-Peacekeeping, Mediation, and the Conclusion of Local Ceasefires in Non-State Conflicts. Journal of Conflict Resolution.

-Why Peace Does Not Trickle Down: State Weakness, a Fragmented Patronage-Based System, and Protracted Local Conflict in the Central African Republic. African Affairs.

-Glee and Grievance: Emotive Events and Campaign Escalation in Nonviolent Resistance. Journal of Global Security Studies. With John Gledhill and Christopher Shay.

-Introducing the African Peace Processes (APP) Dataset: Negotiations and Mediation in Interstate, Intrastate, and Non-State Conflicts in Africa. Journal of Peace Research. With Samantha Gamez.

-Non-State Conflicts, Peacekeeping, and the Conclusion of Local Agreements. Peacebuilding.

I have taught several courses:

• Ending Violence, Master of Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich (Spring 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Master thesis supervision, Master of Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich (Spring 2020, 2021)
• Master of Advanced Studies ETH Mediation in Peace Processes (2019, 2020, 2021)
• Responses to Civil Wars, Master in Humanitarian Action (NOHA) at the University of Groningen (Spring 2018)
• Master thesis supervision, Master in International Relations at the University of Groningen (Spring 2018)
• Bachelor thesis supervision, Master in International Relations at the University of Groningen (Spring 2018)
• International Interventions, Bachelor in International Relations at the University of Groningen (Fall 2017)
• Terrorism and Social Movements, undergraduate-level course at the University of Oxford (Fall 2015)
• Theory of International Relations, undergraduate-level course at the University of Oxford (Fall 2015)
• Peace and Conflict Studies, Bachelor of Liberal Arts at Leiden University College (LUC) (Spring 2015)
• Global Challenges, Bachelor of Liberal Arts at Leiden University College (LUC) (Fall 2013)

As a teaching assistant:

• Theory of International Relations, Bachelor in International Relations at the University of Groningen (Spring 2018)
• International Organizations, Bachelor in International Relations at the University of Groningen (Spring 2018)
• International Security, Bachelor in Political Science at Leiden University (Spring 2014)
• International Politics I, Bachelor in Political Science at Leiden University (Fall 2013)
• International Organizations, Bachelor in Political Science at Leiden University (Fall 2013)

I believe effective action requires evidence-based analysis. To this purpose, I have been involved in research-based collaborations with practitioners, as well as conducted various consultancies:

• I am currently involved in a collaboration between ETH Zurich and the UN Operation Crisis Center (UNOCC). The goal of this collaboration is to conduct foundational research on forecasting armed violence based on peacekeeping data.
• Between 2019 and 2021, as part of the Smart Peace programme, I explored the effectiveness of local mediation efforts in the Central African Republic. The Smart Peace activities in the Central African Republic were led by Conciliation Resources, in partnership with the International Crisis Group, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and ETH Zurich.
• In 2020, I drafted a report for PAX that maps different early warning tools used for the protection of civilians.
• In 2018, I was hired by the European External Action Service (EEAS) as a consultant on a project on the EU early warning system on civil wars and political instability.
• In 2018, I produced a short research methodology note for the US Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) on how public conflict data can be used to analyse the effectiveness of peace support operations.
• Between 2017 and 2018, I worked as country expert for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), focusing on armed conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan.
• In 2017, I worked as a consultant for the European Peace Institute (EPI) to explore the findings of a survey held on social dynamics and radicalisation in Molenbeek in Brussels.
• In 2016, I worked as a consultant for the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The project consisted of producing a case study book on conflict settlements and their aftermath. I contributed case studies on Angola, Sudan, and Sri Lanka.
• In 2015, I worked for the World Peace Foundation (WPF) as a consultant to contribute to an independent report presented to the African Union in July 2016. My contribution to the report is a statistical analysis on mediation efforts in civil wars in Africa.
• I also worked for the WPF as a consultant to help compile a dataset on transnational conflict in Africa between 1960 and 2010.

Here is a picture of me as a young intern at ACCORD in 2011. This was a formative experience. Having previously taken a course on international mediation from which it seemed that economic and military leverage is the key to mediation success, I was struck by the emphasis on African solutions to African challenges at ACCORD. I therefore decided to look more closely into the effectiveness of African and non-African mediation efforts. This marks the start of my research on the legitimacy of African mediation efforts.

After I concluded my PhD on mediation in civil wars in Africa, I became interested in peace processes aimed at ending non-state conflicts. I have been very fortunate to have interviewed conflict parties, mediators, and other stakeholders of local peace processes in Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. Here is a picture of me attending a workshop on local peace processes in Bossangoa in the Central African Republic.

I believe a picture can sometimes say more than a thousand words. I find local peace agreements like the one below, concluded in Haute-Kotto in the Central African Republic on 21 September 2017, fascinating. These type of agreements stand in stark contrast with the peace agreements aimed at ending civil wars, which are typically very technical and can be up to 200 pages long. In spite of these local agreements not being very detailed, they can make a real difference on the ground.

I have met some amazing mediators during my research trips. For instance, I had the pleasure to interview staff from the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC). The SSCC has been very active in trying bring peace to Jonglei State.

I am very grateful to UN Civil Affairs helping me to travel to the locations of the case studies in my book on the resolution of non-state conflicts. Here is a picture of me flying to Bossangoa in the Central African Republic.

Here is another picture of me flying to Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Finally, here is a picture of me at the UN Headquarters with Dag Hammarskjöld, who served as the second UN Secretary-General from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. I read a lot about Hammarskjöld when I was living in Sweden for my graduate studies at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. Since I admire Hammarskjöld so much, it was a special moment to be able to take a picture with his portrait at the UN Headquarters.