will develop rich and illustrative materials to enhance public presentations on Native American culture to foreign audiences and highlight shared histories in indigenous communities worldwide that could serve as a point of collaboration and partnership with international governments and organizations. As part of this project, research teams can assist with pedagogical techniques on best practices to engage indigenous communities and the general public on cultural heritage protection, building messaging campaigns on cultural sensitivity and cultural patrimony, and the imperative to respect and highlight diversity in various cultural contexts abroad. During the course of this research, teams will identify opportunities for Native Americans to engage directly in diplomacy. Research teams also will assemble a report with lists of Native American cultural heritage and ancestral remains located abroad, and identify endangered or sacred cultural heritage that would benefit from official follow-up documentation and possible repatriation. These efforts would assist Native American tribes’ efforts to regain their lost sacred cultural heritage and highlight the necessity to work closely with international partners on the loss, commercialization, and destruction of heritage worldwide.

Format of Final Product:A series of educational and awareness-raising modules consisting of visual (e.g., PowerPoint) and written exercises on Native American history and cultures (including 566 federally recognized tribes, Native Hawaiians and Native Alaskans) suitable for presentation to foreign audiences ranging from school children to high-level diplomats. Ideally, this would include a discussion of the relationships of Native American sovereign nations with the U.S. government over time, (at least examples of) tribal nations’ cultural and linguistic differences, and discussion of continuing stereotypes. For example, it could discuss how the debate over the use of Native Americans as sports team mascots proliferates negative stereotypes. The presentation could also include a module on the importance of repatriating Native American sacred cultural heritage, including ancestral remains, that have been removed from the United States for sale and/or exchange overseas. The team should create a list of specific opportunities for Native Americans to engage in diplomacy. For example, a U.S. embassy might bring Native Americans to discuss shared issues with indigenous people in another country. Or representatives from foreign governments or institutions might visit tribes in the United States to learn their perspective on sacred items and ancestral remains. A report documenting Native American sacred cultural heritage and ancestral remains abroad (e.g., on auction house lists, in museums, and in government and private collections) that should be considered for repatriation to the United States would be useful as well.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Native American and indigenous studies, anthropology, human geography, sociology, linguistics, art history, museum studies, and education majors will gain skills at developing classroom materials, presentations, and refining pedagogical techniques to target various audiences on important and potentially culturally sensitive issues.


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Project 70

Evaluating U.S. Security Sector Assistance in the Middle East and North Africa

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC)

Overview:As a facet of foreign policy, United States Government (USG) security assistance (material and financial) and security cooperation (relationships) are complicated by factors of competing agency strategic priorities, politics, domestic and foreign economics, private industry, USG budget cycles, and cycles of insecurity throughout to world. Because security assistance and security cooperation (SA/SC) is so complex and related to so many uncontrollable factors, it may not be possible to measure its immediate effectiveness toward achieving strategic goals or bolstering bilateral

relationships. However, it may be possible to find meaningful relationships between security assistance and security cooperation. As a limited and scoped approach, this analysis could be a positive step in finding ways to properly inform, direct, target, and progressively adapt SA/SC strategies and assistance trajectories over time. Moreover, it may provide insight into the SA/SC environment, which would help us understand ways to move forward with the President’s directive to move toward an SC-based approach to security.

Assess the following hypothesis: The amount of security assistance from the USG to a recipient country is directly proportional to the level of security cooperation between that recipient country and the USG other than those listed by the World Bank as “high income.”

NEA/AC will assist the research team in identifying data sources (including background documentation and key informants) and providing introductions to stakeholders for the research team to interview. While NEA/AC envisions that the research conducted will be primarily qualitative, we will also be happy to discuss alternative methodologies proposed including quantitative analysis.

Format of Final Product:The final product will be used to inform the continuous development of NEA/AC policy and strategies for foreign assistance. The research will also allow NEA/AC to present new and relevant ideas across the Department and the interagency in order to encourage prudent and judicious SA/SC approaches.

1. 1 page executive summary of findings2. 10-15 page findings paper3. 20 min PowerPoint presentation

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:International relations, human rights, economics, defense spending/trade/policy, foreign policy, sociology, behavioral sciences, psychology, political science, area studies, criminal justice

Comments:NEA/AC covers North Africa, Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East. However, this information is relevant across the Department, DoD/DoS, Geographic Combatant Commanders, and the interagency.


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Project 71

Modeling the Political Economy of the Middle East: Investigating the regional economic and political impact of changing energy prices

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Regional and Multilateral Affairs (NEA/RMA)

Overview:Two years ago, oil sustained a price over $105 / barrel. Oil producing countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) made critical economic and political commitments with the revenue from high oil prices. Today, oil prices have sunk to nearly $30 / barrel and many of the region’s oil producing countries face tough choices and budget shortfalls. At the same time, the U.S. government pushes this lower energy price environment as an opportunity for MENA region countries to eliminate energy subsidies and conduct other structural economic reforms.

Teams working on this project will be asked to develop a model that shows the impact of oil prices, production, break-even budget assumptions, and other relevant factors on the political and economic choices faced by oil producing states. Using the model, teams can develop and investigate multiple scenarios such as those that produce a price fluctuation, various countries increasing or decreasing production, or changes to break even budget points. Teams can deliver a report on the regional political and economic consequences of these scenarios. The reports could include regional oil supply and infrastructure analysis, insights on significant domestic political factors, and predictions on the likely steps that the countries will take given the political economic landscape.

Format of Final Product:1) An energy price model and a background paper describing the model’s basic assumptions,

how it works, and what it tells us about the relationship between the key variables.2) 3 – 4 scenarios. Each scenario should be a 4-5 page paper that outlines the assumptions of

the scenario, describes the model outputs, and evaluates the regional political and economic impact of the outcomes.

3) Oral briefing demonstrating the model and describing the scenarios and findings.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Statistical modeling, International Political Economy, Middle East / North Africa regional politics

Comments:We are hoping that teams develop a model we can continue to use as we track the impact of changing energy prices on MENA regional political and economic developments.


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Project 72

DIPLOMACY + ARCHITECTURE: Designing and Planning the Consular Landscape and Building Entry Sequence for U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Diverse Contexts to Promote

Global Diplomacy

Master Planning Division (OBO/PRE/MPE/MPD) and Architectural Design Division (OBO/PDCS/DE/AD)

Overview:In an age of complex systems, architecture is more than objects or locations. Rather,

architecture engages with and participates in complex systems including natural systems, infrastructural systems, and human systems. This design research project will focus specifically on strategies for the consular entry sequence of global U.S. embassy and consulate buildings managed by the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO). The consular entry sequence is a spatial progression of movement, gathering, and waiting for local visitors and U.S. citizens to U.S. missions abroad. This space is the primary interface between the U.S. and visitors. It is a series of spaces designed for function and impression, where many visitors encounter U.S. culture and values for the first time. The site and location of an embassy or consulate have functional as well as symbolic implications. Embassies and consulates are required to be safe, secure, and functional. However, they should be inspiring places for the conduct of diplomacy and represent the best of American architecture, design, engineering, and construction.

Whenever possible, sites are selected in urban areas, allowing U.S. embassies and consulates to contribute to the civic and urban fabric of host cities. The design of buildings and sites is a comprehensive process of understanding and balancing requirements. Each design is responsive to its context to include the site, its surroundings, and the local culture and climate. The designs make use of contextually appropriate and durable materials and incorporate the latest in security and safety features. The consular landscape complements and engages the architecture to be conceived as an integrated whole.

Research Question: How can the planning and design of the consular entry sequence speak to the climatic and cultural context of a place, promote democracy and American values, and also engage with relevant diplomatic issues? How can the architecture and the landscape architecture of the embassy or consulate be active in diplomacy?

Research Methodology:Teams will work with OBO to develop a framework of design principles and vignettes for specific countries or cities by creating an informational animation, executive summary, and annotated bibliography. The project will consist of two parts: Part 1. Systems-Based Research and Analysis

A. Regional/City Environment (Climate, Ecology, Geology, etc.)B. Building Strategies (Local Vernacular, Technology, Materials, etc.)C. Infrastructural, Cultural, Social, and Political Systems (Transportation, Public Space,

Gathering, Gender, Safety, etc.)D. Key Diplomatic Issues and Conversations (Water and Sanitation, Refugee Assistance, Trade

Promotion, etc.) (See Discover Diplomacy website below.)

Part 2. Design Principles and StudiesA. Develop design principles for the categories listed aboveB. Develop a series of design vignettes that incorporate the systems and design principles of the

research listed above

Format of Final Product:Scholarly design research should be used to produce diagrams (analytical and experiential), infographics, and design principles and vignettes (perspectives and/or axonometric drawings). The semester research and analysis should be synthesized by creating multimedia deliverables (e.g., a 2 to 5 minute informational animation (or other interactive media), a 2-page executive summary, and an annotated bibliography).

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning, Urban Design

Comments:Additional Resources:Overseas Buildings Operations: http://overseasbuildings.state.gov/Discovering Diplomacy: http://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/explorer/


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http://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/explorer/

http://overseasbuildings.state.gov/

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Project 73

Trade & Environment: How do trade agreements improve the environment?Bureau of Oceans, and International Environmental & Scientific Affairs, Office of Environmental

Quality and Transboundary Issues (OES/EQT)

Overview:Recent U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) contain strong environment chapters that obligate parties, among other things, to maintain laws and policies that ensure high levels of environmental protection and strive to improve those laws and policies; to not fail to effectively enforce those laws, or waive or derogate from them to attract trade or investment. Parties also commit in the chapters to cooperate on environmental matters, and the Department of State has negotiated separate environmental cooperation mechanisms (ECMs) in parallel with almost every FTA environment chapter. The U.S. government has committed more than $177 million since 2005 to implement these ECMs, undertaking a variety of activities across a broad spectrum of environmental disciplines. Examples of successes include working with FTA partners to bring almost 31 million hectares of land under improved natural resource management; improving or enacting approximately 714 environmental laws, policies, or regulations; and training over 80,000 in natural resource management and/or biodiversity conservation.

Despite our strong FTA environment chapters, related ECMs, and the positive history of implementing both, some environmental NGOs have voiced concerns that FTAs are bad for the environment, causing increases in carbon emissions and other pollution, more oil and gas exploration and drilling, and increases in the rate of deforestation and land devoted to unstainable agriculture, among other things. It is not clear, however, whether these NGOs are relying on scientific data or other evidence to support these assertions or whether they are based on theory or even conjecture. The Department’s environment and trade team is interested in developing evidence on the impact of FTAs on the environment and, in particular, on how trade-related environmental cooperation can help ameliorate any potential negative effects or enhance or multiply positive ones. We want to identify ways to improve the environmental co-benefits of trade agreements and in particular how trade-related environmental cooperation can be most effective in this effort. Specific research questions could include (but are not limited to):

-Is there any evidence in academic/scientific literature regarding FTA impacts on the environment (e.g., Baghdadi et al, Are RTA Agreements with Environmental Provisions Reducing Emissions?)? If so, what are its limitations and conclusions?

-Where are the gaps in academic/scientific research regarding FTA impacts on the environment? If so, what are those gaps and in what order of priority should we fill those gaps?

-Are there models or frameworks for determining effective ways of targeting foreign assistance resources to mitigate any potential negative impacts of FTAs on the environment? If not, are there models, frameworks, or practices from other disciplines that could be adapted to the trade and environment context?

-Are governments strengthening their environmental laws and/or enforcement as a result of FTA environment chapters?

-If so, is there any evidence that this motivates industries to move outside of free trade areas (offshoring) to avoid potential additional costs of compliance? Or do FTA tariff savings offset any potential increased compliance costs?

-Is there any evidence that FTAs lead to increases in wildlife trafficking; illegal logging; or illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing?

-If so, what techniques and laws have proven effective in tackling the illegal harvest of these types of natural resources? Case studies could focus on countries like Vietnam and Malaysia.

-Are there lessons learned in tackling transnational criminal networks that could be applied to combat such wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, or IUU fishing?

These are a sampling of research questions, but we are open to discrete analyses of other trade related environmental issues. We are open to tailoring the research questions to fit the team of students analyzing the issue.

Format of Final Product:Research paper/ series of papers and presentation to the trade team at the State Department. Potential opportunity to travel to partner country to present findings, pending funding availability.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Interdisciplinary teams are likely to have the best ability to tackle these issues and could include expertise in environmental sciences, environmental studies, economics, trade, international relations, international law, and criminal justice.

Comments:Resource Links:Standing up for the Environment: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-Standing-Up-for-the-Environment-2015-Report.pdfTPP Environment Chapter: https://medium.com/the-trans-pacific-partnership/environment-a7f25cd180cb#.4wughhd71


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https://medium.com/the-trans-pacific-partnership/environment-a7f25cd180cb#.4wughhd71

https://medium.com/the-trans-pacific-partnership/environment-a7f25cd180cb#.4wughhd71

https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-Standing-Up-for-the-Environment-2015-Report.pdf

https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/USTR-Standing-Up-for-the-Environment-2015-Report.pdf

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Project 74

Delivery of Health Care and Other Services in Mixed Migration Emergencies: Lessons from History for the Current Crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean

Region

Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), Office of Regional Affairs (RA) and Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security (NESS)

Overview:Conflict-related displacement patterns – and their implications for health – are increasingly complex . More conflicts are taking place within and between middle income countries. In this context, conflict can produce a combination of refugees, internally displaced persons, and vulnerable migrants, most notably along pathways through the Eastern Mediterranean region. Refugees and migrants may travel the same routes but face different protection risks and have different vulnerability profiles. They may seek (and find) different types of assistance from different responders (including traditional multilateral and NGO humanitarian responders, volunteer groups, the private sector, and national or local governments.)

