Partner 1: Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands 

​For this research, we will work with the following research question: 
‘How does the European Union Trust Fund for Africa manage potential unintended effects of its programs?’
The European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) is a trust fund of four billion euros from which many projects are financed to improve management of migration. However, academic literature suggests that these types of programmes created many unintended effects, both positive and negative. These include, but are not limited to, changing migration routes, legitimising or supporting illegitimate regimes and authorities, creating regional migration flows by generating work opportunities and, raising the mark-up of human traffickers by cutting off accessible migration routes. 
 
We will critically analyse the work and programmes financed by the EUTF by looking at the existing literature on unintended effects of aid in Africa and by researching how the EUTF anticipates these effects . Furthermore, we will assess whether EUTF monitors and evaluates their programmes accurately and whether they change their programmes in the case of adverse effects. Moreover, we will look at how the EUTF can better manage the problems that come with unintended effects. 
 
Practical Relevance of the Research
The research aims to contribute to policy advice regarding the Dutch stance on the future development /improvement of the work of the EUTF. This research will be part of a broader research programme: ‘the unintended effects of international cooperation’.

Partner 2: International IDEA

​Our first research project will be conducted in partnership with International IDEA, an international organisation founded in 1995 and located in Stockholm, Sweden. International IDEA stands for International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The organisation aims to support democracy worldwide.
The research conducted for International IDEA targets the question of what it takes to deliver credible elections and broadly accepted results in challenging environments.  The research focuses on the resilience of electoral processes because this process is an assurance of an avenue through which undemocratic trends and episodes can be reversed. This is important as the organization of elections encounters internal and external risks in all phases of the electoral cycle. When risks are not effectively prevented and mitigated, they may cause stresses and shocks. Failed elections and contested results come with a hefty price tag. They undermine the credibility of democratic institutions, as well as political, economic, and security stability.
The research and analysis will include a review of academic literature to understand the extent to which the theme of resilience of electoral processes (and resilience-building in elections) is researched. References of the concept in a broader democracy promotion will be noted. The main arguments and findings will be summarized. Instances in which resilience-building and risk management will be considered as synergetic concepts. Additionally, a review of policy documents, strategy documents and reports of national and international organisation will be conducted to understand the extent to which they refer to strengthening resilience of electoral processes. Moreover, the Global State of Democracy Indices will be analyzed to investigate how different democracy attributes and sub-attributes impact the cleanness of electoral processes. The findings will help identifying countries where the resilience of elections will be studied to a greater level of detail.

Partner 3: Ministry of Defence 

Our second research project will be conducted in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Defence and the section CAI (cultural-historical backgrounds and information) in particular. The CAI department conducts a lot of research on conflict areas that the Dutch army is involved in, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Mali. Their research is implemented in cultural and historical lessons that are given to militaries that are about to be deployed in one of the worldwide military missions. With these lessons, militaries are better prepared to understand the dynamics of the country that they have to operate in.
Our research conducted for the Ministry of Defence targets the ‘Enhanced Forward Presence’ mission from NATO. Since a couple of years, NATO has deployed militaries from a range of countries in the Baltics to deter the Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, which was most notably visible by the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Dutch Armed Forces have also sent a share of 270 people, all deployed in Rukla, Lithuania.
In the Baltics, a trend is currently visible of information operations, conducted by several parties, including Russia. These kinds of non-military resources are used nowadays more often to undermine opponents and are different from classical military actions. Generally, this development is referred to as ‘Hybrid Warfare’. Particularly the spread of misinformation to create chaos and uproar amongst civilians is one of the main aspects of this ‘Hybrid Warfare’.
Our research is linked to the ‘Hybrid Warfare’ in Lithuania. The goal of the research is to get an overview of which parties are involved in the misinformation war and how this misinformation affects the Lithuanian people especially. After this overview is established, the research focuses on policy advice for the Dutch Armed Forces to create ‘mental resilience’ among Lithuanians to cope with these flows of misinformation.