Underscores goal to create a world more at peace.

The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy has launched a pioneering and technology-advanced website.

The interactive global website for The Pearson Institute can be accessed at thepearsoninstitute.org.

The new website has been designed as the pre-eminent global portal – for academics, legislators and public policy professionals, NGOs, military, civil society, students and other important stakeholders – for the purpose of informing and developing new strategies to prevent, resolve and recover from conflict.

Linking Research and Policymaking

The timing is critical. Over the past decade, public policymakers have asked for stronger connections between empirical research and policymaking. These officials recognize that complex, multifaceted conflicts require policy informed by multidisciplinary study, rigorous data-driven research, and sophisticated analysis.

Today, The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts is examining societies and people fractured by conflict. We are asking empirically relevant questions. We are employing rigorous research methodologies. And by collaborating with partners and policymakers, we will soon be able to inform public policy.

The Pearson Institute’s goal is simple but ambitious: to reduce human suffering and create a world more at peace.

Public Policy Challenge of Our Time

As set forth below, the evidence is staggering and it is The Pearson Institute’s belief that violent conflict constitutes the defining foreign public policy challenge of our time.

  • Global Impact. Death by terrorism increased by 286 percent between 2008 and 2016, from 8,455 to 32,715.
  • Economic Impact. The economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2016 was $13.6 trillion, or 13.3 percent of world GDP and 11 times global foreign direct investment.
  • Social Impact. 65.3 million people around the world have been forced from home. Nearly 21.3 million are refugees, and half over of those are under age 18.

We think a visit to the interactive website at thepearsoninstitute.org will prove to be an informative, emotionally engaging and motivating experience – and a testament to the leading role that The Pearson Institute will fill in helping create a world more at peace in the years to come.

The Pearson Family’s landmark gift of $100 million to the University of Chicago in September 2015, made through The Thomas L. Pearson and The Pearson Family Members Foundation, created The Pearson Institute and The Pearson Global Forum.