Further complicating matters, health records and information do not always travel with migrants and refugees. Because many migrants and refugees are living with diseases of long duration (primarily noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes - but also communicable diseases that require extended treatment, such as tuberculosis), the separation of people and their health information is especially problematic. As a result, highly mobile populations, such as those transiting through the Eastern Mediterranean region, may experience discontinuity of care, disease surveillance gaps can quickly emerge, and there may be consequences for successful long-term resettlement or return.

Addressing diseases of long duration in such a context requires coordination between host governments, humanitarian organizations, and development actors, but would yield multiple benefits. Successful coordination would improve humanitarian response, facilitate refugee and migrant integration into their host countries/communities, and reduce the potential for health-related risks to the broader public. Moreover, looking to historical examples - and to emerging innovations - may shed some light on how to address these challenges.

Therefore, we are requesting the assistance of one or more research teams to examine:

1) Historical examples of health service delivery during emergencies, especially those that were characterized by mixed flows of refugees and migrants travelling the same routes;

2) Best practices and any recurring mistakes in addressing the separation of people from their health records and information; and

3) Ways to leverage innovation (including new technology and innovative low tech solutions) that can be used to promote coordination in ensuring quality and continuity of care.

Teams should pay particular attention to the needs of refugees and migrants with diseases of long-duration, including both communicable and noncommunicable diseases, as well as injuries and mental conditions. Rather than focusing on specific diseases, however, we encourage teams to focus on the systems-based and informational aspects of ensuring strong coordination and continuity of care.

Format of Final Product:A report (not to exceed 10 pages) which analyzes past responses to mixed migration flows, what has worked, what has not, and the reasons why. The report will provide a list of concrete recommendations tailored to specific actors for improving linkages between humanitarian, development, and national/local government actors in mixed migration situations. The research team will also explore opportunities to improve protection and assistance by making use of both existing tools and emerging technological innovations. If of mutual interest, the findings could be presented to Department policymakers for further discussion and consideration.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Humanitarian Assistance, Public Health, International Development, History, International Relations


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Project 75

Arctic Healthy Homes: Civil Society Perspectives on Arctic Innovation

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of International Health & Biodefense (OES/IHB)

Overview:The dramatic changes in the Arctic region such as warming temperatures, shrinking sea ice and coastal erosion are having a profound impact on the four million people who call the Arctic their home. Innovations in water and sanitation, home design, construction and clean energy are addressing the challenges faced by Arctic residents in this changing landscape. As many of these innovations are designed for implementation by households or small communities, we are considering them under the rubric of a “Healthy Homes” approach to Arctic sustainable development. Healthy homes are a core concern in all parts of the Arctic, reflecting the environmental, human health, engineering and resilience facets of sustainable development. Stakeholders and innovators across a slew of disciplines are working on healthy homes, with every project having the potential to improve the quality and sustainability of human life in the Arctic. These issues and innovations also provide an excellent opportunity to engage with the public, both in the United States and abroad, on the importance of the Arctic region and the challenges faced by residents living in extreme environments.

The Department of State is aware of a number of stakeholders and innovators working on healthy home related issues, especially in North America, and is seeking assistance in further identifying research, policy and social science activities and trends in the broader circumpolar region – including Greenland, the Nordic countries and Russia. Additionally, the Department of State is considering ways that the innovations emerging from “Healthy Homes” may create opportunities for civic engagement through public diplomacy, including in-person events across the Arctic and through digital platforms to engage a broader audience. We would greatly value a partnership with a Diplomacy Lab team that could advise on how to facilitate and expand such engagement. This project may be used to inform future initiatives in the Arctic Council, the preeminent intergovernmental forum, currently chaired by the United States, where the eight Arctic nations and the region’s indigenous peoples discuss circumpolar issues with particular emphasis on environmental protection and sustainable development.

Format of Final Product:A presentation of findings and a paper not to exceed 10 pages that covers:a) existing stakeholders, innovators and activities related to healthy homes in the circumpolar region; orb) options for engagement with the general public to raise awareness about healthy homes issues and innovations; orc) a combination of both (a) and (b).Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Architecture, sustainable development, education, international relations, Arctic studies, engineering, cold climate housing, energy conservation, water and sanitation, public health, public policy, communications, design.


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Project 76

Marine Policy at the Bottom of the Planet

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs (OES/OPA)

Overview:The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was established by the Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty System in 1982 (see: http://www.ccamlr.org). CCAMLR’s main objective is the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources, with conservation being defined to include rational use. The area of CCAMLR’s administrative jurisdiction is the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, roughly north to the Antarctic Convergence, which is considered to be the natural boundary of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. This area covers approximately 10 percent of the earth’s surface. This consensus-based organization has 25 Commission Members and 36 total parties and normally meets once a year at its headquarters in Hobart, Australia. The Commission is advised on scientific matters by the Scientific Committee also established under the Convention.With a record of over 30 years of conservation practice, CCAMLR has earned a reputation as a model for regional cooperation in the area of fisheries management. In order to address risks to commercially exploited fish stocks, CCAMLR maintains a commitment to the application of management practices that are ecosystem-based and precautionary in nature. Based on the progression of CCAMLR’s marine conservation and management efforts and new initiatives and challenges, there are now a number of key issues – challenges and opportunities – that need further consideration as CCAMLR seeks to continue its precautionary approach to management and achieve its objective of conserving Antarctic marine living resources.

The key issues, and proposed tasks for study are:

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) : CCAMLR has committed to create a circumpolar system of MPAs. In doing so, CCAMLR has adopted a Conservation Measure (CM) to guide these efforts – General Framework for the Establishment of CCAMLR MPAs (CM 91-04). As MPAs are established, a key question will be whether they are effective in achieving their

http://www.ccamlr.org/

objectives. Task: Based on the array of existing literature on evaluating MPA effectiveness, design a proposed framework, including alternatives for evaluating the effectiveness of CCAMLR MPAs in the Southern Ocean.

CCAMLR Fisheries Regulatory Framework : The current CCAMLR regulatory framework for fisheries includes five types of fisheries – new, exploratory, established, lapsed and closed. In addition, research fishing is allowed, pursuant to certain conservation measures, throughout the Convention Area. As fisheries activities and the regulatory framework have evolved over the past several decades, certain inconsistencies may have developed between the intent of the framework and the progression of fisheries activities. Task: Analyze the efficacy of the current regulatory framework for CCAMLR fisheries and research fishing and, if appropriate, design alternative frameworks based on CCAMLR objectives, conservation principles included in the Convention, and existing and forecasted fisheries activities, consistent with modern standards for fisheries management.

Climate Change : Climate change impacts in the Southern Ocean present both challenges and opportunities in the conservation of marine living resources. While CCAMLR currently considers climate change in its scientific and management practices, there is no formal framework or requirement to take climate change into account in informing or making decisions. Task: Analyze CCAMLR objectives and current scientific and management practices in the context of climate change, and design a framework and approach to mainstreaming consideration of climate change implications into CCAMLR scientific and management practices.

Project participants would engage with a small team of experts from the U.S. Department of State, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF); and may also wish to consult environmental non-government organizations, academia, and others involved in Antarctic marine science and policy issues.

Format of Final Product:For each key question, we would suggest the following products:

3-5 page issue analysis 5-10 page description of proposed solutions 1 page briefing memo Powerpoint presentation

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Environmental science and policy, marine science, ocean governance, foreign affairs

Comments:http://www.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/opa/ccamlr/http://www.ccamlr.orghttps://swfsc.noaa.gov/contentblock.aspx?Division=AERD&id=3268

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/contentblock.aspx?Division=AERD&id=3268

http://www.ccamlr.org/

http://www.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/opa/ccamlr/

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/ge.aspx?ParentMenuID=42&TopPG=15635&BottomPG=15636&Project=AERDhttp://pal.lternet.edu/


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Project 77

Measuring the Health of Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Impact of Capacity Building Activities, Using the GIST Initiative as a Test Case

Bureau of International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Science and Technology, Global Engagement Team (OES/STC)

Overview:Innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging economies globally face unique challenges when starting a venture. The ability to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the entrepreneurial ecosystems that they work in can be a vital tool to direct capacity building efforts. Resource distribution is not uniform and requires the development of techniques to measure, frequently by proxy, the state of information access, education resources, external funding, legal constraints, social factors, etc. that can promote or prevent successful entrepreneurship. These components constitute part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurial ecosystems can be evaluated on a city-wide, state, country, regional, or global basis. For their evaluation an understanding of measureable and comparable metrics is required. In order to best inform and direct entrepreneurial economic capacity activities, robust methods to understand their previous and future actions and impacts are needed. For example, the State Department’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative is trying to address some of these issues in 135 emerging economies. Through several program activities including: in-country training known as GIST Startup Boot Camps and the annual global pitch competition, GIST Tech-I. GIST provides early stage science and technology entrepreneurs opportunities to gain mentorship, skillset building, and networking with investors. However, while there are numbers of individuals trained and revenue created, understanding the programs’ direct impact on the health of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is poorly understood. This project seeks to find ways, qualitatively and quantitatively, to measure the impact of capacity building activities using GIST as a model program. This project represents an opportunity to create

http://pal.lternet.edu/

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/ge.aspx?ParentMenuID=42&TopPG=15635&BottomPG=15636&Project=AERD

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/ge.aspx?ParentMenuID=42&TopPG=15635&BottomPG=15636&Project=AERD

better tools to direct capacity building programs abroad in a more educated and focused fashion. Teams will have an opportunity to construct a framework to quantitatively describe various model global entrepreneurship ecosystems, determine resource scarcity, measure capacity building program effectiveness, and predict where the application of future resources would generate most impact. Teams will answer questions such as:

What metrics are measurable? Which ones are information bearing? What information can you glean from various combinations of metrics to intelligently describe an entrepreneurial ecosystem?

If entrepreneurs are trained in a GIST Boot Camp, what secondary or tertiary effects does this have on the local community or region?

GIST Tech-I finalists gain international exposure when they compete in live-pitches to a panel of experts. Do these finalists and winners attract more investors, mentors and other players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to their host nations after the competition?

Format of Final Product:Teams will write a 3-4 page summary of findings, including case studies, data, and other indicators developed to measure the impact of past programs and the predicted impact of 2016 and future programs, including the new GIST Villages “train-the-trainer”/meet-ups. Teams will also provide short 15-minute oral presentations on their findings with a Q&A session. Additionally any multi-media or interactive content produced would also be welcome.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Experience with social science research, analytics and quantitative analysis are desired but not required.

Comments:Teams are requested for one semester (though two are desired).For more information on the GIST initiative, please visit www.gistnetwork.org.

Maximum Number of Projects: 2-3Project Goal 1: Evaluation of the metrics necessary to determine the health of various global entrepreneurial ecosystems, spatially, temporally, and resource gaps. Project Goal 2: Apply these metrics to evaluate the impact of specific entrepreneurial capacity building activities, e.g. GIST. Project Goal 3: Determine the predictive power of this method to select GIST program activities to maximize impact and benefit.

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Project 78

Assessing Security Assistance and Security Cooperation Programs

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Plans and Initiatives (PM/PI)

Overview:Helping Allies and partners develop and improve their security is an essential tenant of the United States’ foreign policy. The Department of State supports these efforts via various security assistance programs. State also provides foreign policy inputs into the Department of Defense’s security cooperation programs. Outside of the U.S. Government, the United Nations, the European Union, and others have similar security-focused programs. These security sector programs have a variety of objectives, but most are generally focused on improving capabilities and capacity. For example, funding may help police departments build forensic programs or establish emergency communications networks. Border security teams may receive training on how to search vehicles that have hidden contraband. Military-focused programs can help foreign partners learn how to fuse different sources of intelligence in order to create a better understanding of the threat. The challenge is to understand which of these initiatives is most effective and how the plethora of efforts can be smartly integrated.

This project aims to develop a comprehensive assessment on security assistance programs. Specifically, students should analyze: which programs are the most effective, what metrics are best, where are there synergies, and which efforts provide the best return on investment?

Format of Final Product:The final paper should be 10 – 15 pages in length and incorporate qualitative analysis. PM/PI will welcome a final presentation.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Applying Monitoring and Evaluation tools to International Studies

Comments:Useful readings are: President Obama’s announcement of the Strategic Governance Initiative (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/06/fact-sheet-security-governance-initiative) and the Center for a New American Security report (August 2015) on Security Cooperation & Assistance: Rethinking the Return on Investment, by Dr. Dafna Rand and Dr. Stephen Tankel (www.cnas.org). RAND has also done some research in this area.

Maximum Number of Projects: 3The maximum number of student teams for this project is three. Each team can range in size from a few students to an entire class.

http://www.cnas.org/

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Project 79

Women’s Participation in Latin American Militaries

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs –Office of the Director of the Foreign Policy Advisor (PM/POLAD)

Overview:What obstacles keep women from participating to a greater extent in Latin American defense intuitions? What are possible paths to mitigate these obstacles? Predict effects and consequences of greater participation on these institutions and the larger societies? What lessons can be learned from militaries in the region who have achieved higher participation?

