Nicholas Marsh
Senior Researcher
Additional positions:
Health and Safety Representative (Verneombud)
Email: nic@prio.org
Twitter: @NISATprio @marshynic
Research Interests
NISAT online database and archive of small arms transfers, production, and regulations. See http://nisat.prio.org
Twitter account on the small arms trade at @NisatPrio
Primary:
- Global trade in small arms and light weapons.
- Relationship between arms, governance and violence.
- Arms trafficking.
- Data and methodology used to research the trade in small arms and light weapons.
- Arms acquisition by non-state parties involved in civil war.
- Arms export and transfer controlls.
Secondary:
- The role of regional organisations (in the arms trade).
- The EU's security and foreign policy (as concerns arms).
- Multilateral diplomacy (concerning arms control).
- Armed violence.
- Homicide (with firearms).
- Conflict deaths (with small arms and light weapons).
Languages spoken:
English, learning Norwegian
Work experience:
2014 - 2015
Consultant to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, worked on a global report on firearms trafficking.
2004 - 2008
Chair, European research Network COST Action A25 'European Small Arms and the Perpetuation of Violence'
2001 - present
Research Fellow, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo
2001 - present
Consultant to the Small Arms Survey (work on the global trade in small arms and light weapons)
1995 - 2001
Several positions, including work for the UK Defence Forum.
Education:
Dr.Philos, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo - 2020
MA International Conflict Analysis - University of Kent at Canterbury - 1994-1995
BSc Economics - International Relations and Area Studies (East Asia) - University of Wales, Aberystwyth - 1991-1994
Latest publications
All publications
Consequences of the Invasion of Ukraine for Migration from the Global South
PRIO Policy Brief
Disaggregating Security Specific Provisions In Peace Agreements: The Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration (DDR) Dataset, 1975-2021
Conference Paper
Great Power Competition and China’s Security Assistance to Africa: Arms, Training, and Influence
Journal Article in Journal of Global Security Studies
Protest and Insecurity: Trends in the Global South since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Conflict Trends
Energy Crisis Amidst the Ukraine War: Three Scenarios
PRIO Policy Brief
The Energy Crisis Hits Europe: Resonances for the Global South and Climate Change
PRIO Policy Brief
Dual-Use AI Technology in China, the US and the EU: Strategic Implications for the Balance of Power
PRIO Paper
Ukraine Food Export Agreement: Not Yet Delivering
Popular Article in PRIO Blogs
Food Insecurity and Social Instability in Light of the Ukraine-Russia War
PRIO Policy Brief
The Role of the Invasion of Ukraine in the 2022 Food Supply Crisis
PRIO Policy Brief
Latest news
All news
NORM Project Kick-Off Meeting
The NORM project ('Shaping the Digital World Order: Norms and Agency along the Digital Silk Road in Southeast Asia') was officially launched with a kick-off meeting on 4 May.
Ukraine: PRIO Expertise
The most relevant PRIO researchers to comment on aspects relevant to the Russia-Ukraine War are listed here.
Call for Applications: Research Assistant Position at PRIO
PRIO seeks to recruit a Research Assistant in a 50% position, to work for 10 months on the DISARM project within the CVP department.
New Project on Disarmament
The DISARM project seeks is to identify the impact of disarmament processes on conflict recurrence and pinpoint the conditions under which disarmament can be the most effective. This is one out of five PRIO projects that today have received funding from the Research Council of Norway.
NORM: New Project on the Digital Silk Road
The NORM project aims at finding out how China’s Digital Silk Road shapes the digital world order and its norms, and the agency that recipient developing countries exercise in response. This is one out of five PRIO projects that today have received funding from the Research Council of Norway.
PRIO Joins EU Network of Non-Proliferation and disarmament think tanks
PRIO has now joined the European Network of non-proliferation and disarmament think tanks, established by the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium. The Network gathers researchers who wish to share their work with their academic colleagues, as well as with both European authorities and the key decision-makers within EU Member States.
Successful Thesis Defense by Nicholas Marsh
Nicholas Marsh has successfully defended his dissertation for the degree dr.philos: "Because We Have the Maxim Gun: The Relationship Between Arms Acquisition by Non‐State Groups and Violence".
Researchers from the PRIO Middle East Centre participated in Institute for Palestine Studies seminar in Beirut
Upon invitation from the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS), Middle East Centre researchers Júlia Palik, Bruno Oliviera Martins, and Nic Marsh participated in a closed seminar on the future strategic changes and challenges in the Middle East.
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.
The Reality of Firearms Trafficking
A new study published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, that has been co-authored by Nicholas Marsh of PRIO, is based upon information reported by 48 countries covering the years 2010-2013 and provides the most extensive available picture of trafficking in firearms, and their parts and ammunition. Previous research has tended to be case studies that provide in-depth information on one location, but not an overview of the wider picture.
Read more in this blogpost by Nic Marsh.
Latest events
All events
Arms Trade Controls in an Era of Geopolitical Tensions
One Year after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – Geopolitical Impacts for Europe, the Middle East and Sahel
The 2022 Global Food Security Crisis: Risks of Social Conflict and Effects on Development
The Global Competition for AI Technology Dominance
Negotiating Disarmament
Weapons After War: The Symbolism of Disarmament
The Legal and Ethical Responsibilities of Providing Security Force Assistance
What Role for Norwegian Soldiers in Fragile States?
European Security Force Assistance and the rise of Great Power Competition
The Dilemmas of Western Engagement in the Syrian Civil War: How to avoid responsibility while governing the outcome?
Current projects
All projects
Arms Export and the Peace Nation
Shaping the Digital World Order: Norms and Agency along the Digital Silk Road in Southeast Asia (NORM)
DISARM: How post-accord disarmament affects peace and conflict dynamics
The Impact of Security Force Assistance on State Fragility (SFAssist)
Small Arms survey
Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NISAT)
Latest blog posts
Ukraine Food Export Agreement: Not Yet Delivering
Mass Shootings Are Mostly Committed by Men: How Might a Gender Lens Help Us Understand This?
Security Logics of Africa’s Divided Position on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Arms and Influence in Ukraine
