The Frontline Observatory
for Global Conflict Research
The world’s first conflict-based research center on organized violence combining on-the-ground networks, investigative expertise, and cutting-edge data tools to resolve the most severe evidence and accountability gaps in contemporary war
Thevantagebehindfrontlines
Profiles in conflict data & evidence
A Wicked Problem
Armed actors routinely distort even seemingly basic "facts"—from perpetrators and illicit resource markets, to targets and disinformation techniques. By controlling information streams, militants shape the data that drive global perceptions of conflict.
Meanwhile, civilians frequently warn that what they see differs dramatically from official and international accounts. Yet despite observing gold-standard evidence of conflict, crimes and atrocity, they lack secure channels to share it.
As a result, the highest-quality evidence remains locked behind frontlines, while information that is easiest to access reflects the versions violent actors want heard.
The resulting evidence gap distorts the basis of legal cases, policy, and research.
Faulty information undermines efforts to
Contaminated Information, Critical Consequences
Mistaking strategic (dis)information as factual builds militant power, silences civilian voices, and misallocates billions of dollars of international funds. It creates policy failures, feeds illicit markets, and prolongs violence.