Open research questions in Peacebuilding and International Security

What the literature leaves open

• The lack of examination of the psychosocial dynamics of cooperative deterrence policies. The need for a deeper understanding of how these policies lead to indifference to migrant and refugee suffering. The gap in prior work on the role of policymaking processes in generating indifference.

  The Dark Side of International Cooperation: Indifference and the Psychosocial Dynamics of Cooperative Deterrence · 2025 · DOI

• Although scholars have shown how these cooperative deterrence policies are undermining important refugee and human rights protections, making migration journeys more dangerous, and securitizing and criminalizing people on the move, what has not been adequately examined is how these cooperative arrangements can bring about normative changes that produce indifference to the suffering of refugees and migrants.

  The Dark Side of International Cooperation: Indifference and the Psychosocial Dynamics of Cooperative Deterrence · 2025 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on Artificial Intelligence-Powered Conflict Early Warning Systems. It highlights the need for a focused argument on the topic, particularly in the context of Mauritius.

  Artificial Intelligence-Powered Conflict Early Warning Systems: Potential and Limitations: Post-CPA and Beyond · 2026 · DOI

• The challenge of systematically identifying long-term narrative patterns and thematic shifts in conflict and peace discourse. The limitations of traditional qualitative methods in addressing this challenge.

  A Computational Analysis of Conflict Dynamics and Peacebuilding Narratives in South Sudan: A Natural Language Processing Approach · 2026 · DOI

• Recurrent clan conflicts, resource-based disputes, environmental stress, and inter-regional tensions in the Somali Region. Limited capacity of local governance institutions. Lack of fiscal autonomy and resources for local administrations.

  The Role of Local Governance in Peace-Building: The Case of Somali Region, Ethiopia · 2026 · DOI

• The study may be limited in its capacity to discover or report emerging developments or informal practices not documented in formal publications. No direct field work is conducted, so there is no direct engagement with the perceptions of local actors. The availability of reliable and comprehensive data at a local level may be limited.

  The Role of Local Governance in Peace-Building: The Case of Somali Region, Ethiopia · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of weak institutionalisation in South Sudan, where the state lacks the capacity to project power and provide security across its nominal territory. The research highlights the challenge of conflict-driven cropland abandonment and food insecurity in South Sudan.

  The Paradox of Recognition: Sovereignty, Statecraft and the Limits of International Legitimacy in South Sudan (2021–2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the literature on the relationship between international recognition and domestic state capacity. The paper highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms through which international recognition affects state-building processes.

  The Paradox of Recognition: Sovereignty, Statecraft and the Limits of International Legitimacy in South Sudan (2021–2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of the veto power wielded by the five permanent members of the Security Council. The study highlights the challenge of the dominance of national interests and undemocratic institutional structures in the UNSC. The study notes the challenge of the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms in the UNSC.

  Structural Realism and Institutional Barriers in the UN Security Council's Failure: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the role of geopolitical interests and institutional barriers in the failure of the UNSC to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The study highlights the need for reform in the UNSC to address the problems underlying the conflict.

  Structural Realism and Institutional Barriers in the UN Security Council's Failure: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict · 2026 · DOI

• The paper suggests that future research should focus on the impact of Biya's rhetoric on the Anglophone crisis. The study recommends that future research should examine the role of other stakeholders in conflict resolution in Cameroon.

  Assessing the Role of President Paul Biya of Cameroon in conflict Management: The ‎Case of His End of Year Speeches from 2016 to 2020 · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the role of President Biya in conflict resolution in Cameroon. The study notes that previous research has focused on the political and humanitarian aspects of the crisis but has not examined the role of Biya's rhetoric in shaping the conflict.

  Assessing the Role of President Paul Biya of Cameroon in conflict Management: The ‎Case of His End of Year Speeches from 2016 to 2020 · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the analysis of the ideological characteristics of emergent forms of regional digital capitalism. The article argues that there is a need for closer attention to the gendered and nationalist contours of this developing hegemony.

  The Political and Moral Economy of Telecom Corporate Social Responsibility in Somalia · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could explore the implications of the study's findings for policy decisions related to diplomatic appointments and foreign policy in Nigeria. It could examine the role of diplomacy in shaping elite politics and state legitimacy in other African countries.

  Diplomacy as Patronage: Ambassadorial Appointments, Elite Politics, and State Power in Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the relationship between patronage, elite circulation, and state legitimacy in Nigeria. It highlights the need for a historical analysis of the evolution of diplomatic appointments in Nigeria from the colonial period to the present.

  Diplomacy as Patronage: Ambassadorial Appointments, Elite Politics, and State Power in Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the motivations of supporters of civil sea rescue NGOs. The study highlights the need for further research on the role of civil society in the Mediterranean border space.

  NGO Rescue Ships in the Eyes of Their Supporters · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should examine the long-term effects of SSR on South Sudan's development. Future research should investigate the impact of SSR on other post-conflict settings. Future research should explore the role of SSR in promoting sustainable development and peacebuilding.

