I am Professor of International Security in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, England, UK. A political scientist by background, I specialise in the management of contemporary security challenges, especially in the prevention and settlement of ethnic conflicts and in post-conflict state-building in deeply divided and war-torn societies. I have extensive expertise in the post-Soviet space, and I have also worked on a wide range of other conflicts elsewhere, including in the Middle East and in Africa, as well as in South and Southeast Asia. Bridging the divide between academia and policymaking, I have been involved in various phases of conflict settlement processes, including in the disputed territories in Iraq, in Transnistria and Gagauzia (Moldova), and in Yemen.

I am the co-founder and co-editor of Ethnopolitics.