Questions and Answers (QA) Document - Sub-National Diplomacy NOFO.docx

Questions and Answers Document Opportunity Number: CPIF-GR-ESF-001 Question: Is an 18-month program for the same level of funding and scope of work acceptable?

Answer: Yes, if the objectives can be achieved in this time frame.

Question: Should the proposal contain objectives matching each provided project objective individually in the ‘scope of work’ annex, or is it enough that the proposal addresses all objectives by merging them?

Answer: The proposal can address each proposed objective individually or collectively.

Question: Given the stated goal of ensuring a representative “sub-set of European states,” it seems essential to include a diverse range of geographic, economic, linguistic, and cultural contexts within Europe. Could you clarify the intended geographic scope of this project? Specifically, could you provide a list of regions or countries that are expected to be part of this representative sub-set of European states?

Answer: For the purposes of this project, European states are understood to be those covered by the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, as defined in 1 FAM 140.

Question: Does the desired project focus include investigation into China's holistic sub-national diplomacy and influence toolkit and impact "on the ground" in select countries -- to include local engagement by Chinese SOEs and private companies, united front actors, officials etc -- or if the objective is a narrower focus on cataloguing and meta-analysis of PRC narratives, media engagement, and other data that could mainly be captured online?

Answer: Both could be included, but the focus should be on real-world engagement over narratives.

Question: What is the preferred number of countries for case studies?

Answer: There is no specific number, but case studies should include enough countries to produce a representative sample, for example, geographically (Northern, Western, Southeran, Eastern), politically (EU and non-EU members, NATO and non-NATO members, etc.) , and economically (low, middle, and high income).

Question: What are the priority regions and countries for these case studies? Does Europe for this NOFO include Eurasia? Should countries with ongoing conflict (e.g., Russia and Ukraine) be excluded from the list of countries?

Answer: As stated above, Europe for this NOFO includes the European countries covered by the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, as defined in 1 FAM 140. Countries with ongoing conflict could be included depending on the implementer’s approach.

Question: There are two deadlines for the application, one for D.C. time and one for LOCAL time. Are these different deadlines? How is LOCAL TIME to be interpreted? Is that the local time in Athens or the local time for the organization submitting the proposal?

Answer: The deadline for the application is 11:59 p.m. August 9.