Format of Final Product:10 page research paper

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Government, International Relations, Spanish language, Gender Studies, Military Studies, Sociology

Comments:http://www.southcom.mil/Pages/Default.aspxWe are interested in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Mexico should not be the main focus of this research, but Mexican examples can be cited.


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http://www.southcom.mil/Pages/Default.aspx

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Project 80

History of U.S. Military Assistance

Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Security Assistance (PM/SA)

Overview:Draft a history of the evolution of U.S. foreign military assistance policy from 1950-2001, including the legislative and policy history of the Military Assistance Program, the Foreign Assistance Act, and the Arms Export Control Act; the evolving roles of the State Department, Defense Department, and Intelligence Community; and the Executive Branch’s approaches to planning and implementing assistance over the course of that time frame.

Format of Final Product:20 page research paper (or longer, as needed), with collection of sources.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Political Science, Law


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Project 81

Political Impact of Increases and Decreases to Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Allocations on Partner Nations

Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Security Assistance (PM/SA)

Overview:U.S. security assistance practitioners often cite the potential for negative impacts of reductions in certain military assistance programs, like Foreign Military Financing (FMF), on the political relationship between the recipient nation and the United States. In the absence of empirical evidence, policymakers frequently exercise caution when making changes to assistance allocations from year to year, and such caution may either instill a sense of entitlement with military assistance as a result or limit the U.S. government’s ability to properly resource other priorities. This project would provide research and analysis on any observable political impact of such changes between 2000-2015.

Format of Final Product:20 page research paper (or longer, as needed), with collection of sources.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Political Science, Diplomacy


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Project 82

The Impact of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) on Today’s Post-Conflict Societies

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ (PM), Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA)

Overview:Explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to impact societies long after the fighting stops and land contaminated with ERW has been released back to the local communities. Countries in Europe are still affected by unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War I and II, and more modern conflicts like those in Syria and Yemen are leaving a similar legacy. This legacy ultimately creates political, economic, and psychological issues for many years post-conflict. We hope to begin to answer the question of how modern-day post-conflict societies are able to recover after the threat of ERW has either significantly diminished or disappeared.

This project hopes to understand through research and analysis how different regions of the world cope with similar issues of ERW post-conflict. For example, a community in Cambodia will not necessarily feel the same effects as one in Afghanistan. By taking a regional approach to the research and analysis performed for this project, the findings will show how post-conflict societies around the world recover in this environment, including the use of released land, mental rehabilitation, and economic development. Proposed projects will perform research on post-conflict societies in one of the following regions: South Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

PM/WRA has a particular interest in this topic because once a country has declared itself “free from the impact of ERW,” there still needs to be a period of evaluation in determining whether there are additional needs once the ERW removal has been completed. This may address if there are additional areas to provide further assistance during CWD destruction projects that confront issues beyond land contamination, and if there are other areas of assistance post-clearance. This project will help the U.S. Department of State plan the future of its funding to post-conflict societies and determine what the most important issues are that need to be addressed.


- Paper format (max of 20 pages) - 1 page executive summary of findings- Use of both secondary and primary (if available) sources- Bibliography of relevant articles and other research

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Students should be interested in international relations, post-conflict societies, economic and community development, refugee resettlement, and psychology.

Comments:PM/WRA works to reduce the harmful worldwide effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war. PM/WRA develops, implements, and monitors policy and programs regarding the threat that conventional weapons such as landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned ordnance, stockpiled conventional munitions, man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and other small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) pose to civilians, economic stability, and U.S. national security. Website: http://www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/Suggested reading for this topic: Aftermath: The Remnants of War by Donovan Webster

Maximum Number of Projects: 6This proposal hopes to receive up to 6 different projects - one for each region of the world in which PM/WRA manages Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) assistance programs.

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http://www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/

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Project 83

Big Data or Big Deal? Using Data and Research in The Public Domain to Produce Actionable Guidance for Public Diplomacy

Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources, R Bureau (R/PPR)

Overview:For years, various academics, practitioners, and other worthies in the field of public diplomacy (PD) have run together two phrases: the admonition “use big data and market research!” and the qualification “but start with all the stuff already ‘out there,’ rather than doing original research, yourself!”

These instructions have set some of the best minds at State off on a data treasure hunt – or is it a wild goose chase? Succeeding where those individuals have struggled is the first part of your project: find data and/or research in the public domain that could be used to produce actionable guidance for PD.

Then, actually produce that guidance – that is the second part of your project.

Format of Final Product:One of two things:

- Actionable guidance – the type of concrete, strategic, proscriptive analysis that communications professionals and messaging campaigns in the private sector find invaluable; analysis that says, plainly and practically, “Do X, Y, and Z to accomplish strategic goals A, B, and C.” This guidance can be for PD operations as a whole or for something narrower, like PD in one small country.

- An explanation as to why actionable guidance of this type cannot be produced – maybe the “stuff already ‘out there’” isn’t out there after all, or is stuff that produces guidance which PD practitioners lack the capacity to act upon, or…. Include specific recommendations for remedying this deficiency.

Put your guidance/explanation in any format you like – a memo, a PowerPoint, a presentation, whatever.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Communications; consulting; marketing.

Comments:Take off your corduroy jacket with the elbow patches, and put on your slick business suit – your goal is not to espouse theory or do a lit review, but to provide the type of analysis that consultancies give their clients. Put the data and research TO USE: tell us here at State how to improve what we do – whether our business processes, our field communications, or whatever – so that we can get a greater “ROI.” Think McKinsey, not the Ivory Tower; MBA, not MFA; targeting, message options, media buys, etc., not journal citations and IR “isms.” You are the consultant, we are the client – now go earn your fee by telling us what to do!

Maximum Number of Projects: Unlimited

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Project 84

Assessment of International Efforts to Build the Cybersecurity Workforce Through Education, Training, Recruitment and Retention

Secretary’s Bureau (S), Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI)

Overview:The U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI) seeks proposals that address the growing international challenge of recruiting and retaining cybersecurity and IT professionals. Importantly, this challenge is one faced by governments around the world, and is slowly becoming a crisis of staffing as the need for experts in cybersecurity grows with the ever-expanding cybersecurity needs.

Education & Training. S/CCI is seeking policy proposals to identify and assess successful education and training programs implemented in selected countries (1) that target high school, technical institute, and community college students, to reach the future workforce at a younger age and spark interest and build basic skills; and (2) support development and/or expansion of curricula at the university level that focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and policy, to engage students from other academic disciplines in cybersecurity.

Recruitment & Retention. S/CCI is seeking policy proposals that reach across disciplines, including information technology (IT), STEM, international relations, management and leadership, business and human relations to identify best practices internationally for recruitment and retention of cybersecurity and IT professionals.

Format of Final Product:Narrative, program models, case studies, and proposed costs

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:The interdisciplinary nature of the problem requires and cross-disciplinary team - technical, policy, human resources, and management skills. Given the international focus of the problem other language skills and cross cultural experience is beneficial.


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Project 85

Evaluation of Cybersecurity Public Awareness Campaigns

Secretary’s Bureau (S), Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI)

Overview:Cybersecurity Awareness raising is a key part of both the U.S. domestic and international strategies for cyberspace. Around the world, we are promoting the use of public advocacy efforts to reach youth, employees, and the citizen user. STOP.THINK.CONNECT, OnGuardOnline, NetSmartz, FBI, Nova Labs, European Union Agency for Network and Information Security, Organization of American States, Government of Japan are examples of organizations that have versions of public awareness campaigns. In the United States, state and local governments and the private sector all have campaigns promoting the concept of safe and secure behavior online and when using tools connected to the Internet.

The U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues (S/CCI) seeks proposals to identify effective cybersecurity public awareness campaigns implemented internationally and to develop outcome measurements for cybersecurity awareness programs. Cybersecurity awareness raising programs increasingly are a key part of building cultures of cybersecurity due diligence in places of employment, places of study, and in the daily lives of citizens and online users. Cybersecurity analysts assess that nearly 80% of cybersecurity breaches are due to the poor security practices of the end user. Hence the use of awareness raising campaigns is vital. With more and more of our lives connected to the Internet, cybersecurity is increasingly in the hands of users, not network administrators.

While, at times public awareness campaigns are splashy and attention-grabbing, the questions that are raised include: how effective are cybersecurity public awareness campaigns, how can we measure their effectiveness, what works and why, what are other mechanisms or approaches that could be used to increase public awareness, and what are the cultural and educational barriers that need to be addressed?

http://www.nisc.go.jp/eng/

http://www.oas.org/en/topics/cyber_security.asp

http://www.oas.org/en/topics/cyber_security.asp

http://www.enisa.europa.eu/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber/

http://www.fbi.gov/

http://www.netsmartz.org/

http://www.onguardonline.gov/

http://www.stopthinkconnect.org/

S/CCI is seeking proposals to identify and develop outcome measurement tools to determine what programs work, and why they work, as well as recommendations on program replication around the world.

Format of Final Product:Narrative, outcome matrix, suggested data collection points, case study/modeling using the proposed indicators and measurement tools

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Given the international focus of the program, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese or other language skills is beneficial. Public relations, communications and marketing, cybersecurity, information technology are useful disciplines – we suggest the team be interdisciplinary as the subject matter is.


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Project 86

Has U.S. Government assistance reduced conflict, increased inclusive economic growth, and promoted democratization in Latin America since the end of the Cold War?

Secretary’s Bureau, Executive Secretariat, Office of Advanced Data Analytics ( S/ES-ODA)

Overview:The United States utilizes assistance to reduce conflict, promote democratization, and stimulate economic growth throughout the world. Does U.S. assistance drive or actually inhibit advancements in conflict stabilization, democratization, and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean? The Office of Data Analytics requests a multi-discipline research team to examine U.S. assistance data to measure its impact on these issues since 1990.

Format of Final Product:20-25 page research paper from each university, including data visualization with citations. Recommended software and data visualization tools include MS Excel, Tableau, R, SPSS, STATA, and/or Python. The Office of Advanced Data Analytics will discuss the formatting of the project with the selected universities.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:As the State Department is at the nascent stage of incorporating data analytics into its foreign policy formulations, each university will combine disciplines and structure a team of Data Science, Economics, Political, and Social Science students to conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis, visualizing its data in an accessible fashion.

Comments:Recommended Datasets/Links: Transparency International: http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overviewFreedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/Foreign Assistance: http://beta.foreignassistance.gov/Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project: http://www.acleddata.com/IMF: http://www.imf.org/en/Data

http://www.imf.org/en/Data

http://www.acleddata.com/

http://beta.foreignassistance.gov/

https://freedomhouse.org/

http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview

Index Mundi: http://www.indexmundi.com/Security Assistance Monitor: http://www.securityassistance.org/latin-america-and-caribbean/latin-america-and-caribbeanWorld Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/World Trade Organization: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2015_e/its15_toc_e.htmUSAID: https://www.usaid.gov/results-and-dataUN Statistics: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm

Maximum Number of Projects: 3This cross-pollinating project requires three separate universities to assemble a research team across the relevant Data Science, Economics, and Political Science disciplines to research whether U.S. foreign assistance (including Foreign Direct Investment, security, and humanitarian assistance) has been a driver or inhibitor of improvement in one of the assigned subject matter areas (conflict, economic growth, and governance).

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http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm

https://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data

https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2015_e/its15_toc_e.htm

http://data.worldbank.org/

http://www.securityassistance.org/latin-america-and-caribbean/latin-america-and-caribbean

http://www.securityassistance.org/latin-america-and-caribbean/latin-america-and-caribbean

http://www.indexmundi.com/

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Project 87

Urbanization! What about Food Security?Secretary’s Bureau (S), Office of the Special Representative to the Secretary in the Office of Global

Food Security (S/GFS)

Overview:Two thirds of the world's projected population of 9.7 billion will be urban by 2050.Over 90% of this change will occur in the developing world, which is already struggling to meet the basic human needs of its current urban and rural populations. How will we assure food security for this changing urban-rural demographic while climate change, water shortages, protracted conflicts, migration, and the continued disenfranchisement of women and marginalized social groups all inhibit the productivity of smallholder farmers who dominate food production in developing countries? Can urbanization be an opportunity to foster food security across the continuum of settlements connecting cities to the rural hinterland? What policies will enable a sustainable food value chain* along this continuum? How will this value chain provide food and nutrition, and employ residents along the continuum? This project will explore these two questions in three comparative contexts; Cuba, representing Latin America and the Caribbean, a country representing Southeast Asia (SEA), and a country representing Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The university team will consult with the State Department sponsor on the choice of a representative country for SEA and SSA, respectively. Through these three cases the project will characterize the food value chain, and detail key policies that assure food security and provide livelihoods along the continuum in developing countries.

Format of Final Product:The deliverable will be a white paper that is a critical review of key policies and programs to foster food security in developing countries. The paper should be in final form ready for submission to a relevant peer-reviewed journal or conference identified by the project team.


This project is ideally suited to a multidisciplinary team that includes, but is not limited to, politics, economics, environmental and agricultural sciences, engineering, sociology, urban planning, and global development studies.

