Violent Organizations

The organization of violent force is a phenomenon which takes many forms. A focus on political allegiance (e.g. “state” and “non-state”) has masked shared traits between disparate organizations such as: government armies, police forces, militias, vigilantes, rebels, political extremist groups and criminal networks. These have more in common than official political discourse allows. When identifying and analysing similarity and variation among these organizations, rather than sorting violent organizations by their putative political allegiance (or lack of such), research within this group is structured around fundamental organizational traits. These include: how members are recruited, trained, placed within an organizational framework, managed and held accountable according to a set of shared norms and laws. But, also, strategic choices and modus operandi in relation to the use of violence; the dynamic between various groups and organizations (violent or not); how violent organizations are used in the pursuit of political and economic goals.

07/02/2020
MoD Funding for Project on Security Forces in the Sahel

The Sahel region is increasingly affected by transnational security threats which spill across national borders, such as insurgency, terror attacks, uncontrolled migration and illicit trafficking in commodities. A key reason for the persistence of those threats is the poor performance of the region’s security forces.

13/12/2018
PRIO Hosts Security Force Assistance Workshop

​December 5-7, PRIO hosted a workshop titled ‘Security Force Assistance in Fragile States’. Involving 30 leading academics and practitioners from around the world, the workshop provided fruitful and stimulating discussions and will stimulate future research agendas.

As part of the workshop, PRIO arranged an open seminar at Litteraturhuset on Wednesday 5 December titled ‘Military Capacity Building as a “One Size Fits All” Solution to Norway and NATO’s Security Challenges in Fragile States’. The seminar was chaired by PRIO senior researcher Øystein H. Rolandsen, and the panel consisted of: Michael Miklaucic, of the US National Defense University and editor of PRISM journal; Ruth Hanau Santini professor at the Università Orientale (Naples); Emily Knowles, director of the Remote Warfare Programme at the Oxford Research Group; and PRIO research professor Kristian Berg Harpviken. Henrik Urdal opened the seminar and welcomed the audience and participants.

Lit hus panel 2 sfa.jpg
Lit hus panel 2 sfa.jpg
Photo: Indigo Trigg-Hauger / PRIO

 

 

 

 

30/03/2017
Successful Doctoral Defense by Marianne Dahl

Marianne Dahl successfully defended her doctoral thesis today, 30 March, at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences - NTNU. The title of her thesis is "Pockets of Opportunity: State Dissident Interactions and Regime Change".

Her trial lecture: "What role does social mobilisation play for regime stability and transition, particularly considering the broader social mobilisation literature?"

04/01/2016
Ragnhild Nordås New Research Director at PRIO

​​​From 1 January 2016, Ragnhild Nordås​ will take over as Research Director for the Conditions of Violence and Peace Department. Ragnhild holds a PhD in political science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She has been at PRIO since 2004, first as a research assistant and then as a PhD researcher at the CSCW between 2005 and 2009. Since 2010, she has been Senior Researcher with CSCW and now CVP, as well as Deputy Editor for the Journal of Peace Research. 
 
Nordås is taking over from Halvard Buhaug​, who has served as Research Director since 1 April 2013. 

17/09/2015
Kristian Skrede Gleditsch Receives Prestigious Award

​​Gleditsch becomes the first Norwegian to receive the Anne-Lise Meier Forschungspreis from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation.

29/01/2015
Kristian S. Gleditsch Receives Research Award


One of the internationally leading social scientists in the field of conflict and democratisation research will work on joint projects with researchers from Konstanz in the next five years. Professor Kristian S. Gleditsch of the University of Essex, Great Britain, also an associate researcher at PRIO, is granted the Anneliese Maier Research Award, including prize money of 250,000 euros. During several stays at the University of Konstanz, the focus will be on reasons for violent conflicts and how to predict them. Additionally, Gleditsch will actively contribute to the promotion of young researchers at the University of Konstanz. He was nominated by Professor Gerald Schneider, political scientist from Konstanz.

26/01/2015
Boko Haram Interview

​​Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, specialist on Nigeria, and PRIO Global Fellow, analyses the multiplication and intensification of the Islamist group Boko Haram's deadly attacks at the outset of this year in an interview for Libération by Jean-Louis le Touzet.​

Read more at the PRIO Blog.​

04/08/2014
Kristian Skrede Gleditsch included in Prestigious List

Kristian Skrede Gleditsch is one out of 9 scientists with affiliation to Norwegian institutions who is included in the new list compiled by Thomson Reuters, and is also the only UK-based political scientist to be included in this prestigious international list of the most highly cited researchers in recent years. Kristian has his main position as Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Essex​, and holds a 20 % position at PRIO.

27/03/2014
Erica Chenoweth Receives Karl Deutsch Award

​​Today, Erica Chenoweth is awarded the Karl Deutsch Award by the International Studies Association. ​The award was established in 1981 to recognize scholars in IR under age 40, or within ten years of defending their dissertation, and is presented annually to a scholar who is judged to have made (through a body of publications) the most significant contribution to the study of International Relations and Peace Research.​

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