The Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC) is a multi-campus, interdisciplinary network of scholars engaged in research on politically motivated and organized criminal violence worldwide. 

Currently headquartered at Princeton University, it launched in 2009 at Stanford University in collaboration with the University of California Institute on Conflict and Collaboration (IGCC). ESOC was initially inspired by a desire among its founders to provide evidence-based  prescriptions to practitioners wrestling with the challenges of reducing violence and stabilizing conflict zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries facing terrorist threats.  

As ESOC has grown, its substantive focus has broadened. Today, ESOC’s affiliated scholars have broad interests ranging from sub state political violence (e.g., terrorism and civil wars and their effects) to great power conflict, spanning gray zone activities such as disinformation and cyber attacks, and support of governance through economic and political tools. 

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