Comments:The Secretary’s Office of Global Food Security (S/GFS) supports the work of the United States Special Representative (S/R) for Global Food Security, Dr. Nancy Stetson. The S/R for Global Food Security is the Department of State’s lead official for using diplomacy to promote food security, nutrition and agricultural development. S/GFS drives policy for the Department on issues of food security, nutrition, and agricultural development, working closely with State Department offices and other agencies of the US Government. S/GFS fosters positive bilateral relations with strategic countries and ensures outcomes for multilateral fora (including the United Nations, G7, G20, and others) that promote the food security, nutrition and agricultural development objectives of the administration. This project will help to inform the work of S/GFS. It may be broken into two smaller single semester projects or done as a single academic year project. Teams may work on one or more of the three case studies after consulting with the point of contact at S/GFS.* http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3953e.pdf


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Project 88

Developing New Case Studies for Public-Private Partnerships

Secretary’s Bureau (S), Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships (S/GP)

Overview:In 2009, Secretary Hillary Clinton launched the Office of Global Partnerships to create new partnerships with others to achieve our diplomacy and development objectives. As the Secretary noted, the United States would “lead by inducing greater cooperation among a greater number of actors and reducing competition, tilting the balance away from a multi-polar world and toward a multi-partner world.”

This Secretary’s Office spearheads partnership development for the Secretary’s priorities and provides tools for other offices and embassies to leverage creativity, innovation and core business resources of partners to achieve greater impact. S/GP has toolkit and training program to equip our diplomats with the knowledge and skills that they need to create public-private partnerships. Case studies of existing Department initiated partnerships form the backbone of the toolkit and training. This project is intended to provide the Department with updated case studies that will provide fresh perspectives on partnership development and management.

The student teams will need to interview Department staff and partners to create case studies of existing Department partnerships. Potential partnerships for case study development include: The Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST), The Global (LGBT) Equality Fund, Launch, 100,000 Strong, Fishackathon, and many others. Each team would need to do 3 case studies.

Format of Final Product:A 2-3 page descriptive of the partnership, including how it was formed, why the partners wanted to work together, inputs from the partners, outcomes that were derived, an analysis of the partnership governance, key take-aways for training purposes. Example is found here:

http://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/releases/or/2009/125047.htm

http://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/releases/or/2009/125047.htm

http://www.fishackathon.co/

http://www.state.gov/100k/index.htm

http://www.launch.org/

http://www.state.gov/globalequality/about/index.htm

http://www.gistnetwork.org/

Discipline/Expertise: Students who study foreign affairs, diplomacy, corporate social responsibility and public-private partnerships will find this to be an excellent opportunity to gain more knowledge about the work of the Department and how we can do more with partners.

Comments:

For more information, please find the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships online at:www.state.gov/partnerships

Background document: White House Best Practices Guide to Public-Private Partnerships

Follow us on twitter at: @gpatstate


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http://www.state.gov/partnerships

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Project 89

Systems Thinking for Diplomacy: Conceptual Mapping of U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities

Secretary’s Bureau, Office of the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State (S/SRA)

Overview:This project is designed to demonstrate the potential for using systems thinking as a tool to systematically expand both conceptual and analytical coherence within the Department of State, from the individual to the organizational level.

We seek to expand strategic coherence: can systems thinking explicitly connect the daily work of political and economic analysis conducted by individual diplomats working on specific portfolios (for specific topics, regions and countries) to the most broad strategic goals and objectives, as articulated in official documents, including the National Security Strategy, and the 2015 QDDR?

We seek to expand structural coherence: how can systems thinking be applied as a conceptual framework to help individuals understand the relationship between their areas of responsibility with parallel lines of foreign policy engagement, both within the State Department, and with other USG actors operating abroad?

We seek to preserve coherence regarding differences in analysis and perspective: how can systems thinking capture differing perspectives and systematically structure analysis of topical issues or regional equities?

We seek to preserve knowledge continuity and coherence in the context of change: how can systems thinking create continuity in thinking: 1) in conditions of internal change (at the level of individual professional staff, or entire leadership teams) 2) in response to contextual (external) changes, and 3) related changes in leadership priorities?

Format of Final Product:Using an agreed-upon software format (e.g. metamap.me) and a visual grammar provided by systems thinking/DSRP, the final product(s) will include transferable systems mappings of the QDDR’s four

strategic priorities (globally) linked to any specific topical, or country level mappings. Source materials include official, publicly released documents relevant to each QDDR priority, including investment climate reports, country commercial guides, country reports on terrorism, human rights reports, budget requests, etc (available from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/221.htm), public speeches by State Department Officials (available at mission websites as well as http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/speeches/ ) and FOIA-released information, available through the virtual reading room. https://foia.state.gov/search/results.aspx In addition, at the discretion of the research team, additional topical reports and analysis from other USG agencies (e.g. USAID, Department of Defense, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, USTR); other international organizations (IMF, World Bank, OECD); and civil society organizations can be included to provide additional context and perspectives on issues falling within the QDDR strategic priority taxonomy.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Interdisciplinary approaches and expertise will be required from the following research skills and disciplinary fields:CORE: Systems thinking, public policy analysis (foreign policy, security affairs, economics, development economics), and organizational theory.ADDITIVE: computational linguistics, natural language processing, public sector management, international relations, political science, economics, political economy, development studies, security studies, environmental policy, and regional studies.

Comments:This project will include respondents within the Department of State. Below the level of the QDDR, specific topical and regional prioritization will need to be determined on a mutual basis. This is a long term, cumulative project with potential for ongoing engagement over the course of multiple semesters.

Maximum Number of Projects: 5Up to five universities (assuming that at any scale beyond one, one of the universities would assist with ensuring methodological coordination and consistency with the other university participants.)

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https://foia.state.gov/search/results.aspx

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/speeches/

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/dos/221.htm

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Project 90

How to Effectively Combat Anti-Semitism in 21 st Century Europe

Secretary’s Bureau, Office of Religion and Global Affairs (S/RGA)

Overview:Jewish communities in Europe have faced a significant upsurge of anti-Semitism and, in western Europe, violence over the past few years. The killing of Jews in Paris in January 2015, the death of a volunteer Jewish security guard in Copenhagen in February, a proposed statue to a notorious World War II-era anti-Semite in Hungary, a French-Algerian dual national killing four individuals at the Brussels Jewish Museum in May 2014 and pro-Palestinian protestors in Brussels shouting “Death to Jews” in response to the conflict in Gaza, are all stark reminders that the fight against anti-Semitism is far from over. Other anti-Semitic incidents in Europe included physical assaults, firebombing of Jewish business and synagogues, verbal harassment, vandalism, and internet and media hate speech. Do best practices exist to accurately address and effectively combat this rising hatred?

A top priority of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is how to best combat anti-Semitism by engaging civil society, discovering and promoting best practices, and investing in long-term educational strategies. To do this, the Office of Religion and Global Affairs proposes a project which would research and offer recommendations on the following:

1. How civil society in Europe is currently combating anti-Semitism, how to encourage civil society to speak out, and how various governments engage with their civil society leaders with regards to anti-Semitism

2. The effects of the criminalization of hate speech (and how hate speech laws help or hurt civil society from speaking out against anti-Semitism)

3. Best educational practices on combatting anti-Semitism. Priority countries are (but not limited to) France, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Format of Final Product:A report which lists current European programs and projects (by priority country) on combating anti-Semitism and analyzes to what extent these methods are or are not effective. The report will take into account different types of anti-Semitism in each country/region and how regional histories and politics affect best practices in combating hatred. Lastly, the report will also offer formal recommendations on

1. Which educational strategies work best to combat anti-Semitic attitudes (i.e. Holocaust education)

2. Best methods for promoting a culture which fosters and encourages civil society pushback against anti-Semitic speech and hate crimes

A database which catalogues the best practices examined in the report (one team may wish to focus on creating a database from the research of the others)

The findings and recommendations of this report will be of utmost importance for the Special Envoy. The research-backed data will provide necessary talking points for meetings with foreign governments, civil society, and religious leaders as European societies grapple with increased anti-Semitism, xenophobia, the refugee crisis, and violent extremism. By highlighting projects that effectively combat anti-Semitism, this report will hopefully contribute to taking pressure off beleaguered European Jewish communities.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Desired but not required: Knowledge of current trends in anti-Semitism in Europe, Holocaust education, EU governance vs. individual member states on combatting anti-Semitism; background in Jewish and/or European history; foreign language abilities (French, German, Hungarian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Polish); ability to develop a database

Comments:-Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism at U.S. Department of State:http://www.state.gov/s/rga/seas/index.htm-Fact sheet on anti-Semitism:http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/156684.pdf-Europe’s Jewish population:http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/09/europes-jewish-population/

For more information on anti-Semitism in Europe, please consult the following: ADL Global 100: http://global100.adl.org/ AJC 2014 Poll in France: http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?

c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8451793&ct=14345111 FRA Survey: http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/discrimination-and-hate-crime-against-

jews-eu-member-states-experiences-and Pew Research Center: http://www.pewglobal.org/subjects/antisemitism/

Maximum Number of Projects: 2-3The office will accept 2-3 teams. Each team will be asked to focus on one or two specific countries in Europe.

http://www.pewglobal.org/subjects/antisemitism/

http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/discrimination-and-hate-crime-against-jews-eu-member-states-experiences-and

http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/discrimination-and-hate-crime-against-jews-eu-member-states-experiences-and

http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8451793&ct=14345111

http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8451793&ct=14345111

http://global100.adl.org/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/09/europes-jewish-population/


http://www.state.gov/s/rga/seas/index.htm

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Project 91

Branding and Marketing Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Office of Regional Economic Policy and Summit Coordination (WHA/EPSC)

Overview:President Obama launched the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas Initiative (WEAmericas) in 2012 with the goal of increasing access to markets, finance, training, and leadership opportunities for women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. WEAmericas has worked to achieve this goal by building public-private partnerships that lead to new opportunities and resources for women entrepreneurs that can help them grow their businesses.

Research and experience has shown that the lack of effective branding and marketing strategies often poses a significant barrier to women entrepreneurs’ long-term success and ability to enter new markets. In exploring ways to overcome this challenge, one WEAmericas entrepreneur formed a successful partnership with marketing students at American University to help revise her branding and develop a marketing strategy to target the U.S. market. The partnership provided students with a pragmatic opportunity to develop and apply their knowledge and skills, while simultaneously benefitting a rising, high-impact woman entrepreneur.

Under the proposed project, staff supporting the WEAmericas Initiative will connect partnering business and marketing students from U.S. universities with up to four women entrepreneurs from Pacific Alliance countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru). Students will draw on their knowledge and coursework to provide recommendations and deliverables (marketing strategy, branding tools/logo, website design support, etc.) to the women entrepreneurs as they scale their businesses to the U.S. market. We believe this project can be carried out as a class-wide assignment, as a group project exercise, or as an independent study assignment.

As an observer of the Pacific Alliance, the United States has committed to helping support entrepreneurship efforts in Pacific Alliance countries. This Diplomacy Lab proposal, if accepted, would further our commitments as an observer to the Alliance.


A marketing strategy and accompanying branding tools (logo, website, etc.) tailored for four high-growth women entrepreneurs from Pacific Alliance countries.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Business students specializing in marketing and communications requested. Spanish-speakers welcome.

Comments:WEAmericas Fact Sheet: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/240759.pdfWEAmericas IVLP Video: http://eca.state.gov/video/womens-entrepreneurship-americas-weamericasWEAmericas Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WEAmericasInitiative/ WEAmericas Twitter: @WE_Americas

Maximum Number of Projects: 1-41 to 4 (each university could support one entrepreneur, or one university could support all 4 through up to four business/marketing classes)

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https://twitter.com/WE_Americas

https://www.facebook.com/WEAmericasInitiative/

http://eca.state.gov/video/womens-entrepreneurship-americas-weamericas

http://eca.state.gov/video/womens-entrepreneurship-americas-weamericas


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Project 92

Assessing the structure and impact of the Association of Bi-National Centers of Latin America – a 160 member English and cultural program network in

the Western Hemisphere.

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (WHA/PDA)

Overview:For over six decades, Binational Centers (BNCs) have been key program partners for U.S. Embassies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. BNCs are private, non-profit, autonomous organizations. They were in most cases established by local leaders and resident Americans to promote mutual understanding between the two countries. Historically, the State Department provided direct support to BNCs, however, much of that funding is limited today. Many BNCs have flourished thanks to revenue from English teaching, but some have struggled and a number closed their doors entirely. The quality of service now varies from center to center.

As independent institutions, the BNCs established the Association of Binational Center of Latin America (ABLA). The ABLA network serves as an umbrella organization for the exchange of information, educational best-practices, curriculum development, planning and management. A group of 12 BNC directors form ABLA Steering Committee, which oversees the Association’s annual conferences.

The project will examine and assess the current ABLA structure to determine its organizational effectiveness, distill best practices to enhance its training capacity, student and community reach and sustainability. The research team should examine the role the Steering Committee plays in ABLA’s management, the type of audience and marketing techniques.

Format of Final Product:A five-page memo evaluating ABLA’s capacity to serve as a best practice network of the BNC system in Latin America, and possible measures to strengthen its impact. Describe the current organizational strengths, evaluate if the current structure allow for innovation and provide the flexibility to meet the market demand. The conclusion should recommend ways to enhance the network, in addition to identifying strengths and weaknesses.


