Senior Lecturer in International Relations
Department of War Studies
King's College London
I am currently developing a multi-country research project examining urban violence and youth in ‘non-war’ contexts, covering Brazil, Sierra Leone, South Africa and the UK. I give particular focus to evaluating the effectiveness of public health responses to urban violence, contrasting these with securitised responses.
My past research has examined the causes and shaping dynamics of extreme violence during conflict, with a particular focus upon the role of emotions and psychology at both individual and group level. I have also published on the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of combatants; post-conflict reconciliation processes; and transnational organised crime in West Africa.
'War by Another Name? The ‘Urban Turn’ in 21st Century Violence'
T.note Vol. 59, Human Security Issue 7 – 23 April 2018
‘Guerra con un altro nome? La violenza urbana nel XXI secolo’
Human Security No. 6, March 2018.
Rebels in a Rotten State: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leonean Civil War (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2015)
‘A Pragmatic Pact: Reconciliation and Reintegration in Sierra Leone’, in Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Friedman & Chris Mahony (eds) Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)
‘Where is the War? Explaining Peace in Sierra Leone.’ International Peacekeeping, Vol. 30, Issue 3, 2013.
‘Irrational Actors and the Process of Brutalisation: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leonean Conflict (1991–2002).’ Civil Wars, Vol. 14, Issue 1, March 2012.
‘Rearmament, Remobilisation and Disintegration in Sierra Leone.’ Conflict Security and Development Research Group, King’s College London (2010).
‘Engaging disengagement: The political reintegration of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front’ in Reintegrating Armed Groups after Conflict: Politics, Violence and Transition, Mats Berdal & David Ucko, eds. (Abingdon: Routledge, May 2009).
‘Reconstructing Trust in Sierra Leone.’ The Round Table, Volume 98, Issue 403, August 2009
‘Engaging Disengagement: The Political Reintegration of Sierra Leone’s
Revolutionary United Front.’ Conflict, Security and Development, Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2008