Dr Nadine Ansorg

Nadine Ansorg is Reader in International Conflict Analysis at the University of Kent and Director of the Conflict Analysis Research Centre (CARC). Her research focuses on institutional reform in post-conflict societies, with particular attention to security sector reform, peacebuilding, and the role of international and local state and non-state actors in shaping post-war political order. A central theme of her work is how peace is negotiated, institutionalised, and sustained in divided and post-conflict societies, including forms of political order that extend beyond the European nation-state model.

Methodologically, Nadine adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, including comparative methods, fieldwork, and interviews. Her empirical research has a strong regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa, while also engaging with broader comparative and theoretical debates in conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation. She regularly collaborates with civil society organisations, international donor agencies, and policy practitioners, and her work seeks to bridge academic research and policy-relevant insights.

Alongside her research, Nadine has extensive academic leadership experience. She served as Head of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent from 2021 to 2023, and has previously held roles as Director of Graduate Studies (Taught) and Director of the MA in International Conflict Analysis. She is currently a Senate representative at the University of Kent and an Associated Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg.

Nadine's research focuses on institutional reform in post-conflict societies, the role of international state and non-state actors in these reform processes, and the conditions for establishing peace in divided and post-conflict societies. She uses a mixed-methods approach to explore dynamics and conditions of peacebuilding in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Nadine welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD candidates interested in research on conflict analysis, negotiation and mediation, peacebuilding, security sector reform, and post-conflict institutional design. She is particularly interested in supervising projects that engage critically with questions of power, legitimacy, governance, and international intervention in conflict-affected contexts, as well as projects that adopt innovative theoretical or methodological approaches.

Prospective doctoral students are encouraged to get in touch with a research proposal outlining their main idea(s) and proposed research question.