Social sciences – data analysis, marketing, consultancy. Familiarity with the region, analytical skills; Spanish and Portuguese preferred but not required.

Comments:http://www.ablaonline.org/bnc


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Project 93

Public Diplomacy Digital Media Strategies 2.0 – Are we reaching the right audience?

http://www.ablaonline.org/bnc

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (WHA/PDA)

Overview:The Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau (WHA) and our Embassies and Consulates in our region have all taken steps to engage directly with foreign publics in their host countries via social media channels over the past few years. U.S. Missions in Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Venezuela have taken full-advantage of their especially rich digital eco-systems to reach mass audiences on our policy priorities. Finding ways to reach new audiences is a constant challenge, but one that our public affairs officers overseas recognize is key to their success in making use of social media tools to forge relationships directly with people at every level of society. Though we have some clear metrics showing increased and diversified reach, we would like to review several of our premier social media accounts for how we can expand the populace to whom we message. This starts by better understanding our current audience, with recommendations for attracting key new segments of the population using these communication tools. We seek academic research to help us develop a strategy for how, with an investment of limited additional staff time and financial resources, to make the biggest impact on the advancement of our policy by thoughtfully growing our Facebook and Twitter audiences among key demographics in important social media markets.

The project would ideally start with a brief review of the existing follower/fan base for our Facebook and Twitter accounts for 10-12 of the U.S. Missions in the Western Hemisphere region (Canada to Argentina). Who are the U.S. Embassy or Consulate’s current followers/fans – age, gender, etc. - and how does this compare against the volume and demographics of those using these channels in the country overall? WHA would share with researchers access to aggregate demographic data and social media performance data available for these official accounts. WHA would also provide information on the 10-12 posts’ Mission policy priorities for 2016, and ask for recommendations for how we might focus on expanding our audience among the demographics most important to reach in order to “move the needle” on the United States’ highest priority policy goals in that country. The recommendations should include ideas for how to attract desired new audiences through new content and outreach strategies. Based on the results, our public affairs teams in each of the 10-12 selected U.S. Embassies and Consulates will have a better grasp of which specific demographics they should try to reach in the coming year, and ideas for how to reach them. This research would serve as the basis for improving their social media strategies with a focus on the audience.

Format of Final Product:2-4 page memo outlining the key findings and recommendations for targeted audience growth for each country. Presentation via Skype or Google Hangout to brief recommendations to staff in our office in Washington, as well as social media community managers at each post.


Marketing expertise needed, and data analysis/quantitative analysis skills required, understanding of social media trends/best practices can be drawn from personal or professional use, and some proficiency in Spanish and Portuguese helpful.

Comments:Twitter: @WHAAsstSectyA few relevant articles on audience segmentation: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/3-strategies-to-segment-audiences-and-personalize-digital-marketing/617284http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/audience-segmentation-helps-digital-strategy/


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Project 94

The OAS Inter-American Democratic Charter: Wanted Dead or Alive?

http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/audience-segmentation-helps-digital-strategy/

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/3-strategies-to-segment-audiences-and-personalize-digital-marketing/617284

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/3-strategies-to-segment-audiences-and-personalize-digital-marketing/617284

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (WHA/USOAS)

Overview:The Inter-American Democratic Charter (IADC), adopted in 2001 by unanimous consent of all OAS member states, is perhaps the most explicit expression of political commitment to democracy ever set forth by an international organization. Yet it has been formally invoked only three times. One limiting factor affecting its application is that the country in question must agree.

Recent elections in the Americas suggest the “pink tide” may be ebbing. Cuba and the United States have re-established diplomatic ties as a step toward normalization of relations. Distinct left-right divisions of the past decade are more nuanced. Does this evolving environment make the IADC more or less relevant as a tool to address the challenges faced by member states?

Project participants in Team 1 will consider the provisions of the IADC, its strengths and weaknesses, and the circumstances surrounding its invocation in 2002, 2004 and 2009. This analysis should take into account the evolving political context of the Americas since the Charter’s adoption and examine why it has not been formally invoked more often and how it could be used to greater effect, if at all.

Project participants in Team 2 will examine Cuba’s outsized political influence in the Americas, the 2009 OAS General Assembly resolution on Cuba, and the implications and likelihood of Havana resuming its participation in the OAS, given the OAS’ longstanding (rhetorical, at least) support for democracy and human rights, as exemplified by the IADC.

Finally, Teams 1 and 2 will jointly consider what it means for the future of the IADC, the OAS, and the United States, should Cuba choose to resume participation in the Organization.

Format of Final Product:WHA/USOAS would appreciate receiving an options paper that examines current political trends in the Americas and includes recommendations to consolidate democratic gains and advance fundamental freedoms. Participants should consider if the IADC remains relevant to these foreign policy goals and, if not, should the IADC be reformed, left alone, or replaced with something else. Cuba will be an important factor, but not the sole element in determining outcomes.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Political Science, Foreign Affairs, Latin American History, Spanish.

Comments:http://www.usoas.usmission.gov/

http://www.usoas.usmission.gov/

http://www.oas.org/https://twitter.com/Almagro_OEA2015


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Project 95

The Risk Assessment Index for Security and Human Rights

https://twitter.com/Almagro_OEA2015

http://www.oas.org/

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Office of Security and Human Rights (DRL/SHR)

Overview:Military units, justice institutions, and law enforcement bodies that make up the security sector exist to maintain the rule of law, protect the autonomy of States, and prevent individuals or groups from compromising the rights of others. The collective body of evidence available to policy makers suggests that certain institutions of accountability and oversight, both within government and within civil society, are critical to preventing security force misconduct, but to date, there is no diagnostic tool available for making a preliminary determination of the risk of gross violations of human rights based on the presence or absence of any of these indicators. This project aims to collect and review the known indicators of risk in one place where policy makers can assign a relative risk profile to a partner nation’s security forces based on an index that includes quantitatively sound data and equally sound qualitative analysis at its foundation. This index rating can help policymakers understand how to shape security force assistance and direct attention to areas of deficiency in preliminary planning processes, and so that later field assessments can benefit from early warning and areas of necessary attention.

The team will research the available body of literature related to security sector reform to inventory the institutional, technical, and societal variables that have been assessed by credible experts and institutions (to include commissions of inquiry and other investigative bodies) as important for the prevention of and accountability for gross human rights violations. Examples may include specific technical interventions, the role of internal investigative units or the importance of policies and regulations governing security force conduct. These criteria may be grouped into sets or scorecards for various themes (such as “internal accountability mechanisms”, “regulations”, or “public oversight mechanisms”). Teams may wish to consider information available from the World Bank, the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, Special Rapporteurs for Torture and Combating Impunity, and the UN and related agencies, and other credible research organizations that specialize in security sector issues. Based on initial findings, students will then assign a relative weighting to the variables to develop a scoring methodology that is easily disaggregated or analyzed for its constituent parts; i.e., a total index score should also provide clues for where the partner country has strengths and weaknesses. The total relative score should provide a basic risk profile of any country and/or its security forces. The team will then demonstrate the applicability of the index by using it to remotely assess the risk quotient of a selection of security forces in countries that represent different regions of the world.

This project will be used by the human rights officers in DRL and elsewhere in the U.S. government in an effort to inform policies related to security force assistance, security sector reform, and other areas of priority for improving and professionalizing security forces and related institutions. Teams may be divided into qualitative/research focus and a statistical/ quantitative tool focus.


The final product should be a document, to be submitted in stages throughout the semester, including:a. A literature review with preliminary findingsb. A qualitative description of a set of criteria to be used in an assessment indexc. a matrix of indicators, or an indicator assessment tool or “index”, determined by the team to be

related to the presence and persistence of civilian abuse by the security sector, with explanation d. a section which uses the matrix to analyze case study countries in order to demonstrate

relevance and applicabilityThe complete document does not need to be of any particular page length, but should be sufficient to include the above portions.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:This project is best suited for students participating in Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Statistics and Modeling, Conflict Management, and/or Public Policy programs who are interested in security, human rights, and quantitative and qualitative assessment methodology.

Maximum Number of Projects: 4-6Maximum of 4 – 6 teams that could share / divide work by research and literature review; primary analysis and variable weighting; quantitative index development; model testing; etc.

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Project 96

Organizational Network Analysis of OSAC Country Councils

Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Overseas Security Advisory Council (DS/TIA/OSAC)

Overview:The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is the State Department’s premier public-private partnership, promoting security cooperation between American private-sector organizations operating overseas and the U.S. Department of State. Through the Country Council program, OSAC provides the private sector with a forum to share security information with U.S. diplomats overseas and OSAC’s Research and Information Sharing Center (RISC). RISC staff work directly with U.S. Embassy Regional Security Officers (RSOs) and Country Council leadership to administer more than 140 Country Councils globally, with over 4,000 registered U.S. private-sector organizations.

The objective of the organizational network analysis is to examine the way information is shared in OSAC Country Councils, consider strategies to optimize information flows, and consider other possibilities for sharing security information outside of our existing networks.

Format of Final Product:Paper format (maximum 30 pages) with 1-2 page executive summary.


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Project 97

Emerging Security Technology applications for Country Council

Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Overseas Security Advisory Council (DS/TIA/OSAC)

Overview:The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is the State Department’s premier public-private partnership, promoting security cooperation between American private-sector organizations operating overseas and the U.S. Department of State. Through the Country Council program, OSAC provides the private sector with a forum to share security information and network with industry counterparts and U.S. diplomats overseas. OSAC’s Research and Information Sharing Center (RISC) staff work directly with U.S. Embassy Regional Security Officers (RSOs) and Country Council leadership to administer more than 140 Country Councils globally, with over 4,000 registered U.S. private-sector organizations.

By harnessing technology, OSAC continues to introduce digital communication tools that enhance and expand the way that security information is collected and shared within OSAC Country Councils. All of these tools are “out of the box” technology solutions aimed at optimizing communications between RISC staff, RSOs, and U.S. organizations operating overseas.

The objective of this research project is to examine the OSAC Country Council model and recommend five emerging technologies that can enhance information sharing and digital engagement for the program. Also propose strategies for introducing new technologies to OSAC constituents and RSOs.

Format of Final Product:Paper format (maximum 30 pages) with 1-2 page executive summary.


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Project 98

Hybrid Legal Systems: The Convergence of Common Law and Civil Law Legal Traditions and Implications for Global Justice Reform

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL/CAP), Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership

Overview:Today most justice systems are best classified as hybrid legal systems. Although many were traditionally strictly civil law or common law systems, as a consequence of development these systems are converging in many areas around the globe. In the United States Louisiana provides a unique example of how a mixture of legal traditions can operate side by side with a state system rooted in the civil law tradition and a federal system based in common law. Louisiana’s success in walking the common law civil law divide can serve as a great example to countries dealing with similar issues.

We request that a research team study hybrid legal systems where common law and civil law traditions successfully work in tandem. We request that the research begins by focusing on Louisiana and then chooses two examples of non-U.S. justice systems that have successfully integrated both civil law and common law components. We would like the team to examine these systems with a focus on how they can provide a model to other nations undergoing justice sector reform.

Specifically the research team should provide a brief overview of the examined common law-civil law hybrid systems and what characteristics permitted the two legal traditions to successful mix together. The research should focus on what implications these models have for other justice systems around the world with both common law and civil law influences that are going through reform.

Format of Final Product:20 page paper- Must include 1-2 page executive summary

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Common-Civil Law hybrid systems, international justice reform, international law, Louisiana state law

Comments:See references below for initial guidance:http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6210&context=lalrevhttp://weblaw.usc.edu/assets/docs/contribute/83_3KimforWebsite.pdf


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http://weblaw.usc.edu/assets/docs/contribute/83_3KimforWebsite.pdf

http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6210&context=lalrev

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Project 99

Police Force Development: Academic Foundation for Good Practices


Overview:INL is one of the few entities in the United States federal government and one of a select group worldwide that provide support, program development and funding for international police reform. As part of this task INL funds and supports International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs) in Bangkok, Budapest, Gaborone, Roswell-New Mexico, and San Salvador that:

Support regional and local criminal justice institution building and law enforcement. Provide high-quality training and technical assistance in formulating strategies and tactics for

foreign law enforcement personnel. Assist foreign criminal justice officials in the professionalization of their criminal justice

systems in line with international standards and ethics.

Various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies provide training courses at ILEAs for regional groups of participants on advanced police skills, prosecutorial and judicial training, and advanced leadership training towards the goal of affecting organizational change within developing criminal justice systems. The ILEA program focuses on training team leaders, mid-level managers and supervisory officers, rather than on large-scale force generation.

This research project would examine and analyze the academic and criminological literature to identify Good Practices across multiple training providers, venues and curricula to provide an academic overview of Good Practices in providing training for organizational reform and development within the criminal justice sector. A critical aspect of the analysis will focus on the prioritization of training areas where institutional change can be affected through the targeted training of the smallest number of officers in a given country.

The team could examine the topic from multiple viewpoints and we are open to innovative ways to interpret the question but the key objective to identify Good Practices and lessons learned in police force development training should be addressed.

