Conflict Forecasting and its Limits

Tracking #: 426-1406

Authors:

NameORCID
Thomas ChadefauxORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8456-8124


Responsible editor: 

Tobias Kuhn

Submission Type: 

Position Paper

Abstract: 

Research on international conflict has mostly focused on explaining events such as the onset or termination of wars, rather than on trying to predict them. Recently, however, forecasts of political phenomena have received growing attention. Predictions of violent events, in particular, have been increasingly accurate using various methods ranging from expert knowledge to quantitative methods and formal modeling. Yet, we know little about the limits of these approaches, even though information about these limits has critical implications for both future research and policy-making. In particular, are our predictive inaccuracies due to limitations of our models, data, or assumptions, in which case improvements should occur incrementally. Or are there aspects of conflicts that will always remain fundamentally unpredictable? After reviewing some of the current approaches to forecasting conflict, I suggest avenues of research that could disentangle the causes of our current predictive failures.

Manuscript: 

Tags: 

  • Reviewed

Special issue (if applicable): 

First issue

Data repository URLs: 

none

Date of Submission: 

Monday, February 20, 2017

Date of Decision: 

Friday, March 3, 2017


Nanopublication URLs:

Decision: 

Accept

Solicited Reviews:


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