The First Tranche

New research on media resilience in Europe & Eurasia offers context for recent protests in Georgia

Protests erupted in Tbilisi after a bill was proposed in Georgia’s parliament to register news outlets and NGOs as “foreign agents,” mirroring a Russian law used to shutter media and civil society.

AidData maps media resilience in post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia in the face of malign foreign actors

The project fills knowledge gaps with novel data covering 17 countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Data innovation in conflict zones: Enabling insights without endangering lives

On April 6, AidData and the W&M Whole of Government Center for Excellence will host a panel on evaluating development policy and interventions when on-the-ground data collection is difficult, dangerous, or infeasible.

Belt and Road bailout lending reaches record levels, raising questions about the future of China’s flagship global infrastructure program

A new study finds Beijing has dramatically expanded emergency rescue lending to countries in financial distress.

“一带一路”救助贷款达到创纪录水平，引发对中国旗舰全球基础设施计划前途的质疑

Afghanistan’s national program to clear landmines delivered broad-based impacts, study finds

AidData’s first-of-its-kind evaluation of the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan finds landmine removal led to increased economic growth, trust in government, and productive land use and was associated with increased aid.

AidData launches new series of analysis, data on Russia’s ongoing efforts to influence countries in Europe & Eurasia

A three-year research project culminates in a trove of dozens of country reports, indexes, and hundreds of indicators quantifying Kremlin influence on civic space, the media, and energy security across 24 countries and occupied territories.

Inside Russia’s long game to project influence and undermine Ukraine: Lead-up to the 2022 invasion

Russia used language, religion, and ideology to cultivate sympathizers, vilify opponents, and generally foment unrest in tactics that are a template for influence operations in elsewhere in Russia’s periphery.

AidData wins award from USAID’s Equitable AI Challenge for project on gender bias in AI-created poverty measures

The award will fund an assessment of the impact of gender bias on AI-generated poverty estimates.

One year in, lessons from the war in Ukraine—and Ukrainians’ resilience

Investments in a strong civil society are key to countering foreign influence in times of peace and war.

U.S. must reinvest in strategic communications to match China and Russia, new research volume finds

Produced for the inaugural Gates Forum and publicly launched at a follow-on event today, the research proposes bipartisan solutions for foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.

Debating the Aid System: Surfacing insights from the Global South for OECD reform

The 60th anniversary of the OECD Development Cooperation report calls on donors to deliver on past commitments and adapt to the changing needs of Global South partners.