  The Security-Development Nexus: Evaluating the Impact of Security Sector Reform on South Sudan’s State-Building · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the empirical evidence presented in this study, the following actions are recommended: • Prioritising SSR as a Governance Catalyst within the R-ARCSS Framework Given the study's finding that SSR implementation explains 65.9% of the variance in governance quality, policymakers should move beyond treating SSR as a mere "train-and-equip" exercise. It is recommended that the R-ARCSS implementation committee explicitly link security milestones to administrative benchmarks. Specifically, the government should prioritise the unification of forces not just for stability, but as a prerequisite for restoring civil administration in conflict-affected states, thereby leveraging the security-governance nexus identified in the data. • Bridging the "Military-Civilian Perception Gap" through Community-Centric Reform security models. This The ANOVA results revealed that military officers perceive significantly higher benefits from SSR than civilians (p < 0.01). To address this disparity, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence should pivot from institutional-focused reforms to includes human the "Security-Community establishment of other Liaison Committees" and municipalities, technical professionalism noted by officers translates into visible safety dividends that can be measured and felt by the civilian populace.

  The Security-Development Nexus: Evaluating the Impact of Security Sector Reform on South Sudan’s State-Building · 2026 · DOI

• Further investigation into the interactions between internal conflicts and external influences is necessary. Longitudinal designs or triangulation of data sources can provide more robust findings. Research on the impact of context-sensitive approaches on security sector reform is needed.

  External Interventions and Local Realities: A Critical Assessment of Security Sector Reform in South Sudan · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need for a critical assessment of the diverse roles played by international actors in security sector reform. Prior research has highlighted the challenges of security sector reform, but there is a gap in understanding the interactions between internal conflicts and external influences.

  External Interventions and Local Realities: A Critical Assessment of Security Sector Reform in South Sudan · 2026 · DOI

• Further research regarding the formations of armed forces, suffering of the local community due to the conflict, and humanitarian aid crisis should be conducted using an empirical approach from multiple perspectives.

  Exploring the Expansions of Ethnic Based Armed Forces and Humanitarian Aid Crisis: Northern Ethiopia in Focus · 2026 · DOI

• The need for a comprehensive analysis of the expansions of ethnic-based armed forces and the humanitarian aid crisis in Northern Ethiopia. The need for a study that uses instrumentalism theory of ethnicity to analyze the problem.

  Exploring the Expansions of Ethnic Based Armed Forces and Humanitarian Aid Crisis: Northern Ethiopia in Focus · 2026 · DOI

• The state-centred approach to African regionalism has been a challenge to the participation of civil society. The lack of effective engagement between the AU and African civil society has hindered global governance in Africa.

  What’s next after a united Africa? Enhancing the AU-African Civil Society Relationship · 2026 · DOI

• The need for a more inclusive and cooperative approach to African regional governance. The gap in understanding the implications of African unity for global governance.

  What’s next after a united Africa? Enhancing the AU-African Civil Society Relationship · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of systematic analysis of the practical applications of jus post bellum principles. The literature on jus post bellum has largely been articulated at a high level of abstraction. The study aims to address this gap by examining the applicability of jus post bellum principles in the Nagorno-Karabakh context.

  JUSTICE AFTER WAR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH: A STUDY OF JUS POST BELLUM PRINCIPLES · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Peacebuilding and International Security

• The Local Turn in Peace Building: a critical agenda for peace · Third World Quarterly · 2013 · 782 citations
• International Peacebuilding: A Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis · American Political Science Review · 2000 · 677 citations
• An Agenda for Peace · International Relations · 1992 · 540 citations
• Is Good Policy Unimplementable? Reflections on the Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice · Development and Change · 2004 · 497 citations
• The Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas Are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi · American Political Science Review · 2004 · 478 citations
• THE ORGANIZATION AS POLITICAL ARENA · Journal of Management Studies · 1985 · 456 citations
• Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace? International Intervention and the Duration of Peace After Civil War · International Studies Quarterly · 2004 · 394 citations
• Saving liberal peacebuilding · Review of International Studies · 2010 · 317 citations
• Post-Conflict Risks · Journal of Peace Research · 2008 · 297 citations
• Unpacking the local turn in peacebuilding: a critical assessment towards an agenda for future research · Third World Quarterly · 2015 · 284 citations

Most recent work

• The Politics of Passage: Studying Checkpoints and Claim Making in Conflict‐affected Settings · Development and Change · 2026
• Why do Armed Groups Return to War after Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration? Introducing the DDR-40 Dataset (1980–2020) · Journal of Conflict Resolution · 2026
• Operationalising the Liptako-Gourma charter: Alliance des États du Sahel Unified Force, sovereignty imaginaries and the (re)making of security order in Central Sahel · Third World Quarterly · 2026
• Peacebuilding, politicization, and youth work: Pathways to youth critical action for sustainable peace in Northern Ireland · Journal of Social Issues · 2026
• Oslo and post-Oslo generations: failed peace processes and peacebuilding perspectives · Peacebuilding · 2026
• Mediation in a fragmented world: competing approaches and enduring practices · Peacebuilding · 2026
• Pathways to Stability: Rethinking Alternative Dispute Resolution and Conflict Prevention Management in the Horn of Africa · Journal of Peace and Diplomacy · 2026
• Do royal speeches in Morocco convey a collective vision for development? A two-level analysis based on critical discourse analysis and vision theory · European Journal of Futures Research · 2026
• The Complex Relationship between Inner and Outer Peace: New Global Insights from the Gallup World Poll · Journal of Happiness Studies · 2026
• (UN)frozen in time: Temporal politics, UN peacekeeping, and the Gaza exception · Review of International Studies · 2026

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