Format of Final Product:20-30 page research paper- Must include 1-2 page executive summary

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:International law enforcement reform, police training in underdeveloped countries, law enforcement training


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Project 100

Corrections Systems and Local Community Public Health Implications


Overview:INL provides corrections support in over 30 different countries around the world. Assistance ranges from full scale development and funding of detention facilities such as jails and prisons through provision of technical assistance to corrections administrations. The tenets of INL’s corrections assistance focuses on supporting the development of safe, secure, humane and transparent corrections systems. In most countries where INL operates, prisons and detention facilities are often co-located within communities and anecdotally a facility that is not safe, secure, human and transparent can have negative effects in the local community. However there is almost no research focusing on the public health effect or relationship between systems with endemic disease outbreaks and local communities.

The central question of this research study is: What are the local community implications of prison/detention facility disease outbreaks? The core focus of the study will be to examine disease outbreak reports and attempt to identify whether outbreaks occurred in prisons, spread to local communities, or if there are other vectors for disease movements on the detention facility/prison local community transmission vector. The anecdotal hypothesis is that facilities in poorly managed corrections systems have poor sanitation, inmates have poorer health outcomes and this will have negative consequences in the local community.

The study would first develop a map of disease outbreaks in detention facilities/prisons in a set of INL priority countries, identified with assistance from the INL research coordinators, and identify effects in the local communities. Concurrently the research team would look at disease outbreaks in the same set of INL priority countries and determine whether the corrections facilities were the origination point of the outbreak which spread to local communities or if corrections facilities experiences outbreaks after the local communities.

The team could examine the topic from multiple viewpoints and we are open to innovative ways to interpret the question but the key objective to develop a study that can determine whether prison facilities, detention facilities, or jail are co-located within areas of contagious disease outbreak. For example, the team could focus on case studies of Ebola transmission and whether prison populations were affected by Ebola outbreaks in local communities.


1) Map of disease outbreaks in INL priority countries overlaid with detention facilities2) Three-four, five to ten page, case studies of select outbreaks demonstrating disease

transmission vector along the detention facility/prison local community transmission vector.


International corrections reform, re-entry issues, public health issues


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Project 101

Developing Maintenance Cultures in UN Police Peacekeeping Missions


Overview:INL’s International Police Peacekeeping Support Program (IPPOS) and the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Program (APRRP) provide foundational support to formed police units (FPUs) in countries such as Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and others partners that deploy to U.N. police peacekeeping missions around the world. Through IPPOS and APRRP, INL supports training and equipment provision to FPUs and, also, in certain cases to individual police officer (IPO) deployments. One of the key components of both programs is the focus on sustainable support which can ensure that FPUs operate as effective units past the provision of U.S. government assistance.

Due to the equipment provision support of these programs, INL is focusing on the development of cultures of maintenance in FPU units, and Police Contributing Countries (PCCs). A maintenance culture in an institution can be defined as the set of sustainable practices that enable the combination of technical, administrative, and managerial actions during the life cycle of a procured item intended for retention, or restoration to a state in which it can perform the required function. There is significant literature on developing maintenance cultures in various institutions, from police agencies to public works administrations, however there is a dearth of research focusing on maintenance culture development among security sector agencies that receive foreign assistance. In the context of U.N. Police Peacekeeping, FPUs operate under complex and dangerous conditions, and maintenance culture development may be difficult. However, keeping equipment working past the provision of foreign assistance funding would enable a greater level of efficient and effective use of U.S foreign assistance funds.

The research group for this project will develop a literature review of developing maintenance cultures in police/law enforcement/security sector institutions. The literature review will inform four to six case studies of U. N. Police Peacekeeping missions, identifying the PCCs, maintenance issues in the organizations that contribute police peacekeepers, and develop recommendations as to how to instill maintenance cultures in those organizations. Additionally, the research group could focus on maintenance culture development in U.N. Police Peacekeeping missions as the set of case studies. The INL research coordination team is open to different interpretations of the requirements.

We are open to innovative ways to tackle this question by focusing on the literature from institutional psychology, engineering, international development, and other fields. This project would benefit from a multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates multiple fields into a unified set of recommendations. The INL research coordination team will work with the research group to identify priority countries for examination and provide assistance on police peacekeeping issues relevant to the topic.


1. Literature review of relevant studies

2. Four to six, 5 page case studies of police contributing countries receiving U.S. foreign assistance funding for police peacekeeping activities. (Currently, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, and Rwanda.)

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Institutional psychology, engineering, international development, police peacekeeping, UN peacekeeping


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Project 102

Measuring the effect of USCG Port Security Advisory notices on trade and port security procedures

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)/ United States Coast Guard International Port Security Program (USCG

ISPS)/ Economic and Business Affairs Bureau, Organizations of Transportation Affairs, Office of Transportation Policy (EB/TRA/OTP)

Overview:As part of broad U.S. support for strengthened international port security, the State Department works with U.S. partners that assess port security conditions at seaports in primary U.S. trading partners and other countries. The U.S. Coast Guard’s International Port Security (IPS) Program is the primary port security assessment office and was established in 2003 as part of the U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) to reduce risks to U.S. ports and ships, and to the entire maritime transport system. Through the assessment of International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code implementation and other anti-terrorism security measures in foreign ports and through bilateral discussions to share and align port security practices, the Coast Guard IPS Program determines whether there is an acceptable level of port security in foreign ports.

Following assessments of port security practices and procedures if a port does not meet the standards of the ISPS code, the USCG must make a public notification. It does this through a Federal Register Notice and by issuing a Port Security Advisory (PSA) notice implementing conditions of entry on vessels have called at the port in question and then call at a U.S. seaport. Issuance of a PSA is a significant step which may lead to trade delays, changes in shipping line schedules and significant economic effects in the affected nation. However, there is no systematic examination of the effect on trade and port security procedures following the issuance of a PSA. While numerous factors may lead to the issuance of a PSA, and conditions in the nation, region and at the port may preclude changes, PSAs are a strong tool that the U.S. government can use to encourage sustainable long term implementation of strengthened port security procedures detailed in the ISPS code.

The research team for this project would identify previously issued PSAs and look at a group of quantitative variables, identified by the research team but which could include trade statistics between the U.S. and the country of issuance, E.U. nations, and other U.S. allies. PSAs are published on the Coast Guard’s HOMEPORT website and comprise a readily available chronological data set. In addition trade statistics between countries are published by the U.N. on an annual basis available from 1982, and on a monthly basis since 2010 through the COMTRADE database available at http://comtrade.un.org/. To compare whether the effect of a PSA is significant the research team can compare the identified group of countries with a comparison set of neighboring countries with similar port/maritime industries that have not been affected by a PSA.

The Department of State and U.S. Coast Guard research coordinators would encourage the research team to identify other quantifiable statistical data sets that could be used to further examine the effect

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__comtrade.un.org_&d=BQMFAg&c=0NKfg44GVknAU-XkWXjNxQ&r=ztRCHyshgU6W3UCHUMkMk4xGh2Tv-1vQCAAaAzT2HA8&m=VgRr9De5Gu_gZpySAu3Usw6Ozfxi8DcPuAu4Go5jrIQ&s=Z61IPHHTpYvP54m4h_vcUVm0aUKh2ywrKINZijtyHd8&e=

of PSAs. In addition the research team would identify a broad set of variables to account for whether the effect of PSA was statistically significant. In addition to the quantitative study the research team would develop two, five page case studies examining port security conditions in countries affected by a PSA to determine through qualitative research the port security conditions that led to the issuance of a PSA and the effect of the PSA, if any, on trade or other identified areas.

Format of Final Product:Quantitative study examining the effect of PSAs on trade; two, five page case studies of countries with identified effect

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Port security, international trade, international economics, quantitative analysis

Comments:Federal Register - https://www.federalregister.gov/United Nations Comtrade Data base - at http://comtrade.un.org/


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http://comtrade.un.org/

https://www.federalregister.gov/

Project 103

Vory z Zakone in Georgian Prisons: Development and Adaptation

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)/ Office of Europe and Asia (INL/EA)

Overview:Since 2012 INL has worked to assist the Georgian criminal justice system to incorporate sound and effective correctional management in addition to supporting the Georgian criminal justice system more broadly. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Georgian criminal justice system is continually working to reduce the influence of the Soviet era vory v zakone/Kanonieri Kurdi (aka “thieves in law”). One major area where the vory exert their influence is in prison. From inside correctional facilities, vory are able to recruit and influence operations outside of prison walls.

In the past fifteen years a strong body of research has developed which examines Georgian organized crime and the role of the vory in the establishment of the Georgian state, post-1991, the historical development of the vory, and their role in Georgian prisons. In addition, in the past five years with the rise of ISIL in Syria and Iraq, Georgians have joined the ranks to fight alongside foreign fighters from other former Soviet countries. As an emerging problem, the intersection between organized crime and terrorism is an area in which further research is needed. Georgia’s unique history of organized crime through the vory and Georgian recruits in ISIL may pose serious challenges if returnees from the combat zone end up in prison.

The research team for this project would take a multi-disciplinary approach to examine the current state of the vory v zakone in Georgian prisons, the level of control they have within institutions, how they exert influence outside of correctional facilities, the scope of vory influence within the different prison populations (pre-trial or post-conviction), and whether there any intersections between the vory and violent extremism. In addition to an examination of the extensive literature on the vory z zakone, the research will need to take a creative approach to identify if there any intersections between the vory and Georgian radicals. This may include searching through YouTube videos and other websites, using language skills such as Russian and Georgian to examine literature in other languages or videos on other websites.

Format of Final Product:20 page research white paper

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Georgian organized crime, transnational crime, corrections development, ISIL

Comments:

GEORGI GLONTI and GIVI LOBJANIDZE (2004), Professional’naya Prestupnost’ v Gruzii. Vory-V-Zakone (Thieves-in-law. Professional Criminality in Georgia) Tbilisi: TraCCC 212 ppShelley, Louise I & Scott, Erik & Latta, Anthony, Organized crime and corruption in Georgia, Routledge, London


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Project 104

Adapting U.S. Law Enforcement Knowledge/Experience for Overseas Assistance

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)

Overview:INL works with over 100 law enforcement, criminal justice and academic institutions in the United States through both formal and informal partnerships. INL partners have over the past decade provided significant support to INL programs all over the world, from assisting in the development of law enforcement programs in Haiti (New York Police Department) to training central American police forces (Miami Dade Police Department) to seaport security support (PortMiami). Using domestic agencies to support U.S. foreign policy objectives in international criminal justice reform makes sense for the participating agency, the Department of State and the INL partner country as each receives benefits from the partnerships.

One of the difficulties of this kind of assistance is translating domestic law enforcement experience and good practices to the international setting, often in societies that have undergone significant conflict and are emerging into fragile states. INL is one of the few Department bureaus to work within the paradigm of utilizing domestic U.S. criminal justice sector experience to support U.S. foreign assistance programs and seeks to refine the model used in the application of domestic partnerships to assist INL programs. By working with agencies that have similar sizes, demographic compositions, language skills, and diaspora interest to INL partner countries, INL seeks to make intelligent partnership decisions. However, domestic law enforcement partnerships necessarily utilize domestically trained U.S. law enforcement officers whose experience requires translation to the international setting.

This project will explore the primary question: How does a domestic criminal justice agency translate their experience working in the U.S. criminal justice system to support reform and development of good practices in countries overseas?

The research team can address this question in multiple ways and the INL research coordination team will work with the group to identify a suitable research methodology, set of domestic agencies and country case studies. It may be useful for the research team to identify agencies in the U.S. that have an international presence outside of official U.S. government channels and contrast with those that have worked on foreign assistance programs through the U.S. government. In addition, the research team can also identify the categories of assistance that U.S. criminal justice agencies have especially strong pedigrees in and which would be useful for foreign assistance provision. For example, some U.S. law enforcement agencies have strong

police academies and INL has used those agencies to assist foreign law enforcement organizations with police training development.

This project will assist in refining INL model of partnership development, use of existing partnerships and hopefully lead to more effective use of U.S. foreign assistance funding.

Format of Final Product:3-6 case studies focusing on successful assistance provided by U.S. criminal justice agencies to foreign countries


Police reform, rule of law reform, U.S. criminal justice agency development, U.S. criminal justice training


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Project 105

Women’s Inclusion in Criminal Justice Programming in the Countering Violent Extremism Context

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)

Overview:INL promotes the inclusion of women in international criminal justice reform programs. Promoting the participation of both men and women in the criminal justice system results in a more representative system that is more likely to respond effectively to the needs of the community and increases the community’s trust in the system. Building on this experience, INL seeks to better understand the role women play in criminal justice approaches to countering violent extremism (CVE) and how best to incorporate women and women’s perspectives into criminal justice programming in the CVE context.

Women are both victims and perpetrators of violent extremism. INL has developed programs to address violent extremism through strengthening of criminal justice systems, with particular attention to stemming recruitment in prisons and how police and the community can partner to counter extremism. The President’s Action Agenda on CVE highlighted the role of women in preventing and countering violent extremism. INL is interested in understanding the programmatic benefits of incorporating women’s perspective in criminal justice programming in the CVE context and of developing criminal justice programming in the CVE context that specifically integrates women. Key research questions include: What roles do women play in criminal justice programs to counter violent extremism? How do state and non-state actors engage and build the capacity of women to counter violent extremism? What are good practices for incorporating women and women’s perspective into the design, implementation, and monitoring of criminal justice programming in the CVE context? Do initiatives that incorporate women enjoy more successful outcomes in CVE?

