Research

The goals of the CSS research group are to conduct excellent, innovative, and politically relevant academic research on contemporary security issues; to offer expertise through engagement with practitioners and the public based on this research; and to provide high-quality teaching to both academic- and practice-oriented students.

Our research is theory-driven, empirically grounded, and broad in terms of methodology. We focus on changing threats to states and their societies, and the way in which key actors organize themselves to address these threats. A sustained focus on causes and consequences of political violence, on shifts in security thinking, and on the institutions, political processes, norms, and policies to mitigate insecurity defines us. Security Studies is inherently inter- and transdisciplinary: We draw on approaches from international relations, security and strategic studies, international history, political sociology, political psychology, and criminology.

We are organized in two clusters:

Conflict Resolution and Violence Prevention

The first cluster on Conflict Resolution and Violence Prevention focuses on various forms of violence, including civil war, terrorism, non-state conflict, urban and community violence. We study why and under what conditions different conflict management tools or violence prevention strategies are effective.

Research projects

• Deep learning-based mapping of conflict damage
• Humanitarian Crisis Detection With Nightlight
• Conflict-Event Prediction for UN Peacekeeping
• Ceasefires and Mediation Processes
• The Internationalisation of Civil War – How the International System Shapes Rebellion

Digital Technologies and Security Politics

The second cluster on Digital Technologies and Security Politics focuses on the use of digital technologies in security political contexts and the societal consequences arising from it. We study the interactions between actors and the formation of arrangements to govern the use of digital technologies.

Research projects

• The Threat Politics of Cybersecurity
• Hacking Organizations
• Digital Extortion