The Conflict Security and Development Research Group (CSDRG) undertakes a wide range of research, policy, advisory, and teaching activities related to conflict, security and development, enabling it to serve as a true bridge between academic scholarship and real world decision-making in these fields.
We teach the world-leading Conflict, Security and Development MA programme and publish the Conflict, Security and Development journal.
Director: Professor Mats Berdal
Research Director: Dr Kieran Mitton
Activities

Winter-Spring 2020 Newsletter
CSDRG releases quarterly newsletters sharing our latest news, publications, and research.

CSD Journal
Conflict, Security and Development is an academic, peer-reviewed journal that bridges traditional development and security studies and provides analysis of the critical policy challenges facing countries in the Global South. Enquiries should be directed to csdjournal@kcl.ac.uk.

Policy Briefs
CSDRG produces policy briefs on a wide range of issues related to conflict, security and development to inform and influence policymaking.
Publications
Select Recent Publications
For full list of publications, see individual staff profiles.
- Berdal, Mats (2019) "NATO's Landscape of the Mind: Stabilisation and Statebuilding in Afghanistan," Ethnopolitics, 18 (5).
- Berdal, Mats (2018) "What are the limits to the use of force in UN peacekeeping?" in de Coning, C. & Peter, M. (eds.) United Nations Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order (Palgrave Macmillan) p. 113-132.
- Berdal, Mats & Suhrke, A. (2018) "A Good Ally: Norway and International Statebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2014," The Journal of Strategic Studies, 41 (2), p. 1-28.
- Berdal, Mats (2018) "The State of UN Peacekeeping: Lessons from Congo" Journal of Strategic Studies, 41 (5), p. 721-750.
- Cheng, Christine and Alison Brettle (2019) "How Cognitive Frameworks Shape the American Approach to International Relations and Security Studies," Journal of Global Security Studies, 4 (3), pp. 321–344.
- Cheng, Christine (2018) Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia: How Trade Makes the State (Oxford, Oxford University Press.)
- Chisholm, A. and Eichler, M. (2018) “The Private within the Private: Accounting for the Household in Global Privatisation of Security” International Feminist Journal of Politics
- Davies, M. and Chisholm, A. (2018) “Neoliberalism and Sexual Violence: A Reading of Dollhouse” International Political Sociology
- Chisholm, A. and Tidy, J. (2017) “Beyond the Hegemonic in the study of militaries, masculinities and war” Critical Military Studies. 3(2): 99-102
- Chisholm A. (2017) “Client, Contractor and the Everyday Masculinities in Global Private Security” Critical Military Studies. 3(2): 120-141
- Eaton, Tim, Christine Cheng, Renad Mansour, Peter Salisbury, Jihad Yazigi, Lina Khatib (2019)“Conflict Economies in the Middle East and North Africa,” Chatham House Report. London: Chatham House.
- De Carvalho, Vinicius Mariano and Rafael Duarte Villa, Thiago Rodrigues, Henrik Breitenbauch (2015) "Brazilian Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations," Journal for Brazilian Studies, 3 (2).
- Hendrickson, Dylan (2014) Security Sector Reform and Burma’s Political Transition, Report commissioned by the UK Stabilisation Unit, Feb. 2014.
- Friedman, R. C. (2017) Competing Memories: Truth and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone and Peru. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gates, S. & Podder, S. (2015) "Social media, recruitment, allegiance and the Islamic State". Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(4).
- Gasbarri,Flavia (2018) "From the Sands of the Ogaden to Black Hawk Down: The End of the Cold War in the Horn of Africa", Cold War History, 18:1, 73-89.
- Gasbarri, Flavia (2018) "Revisiting the Linkage: PDD 25, Genocide in Rwanda and the US Peacekeeping Experience of the 1990s", The International History Review, 40:4, 792-813
- Heydemann, S. and Leenders, R. (eds) (2013) Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation, and Regime Resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford University Press.
- Karlsrud, K and Oksamytna, K. (2018) "Norms and Practices in UN Peacekeeping: Evolution and Contestation", International Peacekeeping, 26 (3), 253-254.
- Leenders, R. & Mansour, K. (2018) "Humanitarianism, State Sovereignty, and Authoritarian Regime Maintenance in the Syrian War", Political Science Quarterly, 133 (2), p. 225-257.
- Mitton, Kieran (2019) "Public health and violence", Critical Public Health, 29(2), p. 135-137.
- Mitton, Kieran (2018) "Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project: Sierra Leone Case Study", Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project 1 Feb 2018. London: UK Stabilisation Unit.
- Mitton, Kieran (2015) Rebels in a Rotten State: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leone Civil War (Hurst/Oxford University Press).
- Oksamytna, Kseniya (2018) ‘Policy entrepreneurship by international bureaucracies: The evolution of public information in UN peacekeeping’, International Peacekeeping, 25 (1).
- Olonisakin, F., Hendricks, C. & Okech, A. (2015) "The convergence and divergence of three pillars of influence in gender and security,"Africa Security Review, 24(4), p. 376-389
- Olonisakin, O. (ed.) (2015) "Human Security, Peace and Conflict: African Perspectives", Strategic Review of Southern Africa, 37, 1.
- Sagramoso, Domitilla (2007) 'Violence and Conflict in the Russian North Caucasus’, International Affairs, 83 (4), pp. 681-705.
- Tansey, Oisin (2018) "Regional Autocratic Linkages and Regime Survival", with Alexander Schmotz, European Journal of Political Research, 57 (3).
- Tansey, Oisin (2018) ‘Lowest Common Denominator Norm Institutionalization: The Anti-Coup Norm at the United Nations’, Global Governance, 24 (2), 2018.
- Tansey, Oisin (2016) The International Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Oxford University Press.
- Von Billerbeck, S. & Tansey, O. (2019) "Enabling autocracy? Peacebuilding and post-conflict authoritarianism in the Democratic Republic of Congo", European Journal of International Relations, 25 (3), p. 698-722.
Activities

Winter-Spring 2020 Newsletter
CSDRG releases quarterly newsletters sharing our latest news, publications, and research.