The research team will be expected to identify CVE programs and may need to search for programs not documented in English. We are open to innovative methods to address the problem set and will work with the research team to refine methodology.

Format of Final Product:Report of findings or 3-6 comparison case studies

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Terrorism studies, countering violent extremism, women and terrorism

Comments:

INL Gender Guide


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Project 106

Diversification and Retention of the Police Work Force

Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL/CAP)

Overview:Maintaining adequate police staffing and ensuring its diversification is a significant challenge currently facing law enforcement in the United States. Police are confronted by a complicated environment that involves a shrinking pool of applicants and an enlarging, mature workforce progressing towards retirement. Furthermore, law enforcement today struggles to achieve a diverse work force. A study conducted in 2008 women accounted for 11.2% of the total sworn law enforcement in the U.S. With the U.S. population comprised of 50.8% female, the number of women in law enforcement is woefully inadequate. Furthermore, in 2013 a survey showed that the total percentage of minority officers account for 27.3% of sworn law enforcement.

We would like a research team to tackle the issues of recruiting and retaining women and minorities from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Research methodology should include samples from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as, , comparing and contrasting data from small and large jurisdictions. Key questions to be addressed:

1) What percentage of the force are women and minorities? What are the total numbers of each? What percentage of the applicants are women and minorities? New officers?

2) What are retention rates for police departments today? 3) What is the quality/size of the applicant pool? 4) What is the average tenure of women and minorities in the police departments? 5) What are the language capabilities of these police officers? Are their language capabilities

utilized by the force in interacting with the community that they serve?

INL research coordination team can assist the research group as necessary in order to identify points of contact in police agencies and provide a letter of support for the project

Format of Final Product:Comprehensive report utilizing uncovered data as basis (~25-30 pages) including an excel spreadsheet of all raw data collected and a summary of methodology used

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Criminal Justice, Police Studies, Sociology, Statistics, Research Methodologies

Comments:See below for further information:

- http://womenandpolicing.com/pdf/NewAdvantagesReport.pdf


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Project 107

Developing Good Practices for Monitoring and Evaluation of Wildlife Crime and Trafficking Programs

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)/ Office of Anti-Crime Programs (INL/C)

Overview:INL supports U.S. government efforts to reduce and combat wildlife crime and trafficking of wildlife products by developing programs and providing funds to implement counter-wildlife trafficking programs. Incumbent on INL and all U.S. government foreign funding is the incorporation of effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plans into foreign assistance programs. Oftentimes programs that fund specific types of projects such as countering wildlife crime have a global or regional affect but are implemented within bilateral relationships. For example, a program focused on combating wildlife trafficking networks will have a transnational focus on the committed crimes but will have bi-lateral effects on U.S. relationships with countries where groups are stationed, where implementers will conduct activity and etc. Programs of this nature, where outputs and outcomes may be nested in local, sub-regional, national, regional and global areas create complex challenges for M&E. The foundational questions of M&E of “Is the money being spent effectively?” and “Is the program effective in achieving its goals?” are difficult to answer when the effects may be spread out across multiple levels of analysis, each of which has to be examined alone and in relation to the others.

The goal of this research project is to assist INL in the development of an M&E analysis framework that will enable us to have a better understanding of the effectiveness of INL wildlife crime and trafficking programs across multiple levels of analysis. The research team could build a nested approach to examining program effectiveness and would have to identify good practices to incorporate M&E into wildlife crime and trafficking programs.

The research team would have to be able to identify literature on programs with similar structures that have addressed other topics which may have relevance for programs design for wildlife crime and trafficking programs, such as counter-narcotics programs, counter human trafficking programs and etc. In addition, the research team will have to factor in donor-implementer relationships, availability of data to conduct successful M&E, U.S. bilateral relationships, possible issues of corruption in agencies that receive assistance in the wildlife trafficking program, and other issues to be identified by the research team.

The INL research coordination team will work with the research team to identify countries of interest, various wildlife crime programs funded by the U.S. and other donors, and how M&E is currently incorporated into INL funded programs.

Format of Final Product:1. 20 page white paper2. M&E analysis framework at multiple levels of analysis3. 2-3 Case studies of programs with successful M&E.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Wildlife trafficking, wildlife crime, international criminal justice reform, program management, international development


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Project 108

Examining Gender-Based Violence in the Eastern Caribbean Through Civil Society and Compliance Under Convention of Belém do Pará

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership (INL/CAP)/ Office of Western Hemisphere Programs (INL/WHP); U.S. Embassy

Bridgetown / International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section

Overview:INL supports broad criminal justice reform in the countries of the Eastern Caribbean, including policy and programmatic efforts to reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and violence against women in Eastern Caribbean nations. INL’s criminal justice reform programming incorporates civil society and NGOs often as conduits of information to strengthen the development of programming and in some cases as implementers of programs. However, in many countries NGOs and civil society actors develop their own programs, often at little cost and with strong inter-community ties that create significant positive change.

Concurrent to the role of civil society in combatting GBV, in 1994, the Organization of American States ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, known as the Convention of Belém do Pará (where it was adopted in 1994), which defined violence against women, established that women have the right to live a life free of violence and that violence against women constitutes a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The convention called for the first time for the establishment of mechanisms for protecting and defending women's rights as essential to combating the phenomenon of violence against women's physical, sexual, and psychological integrity, whether in the public or the private sphere, and for asserting those rights within society.

This project would address SGBV through the lens of both examining what civil society has done and is currently undertaking to reduce and prevent SGBV in Eastern Caribbean countries, while simultaneously evaluating government efforts to comply with the Belém do Pará Convention, as well as relevant crime trends over the past three years. The primary countries of interest include: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia.

Format of Final Product:Individual case studies of INL priority countries. Written report not to exceed 50 pages including a one to three page case study per country based on a consistent format and an annotated bibliography.


Gender based violence, Eastern Caribbean, International convention compliance


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Project 109

Tackling the Corruption Conundrum; Successful Strategies from a U.S. Foreign Policy Perspective

U.S. Embassy Budapest, Political Economic Section

Overview:Corruption remains a deep-rooted problem around the world. It drains resources away from public budgets; it weakens the rule of law and the confidence of citizens in their governments; and it impairs the ability of governments to protect themselves from unwanted influence and impedes them in their ability to fight organized crime and terrorism. Corruption can threaten the stability of entire regions. President Obama has referred to corruption as the single greatest barrier to prosperity, and a profound violation of human rights. Yet addressing and changing the root causes of corruption, particularly high-level state corruption, is extremely challenging.

This project calls for an analysis of anti-corruption efforts which highlights successful policies and lists pitfalls to avoid. To be most applicable to the region, the study should focus on high-level public corruption in regions where the influence of the United States is limited. (In this context, Latin America would not be a good example). The first group of two teams should focus on U.S. government anti-corruption policies and assistance efforts overseas. The second group of two teams should research successful anti-corruption campaigns conducted by foreign governments, civil society organizations, and/or international organizations.

Format of Final Product:The final product for both teams will be research papers (length not important) examining both successful and unsuccessful efforts to help countries overcome endemic corruption. The papers should also consider internal anti-corruption efforts by the countries in question, so as to better understand which efforts were truly aided by the efforts of the United States, other governments, or civil society organizations. Finally, papers should also consider the durability of the reductions in corruption achieved. Did they survive the subsequent election cycle?

Maximum Number of Projects: 4Post Budapest would like to engage two separate university teams for each of two related topics, thus engaging four university teams total. Two university teams would report on U.S. government efforts to directly reduce high-level corruption in foreign government institutions. Two other teams would report on successful efforts by civil society institutions, international organizations, and or other governments to reduce high-level state corruption.

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Project 110

Working Together: The Role of Subnational and Religious Actors in Advancing U.S. Foreign Policy

Secretary’s Bureau, Office of Religion and Global Affairs (S/RGA)

Overview:Over the last decade, mayors and subnational actors have risen in prominence, setting trends and building movements that are shaping both national and global policy. This proliferation of trans-subnational networks (Rockefeller’s 100 Resilient Cities, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and others) have created platforms for the Department of State to link domestic mayors to their overseas counterparts. Last year, the Department of State launched its inaugural convening of “Cities@State,” highlighting best practices of mayors and municipalities from around the world on key foreign policy priorities.

The Diplomacy Lab team will work with S/RGA staff to create a list of case studies, particularly domestic municipal offices engaging faith-based groups on the following four areas (climate resilience, refugee integration, women’s empowerment, and inclusive governance). The purpose of this research will be to share U.S. best practices with counterparts (specifically U.S. embassies/ consulates) overseas to facilitate greater city-to-city exchanges in policy areas of shared interest.

Format of Final Product:The final deliverable will be a toolkit containing case studies divided into the four thematic areas. This toolkit will be distributed to our Embassies overseas to raise awareness on the potential of subnational and religious actors to advance U.S. foreign policy goals.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Candidates will ideally be graduate students in public policy or religious studies with an interest in the following four thematic areas- climate resilience, refugee integration, women’s empowerment, and inclusive governance

Comments:The duration of the project will be one semester (four months), ideally beginning as soon as possible. The ideal scenario would be one class, divided into four small groups with each group covering one thematic area. Background reading and useful websites:White House Taskforce Report on New Americans- https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/tfna_progress_report_final_12_15_15.pdf

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/tfna_progress_report_final_12_15_15.pdf

Building Welcoming Communities Campaign- https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/bwcc_fact_sheet_updated.pdf Rockefeller’s 100 Resilient Cities- http://www.100resilientcities.org/ C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group- http://www.c40.org/ National League of Cities - http://www.nlc.org/ The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review- http://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/2015/


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http://www.state.gov/s/dmr/qddr/2015/

http://www.nlc.org/

http://www.c40.org/

http://www.100resilientcities.org/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/bwcc_fact_sheet_updated.pdf

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Project 111

Cuba Ariba! A baseline study of Cuba’s economy after normalizing relations with the United States

Office of Policy Planning and Coordination, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA/PPC)

Overview:The Cuba baseline project will consist of a desk study examining and analyzing existing sources of data (including the UN, ECLAC, RCC, and third countries, etc.) that provide a clear picture of the Cuban economy as it exists following resumption of diplomatic relations with the U.S. The primary focus of this study is to find data and correlations on a range of topics (for example, carbon emissions, commercial flight frequency, weather satellite nighttime imagery (showing electrification/lights), trade and travel data with other countries), and any other indicators that relate to the study. Researchers should provide a validity assessment of data sources, and include recommendations that may be most useful to determine economic effects of changes in both U.S. and Cuban diplomatic ties. This study specifically precludes travel to Cuba or interaction with the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

The goal of the study is to measure the impact of an opening (U.S.-Cuba relations) on economic mobility using systematic data analysis. The near-term benefits of the study are that it: establishes baselines and data sources for future programming, informs Department policy-making processes, and facilitates possible future assessments of the impact of the Administration’s new policy. In a broader sense, U.S. activities related to Cuba, and the success or failure of a data-centric approach, can provide guidance for policy-making in other situations in which countries are opening up to greater engagement with the United States.

Format of Final Product:The final product should be a research paper, no longer than 30 pages, with an executive summary suitable for public review, of two pages in length. A summary table of the available data points and/or statistical information should also be provided in a searchable format, including the sources of the data, the frequency of the availability of the data, and a data quality analysis. The data tables and sources will be used by the U.S. Department of State for further tracking.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:It is probable that much of the information available to satisfy this study is in Spanish. In addition to language capabilities, research teams should be able to analyze economic information that may not be entirely accurate or complete or otherwise distorted by the host government.

Comments:Several offices within the Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs are eager to reap the benefits of the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba, an event that has taken more than a half century to accomplish. This is a tremendous opportunity to learn about an economy that has been hidden from view, and is at the ground floor of cooperation with the United States.


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Project 112

Economic Factors of Violent Extremism

Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment

Overview:

There are numerous and idiosyncratic reasons that lead people to embrace violent extremism. Economic conditions are some of the least understood factors that influence people to become violent extremists. In countries which today are experiencing relatively high incidences of violent extremism, such as the Middle East and North Africa, there is a great disparity in rights and protections that are afforded to workers taking part in the formal and informal economies, potentially fermenting violent extremism.

This project seeks to better understand some of these economic factors that may lead people to radicalize by examining either both, or one of the following two economic issues: (1) the lack of widespread financial inclusion in formal economies; and (2) expectation gaps that exist between workers and available jobs.

With respect to financial inclusion:

It would be helpful to use the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion dataset (http://www.gpfi.org/data), along with its 5 indicators (1. Formally banked adults, 2. Adults with credit by regulated institutions, 3. Formally banked enterprises, 4. Enterprises with outstanding loan or line of credit by regulated institutions, and 5. Points of service), to look for any link/correlation with VE, political instability, etc. This could start as a general survey of countries in a couple regions (Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, etc.).

The study could then move to focus on particular countries, with more detailed case study analysis, depending on the regional outcomes. It would be useful to use the data/indicators developed within the context of the G20; if some sort of relationship is found, it could serve to inform existing efforts on financial inclusion.

Another way to get at the informal/formal economy divide is by looking at proxy data, such as the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. It’s likely that countries with very low scores on the WB Doing Business Rankings also have large informal sectors and likely high levels of economic marginalization. It might be worth looking at the rankings to tease out any links to VE among lower ranked countries.

