The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation announces the selection of its 2025–2026 HFG African Fellows. The awardees, selected through a rigorous peer-review competition, are exploring important problems of violence in the world.

“This year’s cohort of African Fellows represents a diverse and dynamic set of researchers,” said HFG Senior Program Officer Nyeleti Honwana. “The fellows’ projects ask important questions about the modern African state, current understandings of gendered violence, and the role of the arts in ameliorating conflict.”

Read the full announcement here.

In Tunisia, a single leader of an elite security force deployed to protect the Interior Ministry was far more influential than long-standing resentments and conflicting interests within the ranks. HFG grantee Jean-Baptiste Gallopin explains how and why militaries defect based on his research.

Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge has appointed Sophia Goodfriend as its next Harry Frank Guggenheim Research Fellow. Goodfriend is researching the impact of big data and machine learning on military conflict in the Middle East. Her fellowship begins in October.

A new report from Salzburg Global’s Polarization and Violent Threats to Democratic Systems program aims to identify ways to mitigate the threat of political violence and address the dangers that polarization and political violence pose to democratic systems.

Read or download the report here.

The Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice published two reports on how New York City’s criminal legal system has changed from the 1990s to the present. Publication of the reports was followed by a public webinar on May 6 to present an overview of the findings and a two-day convening on May 13 and 14 to discuss the findings and their implications for justice in NYC.

For this In Practice article, 2022 HFG Distinguished Scholar Ore Koren reveals how zoonotic disease outbreaks like Ebola and Bird Flu can escalate violence and weaken state control. In addition to their public health impact, such diseases can disrupt military operations, empower nonstate militias, and weaken public trust in state institutions.

The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP) at George Mason University published a special issue of Translational Criminology featuring essays from leading national experts on firearms policy. The nine essays are based on presentations given at the Congressional Briefing on Preventing Gun Violence organized at the U.S. Capitol by the CEBCP and The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation on February 25, 2025.

Read or download the special issue here.