After Action Review (AAR): Political Violence Mitigation & the US Election Cycle

The Bridging Divides Initiative convened a small group of key stakeholders for a short AAR, scheduled for January 7, 2021 and rescheduled for February 3, 2021. Discussion is shared here in aggregate with approval of the group, but does not represent a specific consensus. Rather, summaries below represent a snapshot of early reflections and highlights areas where the groups largely agreed/disagreed, in the hope that all can learn and build on details here in the true spirit of an after-action review. The group sought to answer 4 key questions: (1) What was the greatest threat or cause of political and electoral violence? (2) How did this differ from what you expected pre-election? (3) What was most effective at preventing, mitigating and addressing political violence? What was the contribution your organization made toward addressing political violence? (4) What gaps did you see in the approach to mitigating political violence?