Another way to evaluate the efficacy of this thesis is to examine Regional Disparities. Students could look to compare countries with pronounced economic disparities among regions with countries (of the same income levels) that do not have pronounced economic disparities among regions.

With respect to the question of Expectation Gaps:

http://www.gpfi.org/data

The study should assess different ways of measuring expectations gaps (minority economic discrimination, gaps between education and income levels, and a country’s macroeconomic trends and the individual’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction). Then the paper can explore the causal relationships between these measures and VE using either a broader statistical or case study approach.


A paper of no more than 30 pages.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Background in economics and analyzing data sets is desirable.

Comments:

One of the challenges of this project will be in understanding the potential directions of causality underlying the relationship between extremism and economics. Economic factors may indeed contribute to radicalization. However, the process may work the other way as well. For instance the presence of violent extremists, a lack of political stability, as well as numerous other factors concurrently (or independently) may lead to financial exclusion and/or expectation gaps. In order to better inform policy, the study we are seeking should seek to use data and build upon previous literature to carefully disentangle these potential arguments to better understand the relationship between these economic factors and the emergence of violent extremists.


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Project 113

Women’s Participation in Peace and Security

Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Front Office

Overview:Provide an in-depth analysis on women’s involvement in foreign militaries. Which countries provide the best opportunity for U.S. engagement to advance women’s inclusion in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, security, and decision-making institutions? Examine what countries have the highest historical female participation rates and the lowest. What are obstacles to their service? What obstacles keep women from participating to a greater extent in defense intuitions? What are possible paths to mitigate these obstacles? What lessons can be learned from militaries which have achieved higher participation? Predict effects and consequences of greater participation on these institutions and the larger societies.

Format of Final Product:10 page research paper

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Government, International Relations, Gender Studies, Military Studies, Sociology

Comments:http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/08/196530.htmThe U.S. Department of State Implementation Plan of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security is the Department’s guiding document on advancing efforts for increased women’s participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts.

Teams may elect to focus their research to a specific region.


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http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/08/196530.htm

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Project 114

State of the Future: How Emerging Technology Trends Will Impact Foreign Policy

Bureau of Political Military Affairs, D/Innovation Forum and PM/Strategy Lab

Overview:Technology is fundamentally altering the international landscape in which the State Department operates. Current advancements have changed the nature of connectivity, information sharing, and organizational power. To name a few: Accessibility and portability of mobile technology has increased global linkages, the prevalence of artificial intelligence is widespread, virtual and augmented reality introduce more data and more technology into everyday life, and unmanned robotics are on the rise. As technology changes exponentially rather than linearly, the State Department must think ahead to what new issues lay just beyond the horizon. The goal of this project is to determine which emerging technology trends the State Department should be tracking: which advancements will create new foreign policy concerns, alter the environment in which we conduct diplomacy, shift the global balance of power and empower new actors, require new treaties and regulations, or any other implications that affect equities under the Department’s jurisdiction. The time horizon is 5-10 years. This project will be part of the Department’s recently launched Innovation Forum, led by Deputy Secretary Blinken to explore the potential impact of emerging technology on foreign policy.

Format of Final Product:Identify the 6-8 technology trends that you think will have the most significant impact in the next 5-10 years on foreign policy as conducted by the State Department. Then create a 3-5 page brief for each of the trends on the diverse ways in which Department equities might be affected by them. The individuals/teams who write the most insightful briefs may be invited to the Department to deliver presentations on their findings. Another potential product would be designing a one-day wargame, tabletop exercise, or other simulation exercise for State Department employees to explore the impacts of emerging technology across diverse portfolios.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Technology, foreign policy

Comments:

Be as creative and far-reaching as possible. Surprise us with new tech trends that we’re not even considering or whose application to foreign policy is unexpected. Potential tech trends to consider (but not necessarily to include in the final list): autonomy, robotics, and artificial intelligence; digital currencies, blockchains, and Bitcoins; the future of the internet; synthetic biology; genetic sequencing; cyberattacks and cybersecurity; big data and advanced analytics; directed energy and lasers; space technology; microgrids, energy storage, and low-carbon and renewable energy; smart cities; and many more.


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Project 115

Social Media’s Butterfly Effect: How to Clip Terrorists’ Wings OnlineU.S. Embassy Beirut, Political/Economic Section

Overview:In one or two paragraphs, please describe the context of your project, its importance, and why the project will be useful. Social media is used prevalently throughout Lebanon and Syria, and has been effectively used by extremist groups to spread their messaging online. Developing effective counter-messages is a key priority for U.S. Embassy Beirut and the State Department. This project will be useful to U.S. Embassy Beirut to inform our countering violent extremism (CVE) strategy.

For this project, students should identify the following: What is the nature and content of violent extremist messaging used online to propagate their

message in Lebanon and Syria. Which messages in Lebanon go viral? How do these messages go viral? Is there a pattern? Which messages elicit the most feedback or discussion? Is there any effective counter messaging, particularly within Lebanon? If so, what is the

nature and content of the message and what issue is the counter message addressing? If not, is there a reason why? If not, is there any effective counter messaging globally that may be applicable?

Are there individuals who are more effective at countering the message? Who are they?

Teams should then frame a set of hypotheses as to how to effectively counter violent extremist messaging. The student researchers should then seek out case studies to “test” their hypotheses, looking for countering messages that both support and refute their hypotheses.

Format of Final Product:A data analysis on recurring themes and patterns with a presentation on effective counter messaging.


Comments:Language skill helpful: Arabic


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Project 116

Energy Options for Vietnam

U.S. Embassy in Hanoi

Overview:Vietnam is a low-income, but quickly developing country. Its demand for power generated by the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel (coal) is among the fastest growing in Southeast Asia. This project will study affordable alternatives for the USG to advocate in support of a sustainable energy policy. Right now, Vietnam is working to build more coal fired power plants. At this pace, by 2020, more than 50% of electricity generation will come from coal to meet its fast rising demand (growth of 11% per year) in the next 10 years. What are the consequences of this option in terms of impact on the environment, health and trade balance? Are there any better options after an analysis of cost-benefits, budget constraints, affordability of energy price? Does it make economic sense to pursue this policy of seeking cheap electricity from coal to power an economy that’s poised to be one of the fastest-growing in the world?

Format of Final Product:A 5-page options memo, with a cost benefit analysis of Vietnam’s developing reliance on coal (which many Vietnamese feel is the most affordable fuel source in the short term) with other options in the energy field.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Strong research skills, forecasting

Comments:The World Bank, among others, have publicly released research on Vietnam’s energy sector.


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Project 117

Benefits and Drawback of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on Vietnam

U.S. Embassy Hanoi, Economics Office

Overview:The USG has been asked to present a more strategic, coherent U.S. economic vision for the ASEAN region. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was established in January 2016 and has the potential to be globally significant. Vietnam is one of the lesser developed members of ASEAN, but forward leaning on economic integration. In order for AEC to be a success, we must develop better understanding of its effect on Vietnam and critical changes Vietnam must make in the near term.

Project: Write an 8 page paper on the benefits and drawbacks the AEC will have on Vietnam.

Goal: 8 page research paper with a one page executive summary examining the benefits and drawbacks to Vietnam.

Steps: Discuss the project with the teams, monitor progress, decide a completion date, monitor progress, review final report.

Format of Final Product:8 page research paper with a one page executive summary

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Research


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Project 118

True U.S. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into Vietnam in 2015

U.S. Embassy Hanoi, Economics Office

Overview:Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is one of the most-discussed issues in our bilateral relationship, particularly Vietnam’s interest in increasing U.S. FDI. Unfortunately, we don’t have an accurate picture of how much the United States is investing in this country. Armed with better and more accurate numbers, we will be able to more clearly explain to our Vietnamese counterparts, U.S. businesses and third country diplomats the true size of the current American (economic) footprint in Vietnam.

1) Project: Determine as close as we can the true level of U.S. investment in Vietnam for 2015

Rational: While the U.S. is not the top FDI investor in Vietnam, TPP will attract more U.S. investment, so we need a better understanding of where the U.S. ranks in FDI

Goal: Report on the findings

Steps:

1) Pull out the U.S. invested FDI from other countries to figure out the true level of U.S. FDI in Vietnam in 2015

a) Send the student the list of 2015 FDI inflows to Vietnam.

b) Focus on inflows from: (2014 rankings )Hong Kong (#2), Singapore (3), British Virgin Islands (#6), Samoa (#11), and Caymen Islands (#18) to back out U.S. FDI routed through these countries

Example: In 2014 Intel invested $1 billion dollars in Vietnam through Hong Kong. If you took out this investment, Hong Kong would stay at #2, but the U.S. would move up to #5 in the list, and that is one investment.

d) Create an Excel spreadsheet with the official 2015 FDI country ranking next to the project data

e) Spreadsheet with the list of projects and dollar amount invested organized by what country the FDI was routed through

f) Short write-up on the findings – one to two pages maximum

Format of Final Product:1) Executive summary of the findings2) Excel spreadsheet comparing original with research numbers3) Table with the U.S. company name, type of investment, and amount

Example for the table:

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:ResearchGeneral understanding of FDI flows

Comments:This project should take one semester


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Project 119

Vietnam Visa Waiver Value

U.S. Embassy Hanoi, Economic Section

Overview:General research suggests that visa requirements reduce trade and tourism. Vietnam allows citizens of a limited number of countries to enter visa free for 15-30 days. However, Vietnam requires U.S. citizens to have visas. This project would quantify the likely economic benefits to Vietnam if it would add the United States to its list of citizens traveling visa free.

Format of Final Product:A research paper of no more than 20 pages providing an estimate of the likely economic impact, and a description of the method used to produce the estimate.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Economics, statistics

Comments:The annual report of the 2015 Vietnam Business Forum, available at vbf.org.vn, provides discussion of current visa policy and its impact on tourism in Vietnam.


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Project 120

Analysis of Internet Transparency Reports Pertaining to India

Mission India New Delhi, Economic, Environment, Science and Technology (EEST)

Overview:The U.S.-India cyber relationship represents one of the high-points of our bilateral relationship as we discuss strategic issues relating to digital development, internet governance, information sharing, and norms of state behavior in cyberspace. Despite the positive cyber interactions of the past year, cybercrime investigations and access to digital information remains a difficult issue. While there is goodwill on both sides to improve the situation, the process to request and receive electronic information is complex, cumbersome, and involves multiple stakeholders – many of whom are outside of government. Thus, identifying ways to improve cybercrime information sharing is an important element of the U.S.-Indian cyber relationship.

The Government of India (GOI) regularly requests information from online companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, et al. In 2015, alone, the GOI made 3,087 requests to Google for information on 4,829 different user accounts. Google responded with at least some information 44% of the time, but the response rate was significantly below its global average. This project will evaluate GOI information requests to the top 10 leading digital companies over the last 5 years, where available. The objective is to better understand the trends for both asking and receiving information. The Principle Investigator (PI) could select which companies to assess based on its activity level in India, and availability from the service provider. The PI should also compare the volume and response rates to various “cohorts,” such as largest Internet user populations, democracies/civil freedoms, regions, and other groupings, e.g., BRICs, Budapest Treaty Members, et al. The PI may also provide other valuable trend analysis, insight, and suggestions about ways to improve response rates.

Format of Final Product:White Paper with One Page Summary of Findings and PowerPoint Presentation, with supporting data files.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Cyber Policy

Comments:

Here is a link to Google’s Internet Transparency Report: https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/


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Project 121

Evaluating India’s Role in the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime

Mission India New Delhi, Economic, Environment, Science and Technology (EEST)

Overview:The U.S.-India cyber relationship represents one of the high-points of our bilateral diplomatic relationship as the two countries discuss strategic issues relating to digital development, internet governance, information sharing, and norms of state behavior in cyberspace. Despite the positive and wide-ranging cyber interactions, joint cybercrime investigations and access to digital information remains an open issue. While there is goodwill on both sides to improve the situation, the process to request and receive electronic information is complex, cumbersome, and involves multiple stakeholders – many of whom are outside of government. Identifying ways to improve cybercrime information sharing is an important element of the U.S.-Indian cyber relationship.

India Accession to the Budapest Convention could provide India improved access to electronic information in the United States and elsewhere, although many of the benefits may be indirect. The Convention is the first international treaty addressing Internet and computer crime by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations. The Treaty is implemented by Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, with the active participation of the Council of Europe's observer states Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States. As of September 2015, 47 states have ratified the convention, while a further seven states had signed the convention but not ratified it. There are also additional countries involved in various ways, but Brazil and India have declined to adopt the Convention on the grounds that they did not participate in its drafting.

This project will provide an independent assessment as to whether or not Indian accession to Budapest would help advance the country’s efforts to request and obtain cybercrime information. The study should look at both the direct and indirect benefits of Budapest, as well as “soft power” aspects of the project to guide the world community going forward, e.g., be a party to future amendments. The project should also look at any potential negatives for India, as well as costs, resources. The effort should include perspectives from the Indian government (at both State and Federal levels) but also the pros/cons of other stakeholders, including those involved with other country’s ascension experience.

Format of Final Product:White Paper with One Page Summary of Findings and PowerPoint Presentation.

Potential Areas of Useful Expertise or Interest:Law or law enforcement student

Comments:The Council of Europe has developed a summary of why India should accede, but this is not an independent assessment. That document is attached.


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