Battles, revolutions, and other fights in history might seem violent in their own ways— consequences of specific social and cultural dynamics. But with the right lens, one can identify unifying principles.

In an online event on February 2, moderator Rachel Kleinfeld will explore the "science of violence” with researchers from the Santa Fe Institute. Through historical examples and data from real-world armed conflicts, they will discuss how an initial event spreads and ignites conflicts in other regions, resulting in a “conflict cascade” or avalanche that spreads over time and space.

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of the 2018 book A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security. She advises governments and philanthropists in making major social change in democracies, with a focus on violence, polarization, and poor governance.

Jessica Flack, David Krakauer, and Edward Lee are researchers in the C4 Collective Computation Group @SFI who look for patterns in complex social systems. Their recently published paper, "Scaling theory of armed-conflict avalanches” (Physical Review E, 2020), will form the basis for the discussion.

This event is co-hosted by the Santa Fe Council for International Relations and the Santa Fe Institute. Click here to register for this free event through the CIR website.

Founded in 1965, the Santa Fe Council on International Relations connects New Mexico and the world by engaging and inspiring global citizens through dialogue, education, and cross-cultural exchange.

The Santa Fe Institute is the world's leading research center for complex systems science. Since its founding in 1984, it has brought top researchers to Santa Fe from around the world and across disciplines to tackle some of the most challenging problems in science and society.

February 2, 2021

Cascading Conflict: What is the Science of Violence?

Virtual