CSD Journal
Conflict, Security and Development is an academic, peer-reviewed journal that bridges traditional development and security studies and provides analysis of the critical policy challenges facing countries in the Global South. Enquiries should be directed to csdjournal@kcl.ac.uk.

Policy Briefs
CSDRG produces policy briefs on a wide range of issues related to conflict, security and development to inform and influence policymaking.
Publications
Select Recent Publications
For full list of publications, see individual staff profiles.
- Berdal, Mats (2019) "NATO's Landscape of the Mind: Stabilisation and Statebuilding in Afghanistan," Ethnopolitics, 18 (5).
- Berdal, Mats (2018) "What are the limits to the use of force in UN peacekeeping?" in de Coning, C. & Peter, M. (eds.) United Nations Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order (Palgrave Macmillan) p. 113-132.
- Berdal, Mats & Suhrke, A. (2018) "A Good Ally: Norway and International Statebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2014," The Journal of Strategic Studies, 41 (2), p. 1-28.
- Berdal, Mats (2018) "The State of UN Peacekeeping: Lessons from Congo" Journal of Strategic Studies, 41 (5), p. 721-750.
- Cheng, Christine and Alison Brettle (2019) "How Cognitive Frameworks Shape the American Approach to International Relations and Security Studies," Journal of Global Security Studies, 4 (3), pp. 321–344.
- Cheng, Christine (2018) Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia: How Trade Makes the State (Oxford, Oxford University Press.)
- Chisholm, A. and Eichler, M. (2018) “The Private within the Private: Accounting for the Household in Global Privatisation of Security” International Feminist Journal of Politics
- Davies, M. and Chisholm, A. (2018) “Neoliberalism and Sexual Violence: A Reading of Dollhouse” International Political Sociology
- Chisholm, A. and Tidy, J. (2017) “Beyond the Hegemonic in the study of militaries, masculinities and war” Critical Military Studies. 3(2): 99-102
- Chisholm A. (2017) “Client, Contractor and the Everyday Masculinities in Global Private Security” Critical Military Studies. 3(2): 120-141
- Eaton, Tim, Christine Cheng, Renad Mansour, Peter Salisbury, Jihad Yazigi, Lina Khatib (2019)“Conflict Economies in the Middle East and North Africa,” Chatham House Report. London: Chatham House.
- De Carvalho, Vinicius Mariano and Rafael Duarte Villa, Thiago Rodrigues, Henrik Breitenbauch (2015) "Brazilian Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations," Journal for Brazilian Studies, 3 (2).
- Hendrickson, Dylan (2014) Security Sector Reform and Burma’s Political Transition, Report commissioned by the UK Stabilisation Unit, Feb. 2014.
- Friedman, R. C. (2017) Competing Memories: Truth and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone and Peru. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gates, S. & Podder, S. (2015) "Social media, recruitment, allegiance and the Islamic State". Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(4).
- Gasbarri,Flavia (2018) "From the Sands of the Ogaden to Black Hawk Down: The End of the Cold War in the Horn of Africa", Cold War History, 18:1, 73-89.
- Gasbarri, Flavia (2018) "Revisiting the Linkage: PDD 25, Genocide in Rwanda and the US Peacekeeping Experience of the 1990s", The International History Review, 40:4, 792-813
- Heydemann, S. and Leenders, R. (eds) (2013) Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation, and Regime Resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford University Press.
- Karlsrud, K and Oksamytna, K. (2018) "Norms and Practices in UN Peacekeeping: Evolution and Contestation", International Peacekeeping, 26 (3), 253-254.
- Leenders, R. & Mansour, K. (2018) "Humanitarianism, State Sovereignty, and Authoritarian Regime Maintenance in the Syrian War", Political Science Quarterly, 133 (2), p. 225-257.
- Mitton, Kieran (2019) "Public health and violence", Critical Public Health, 29(2), p. 135-137.
- Mitton, Kieran (2018) "Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project: Sierra Leone Case Study", Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project 1 Feb 2018. London: UK Stabilisation Unit.
- Mitton, Kieran (2015) Rebels in a Rotten State: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leone Civil War (Hurst/Oxford University Press).
- Oksamytna, Kseniya (2018) ‘Policy entrepreneurship by international bureaucracies: The evolution of public information in UN peacekeeping’, International Peacekeeping, 25 (1).
- Olonisakin, F., Hendricks, C. & Okech, A. (2015) "The convergence and divergence of three pillars of influence in gender and security,"Africa Security Review, 24(4), p. 376-389
- Olonisakin, O. (ed.) (2015) "Human Security, Peace and Conflict: African Perspectives", Strategic Review of Southern Africa, 37, 1.
- Sagramoso, Domitilla (2007) 'Violence and Conflict in the Russian North Caucasus’, International Affairs, 83 (4), pp. 681-705.
- Tansey, Oisin (2018) "Regional Autocratic Linkages and Regime Survival", with Alexander Schmotz, European Journal of Political Research, 57 (3).
- Tansey, Oisin (2018) ‘Lowest Common Denominator Norm Institutionalization: The Anti-Coup Norm at the United Nations’, Global Governance, 24 (2), 2018.
- Tansey, Oisin (2016) The International Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Oxford University Press.
- Von Billerbeck, S. & Tansey, O. (2019) "Enabling autocracy? Peacebuilding and post-conflict authoritarianism in the Democratic Republic of Congo", European Journal of International Relations, 25 (3), p. 698-722.
