Log in
Jackson's research on post-conflict state-building has shaped processes of international intervention and internal reconciliation during and following conflicts in Africa and South Asia. His work has had impact in two main areas.
First, in Nepal where Jackson has directly contributed to securing successful implementation of the peace agreement to demobilise, rehabilitate and reintegrate 20,000 Maoist combatants though involvement in mediation between the Nepali military and government on the one hand, and Maoist combatants on the other.
Second, Jackson's research along with a government commissioned evaluation of the UK's peace intervention in Sierra Leone has resulted in the provision of expert advice on security sector reform to UK and foreign governments and non-governmental organisations, through:
Adrian Leftwich's work has made a decisive contribution to changing the way that decision-makers understand `politics' in development policy and practice. Specifically, Leftwich contributed to a step change in the UK Department for International Development's (DfID) approach to the governance agenda, from a narrow technocratic focus on administrative capacity—formal structures and rules—to a much broader conceptualisation of governance as a political process. His `thinking and working politically' framework, encompassing leadership, coalitions and political economy analysis, has shaped the thinking, not only of DfID, but also the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and major international NGOs.
Research by Duncan McCargo at the University of Leeds has changed the way in which domestic and international policymakers, NGOs, the media and the Thai public have understood and engaged with the ongoing insurgency in southern Thailand. Since 2008, this award-winning, ESRC-funded work has played a key part in building consensus around the need for a political solution such as autonomy or decentralisation in the region. The research has supported peace initiatives,changed the implementation of security policy, and provided a road map for international donors seeking to help end the conflict.
Award-winning and ESRC-funded research by Professor Matthew Flinders and Professor Colin Hay into political participation and public engagement has led not only to direct and on-going changes within the political system (notably in relation to the operation and governance of parliamentary select committees) but has also delivered wider impact through the promotion of a major public debate — embracing several million people within and beyond the UK — concerning the need to understand and defend the essence of democratic politics. Additional impact has been delivered on parliamentary outreach both in the UK and internationally through the development with the Houses of Parliament of partnership-based teaching of politics. The breadth and depth of this public scholarship has been recognised through a range of awards and prizes (including the Political Studies Association's Political Communicator of the Year prize and an ESRC Impact Prize).
The rise in Islamist armed activism has led to de-radicalization being seen as a major means of preventing terrorism, alongside classic security and counter-terrorism tactics. Since 2008, Dr Omar Ashour, from the University of Exeter, has emerged as a leading expert on de-radicalization and transitions from armed to unarmed activism, advising governments (e.g. UK, Canada. Netherlands), intergovernmental organisations (e.g. UN and EU) and NGOs. His research has informed policy-makers and debate, and contributed to developing initiatives in de-radicalization. both inside and outside of the Muslim world. His extensive media involvement has raised the level of public debate and public understanding both within the UK and internationally.
Chantal Mouffe's insights on agonistic democracy have had significant impact on political discourse, policy and political strategy, most obviously as an intellectual resource for the approach to governing instigated by the Argentinian President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, often referred to as the National and Popular Model of Democracy. The actions of key actors in the governing regime have been influenced by reading her work and interacting directly with Mouffe. This is the subject of heated discussions in news media of all political persuasions. Mouffe's analysis of right-wing populism has also affected the political position and strategy of politicians in Belgium, informing debates on how to resist the growth of extreme right-wing parties. Beyond mainstream politics, she has shaped the work of artists: for example, through her invited residency at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels.
This case study reports three inter-related impacts from Peter Clegg's research at UWE, Bristol. Firstly, his research has helped to shape the reform programme and the return to self-government in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Secondly, it has helped to frame the United Nations Decolonisation Committee's views on how best to implement the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. Thirdly, it has assisted the UK Overseas Territories governments to create an enabling environment for the protection and promotion of the human rights and dignity of People Living with HIV. It has done so by ensuring that these governments' laws and policies facilitate HIV prevention, care, treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Peter Hallward has undertaken the most detailed research in English on recent Haitian politics, focusing on the complex travails of Haitian democracy that began soon after the Duvalier dictatorship collapsed in the mid-1980s. This research has had a significant input into the understanding, advocacy and practices of NGOs working in Haiti, and on journalists and campaigners internationally, with regard to questions of freedom, equality and democracy, and the relationship between domestic and international factors in Haitian politics. Impact has been on opinion-formation and advocacy in NGOs, international media and public political discourse regarding international aspects of Haitian politics.
The Middle East Centre (MEC) has achieved a unique standing in providing informed analysis of the region, based on its cumulative academic expertise. It has made significant contributions to the media's and the public's understanding of political and societal developments in the Middle East. The MEC has given advice both to emerging Arab democracies on their own political systems, and to other governments on their relations with the countries of the region. The centre itself has also become a place of neutral ground, where individuals from opposite sides in conflicts in the region can meet, away from local tensions.
The research conducted by Professor Timothy Edmunds has had three primary impacts. First, it has played a role in framing policy and setting the operational agenda for security sector reform (SSR) programmes by national governments and international organisations. Second, the research has had a direct influence on the substance of security and defence reforms in parts of the post-communist and western Balkan regions, particularly in relation to the consolidation of democratic control over the security sector. Finally, it has had an impact on the evolution of British defence policy and armed forces since 2007, and on the debate leading up to the introduction of a new Armed Forces Covenant in May 2011. The research addresses change and transformation in military, police and intelligence agencies through the development and evolution of the concept of SSR. In so doing, it examines how security actors can both threaten and facilitate democratisation and human security goals in post-authoritarian and post-conflict societies, and the manner in which these issues can be addressed through international policy. It also `reverse engineers' the questions and lessons of SSR to interrogate wider challenges of defence transformation and civil-military relations in western democracies, and particularly the UK.