• About
  • Warlord Survival
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  • About
  • Warlord Survival
  • Publications
  • Teaching
  • Media
  • Contact

I am an Associate Professor at Radboud University’s Department of Political Science and Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM), in Nijmegen (Netherlands). I hold a PhD in political science from Northwestern University (United States) and Sciences Po Paris (France). I am also a member of the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA)’s International Working Group on Afghanistan for the 2023-2027 period.

My first book, Warlord Survival: The Delusion of State Building in Afghanistan, came out with Cornell University Press in December 2019. My new research project looks at rebel-to-state transition in Afghanistan and beyond and was recently awarded a VIDI grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO)’.

My work has been published in journals such as PS: Political Science & Politics,  International Studies Review, Security Studies, Perspectives on Politics, Civil Wars, Small Wars & Insurgencies, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Conflict Security & Development, and Etudes Internationales, and featured on blogs and mainstreamed media such as Political Violence at a Glance, The Conversation, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post‘s Monkey Cage. I also regularly engage with policy-makers and frequently appear in the media (e.g. Al Jazeera, NPR, France 24, France Info, France Culture).

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Latest publications
  • Taxation Under Pressure: The Systemisation of Rebel Taxation in Afghanistan (2001-2021). Civil Wars (2026).
  • Ambiguity Politics: Governance and Institutions in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan. PS: Political Science & Politics 59:4 (2026). With Jasmine Bhatia and Florian Weigand.
  • Is it Even Worth It? The Ethics of Researching Armed Groups in ‘The Field‘. Conflict, Security & Development (2024). With Niamatullah Ibrahimi.
  • Assessing the Effectiveness of European Union Civilian CSDP Missions Involved in Security Sector Reform: The Cases of Afghanistan, Mali and Niger. Stockholm: SIPRI (May 2024). With Jaïr van der Lijn, Gretchen Baldwin, Adam Sandor, Pauline Poupart, Makama Bawa Oumarou, and Saidou Oumarou Mahamane
  • The Supply and Demand of Rebel Governance. International Studies Review 26: 1 (2024). With Adrian Florea

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