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What drives individuals to join and remain loyal to armed groups?

Amidst the chaos of the Syria war, what drives individuals to join and remain loyal to armed groups? This journal article focuses on the Sham Front, exploring the role of external influences, group dynamics, and personal experiences.

Research report

18th November 2024
This paper examines how Iraq and Jordan are addressing the Captagon trade within their borders, outlines current gaps in the literature on Captagon, a...

Article

30th October 2024
This XCEPT article investigates what drives individuals to join and remain loyal to armed groups amidst the chaos of the Syrian wars by focusing on th...

Publication

2nd October 2024
This report assesses the impact of war on Sudan’s higher education and academic research and how these institutions have, to some degree, continued t...

Publication

30th September 2024
This XCEPT policy brief examines how the kidnapping in Arsal, Lebanon affects victims’ families and shapes their attitudes towards the state, justice,...

Research report

25th September 2024
This XCEPT research report examines why western support to northeastern Syria has been successful in enabling short-term stability but has struggled t...

Briefing paper

25th September 2024
This policy brief presents key findings and policy analysis and recommendations from the XCEPT Research Report ‘Challenges to effective stabilisation ...

Research report

10th September 2024
In Syria’s border regions, changes in demographics, economics, and security mean that an inter-Syrian peace process will require consensus among main ...

Briefing paper

6th August 2024
Based on first-hand interviews with Yezidi communities and diaspora voices, this XCEPT briefing note explores feelings of marginalisation and stigmati...

Article

1st August 2024
This XCEPT article analyses how Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE have determined that their national security goes beyond their physical b...

Article

30th October 2024
This XCEPT article investigates what drives individuals to join and remain loyal to armed groups amidst the chaos of the Syrian wars by focusing on th...

Publication

2nd October 2024
This report assesses the impact of war on Sudan’s higher education and academic research and how these institutions have, to some degree, continued t...

Publication

30th September 2024
This XCEPT policy brief examines how the kidnapping in Arsal, Lebanon affects victims’ families and shapes their attitudes towards the state, justice,...

Research report

25th September 2024
This XCEPT research report examines why western support to northeastern Syria has been successful in enabling short-term stability but has struggled t...

Briefing paper

25th September 2024
This policy brief presents key findings and policy analysis and recommendations from the XCEPT Research Report ‘Challenges to effective stabilisation ...

Blog

4th September 2024
As humanitarian and reconstruction efforts are helping an Iraqi city deal with its violent past, one tree-planting project is helping to safeguard its...

Briefing paper

6th August 2024
Based on first-hand interviews with Yezidi communities and diaspora voices, this XCEPT briefing note explores feelings of marginalisation and stigmati...

Article

1st August 2024
This XCEPT article analyses how Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE have determined that their national security goes beyond their physical b...

Research report

23rd April 2024
New research by Bodhi Global Analysis examines the gendered dimensions of the climate-conflict nexus in two cross-border conflict systems: the Mandera...

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Blog

17th October 2024
In an interview, Kheder Khaddour and Armenak Tokmajyan discuss the country’s borders and why they have remained intact.

Blog

17th October 2024
The killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is the latest in a history of political-sectarian assassinations in Lebanon, and will likely intensif...

Blog

15th October 2024
The contestation over gold – and its connection to transnational networks – is becoming a major driver of Ethiopia’s complex conflicts.

Blog

4th September 2024
As humanitarian and reconstruction efforts are helping an Iraqi city deal with its violent past, one tree-planting project is helping to safeguard its...

Blog

27th August 2024
XCEPT researcher Sam Hibbs on how models of conflict allow us to consider how various elements interact side by side, and they help researchers from d...

Blog

22nd July 2024
XCEPT  researcher Nils Mallock on his experience researching the psychological causes of violent and high-risk political action in Iraq and Lebanon.

Video

15th July 2024
Researchers working in borderland regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa share their experiences and approaches to conducting fieldwork.

Blog

2nd July 2024
XCEPT researchers at ICSR consider whether the heightened presence of the Soldiers of God militia in Lebanon is a new force, or an echo of old histori...

Podcast

27th June 2024
Why do groups enter into conflict when a peaceful resolution could be reached?

Event

29th April 2024
Researchers from across the Local Research Network gathered in Bangkok for a workshop hosted by The Asia Foundation.

Event

27th March 2024
Join us on 27 March, 14:00 GMT to discuss changes to economic power in Afghanistan.

Event

26th March 2024
Join us and Bodhi Global Analysis on Tuesday 26 March to discuss recent findings from research on the gender, climate, and security nexus in the Horn ...

Event

22nd March 2024
Join us on Friday 22 March, 15:00-16:00 GMT, for a discussion on responses to transnational terrorist groups in West Africa.

Event

21st March 2024
Join this webinar on Thursday, 21 March 15:00-16:00 GMT, on Lebanon’s security assistance and border management, where experts will explore the impact...

Event

29th February 2024
On 29 February 2024, XCEPT partner Chatham House will hold a webinar focusing on Niger’s coup and regional security implications.

Event

27th February 2024
Online Q&A discussion, 27 February 14:30 – 15:15 GMT/ 09:30 – 10:15 ET

Event

14th December 2023
On 14 December 2023, XCEPT partner Chatham House will hold a webinar focusing on the increasingly complex web of national, military, and militant inte...

Event

13th June 2023
On 13 and 14 June 2023, XCEPT hosted a workshop in Nairobi that brought together policymakers, researchers and practitioners to consider research and ...

Event

5th May 2023
As part of PeaceCon 2023, Nika Saeedi, Dr Nafees Hamid, Dr Simbal Khan and Amadou Tall will provide insights on how development practitioners and poli...

Event

4th May 2023
As part of PeaceCon 2023, Janet Adama Mohammed, Dr. Patta Scott-Villiers and Umar Abdullahi Eggi will present findings from research on changes in cro...

Event

28th March 2023
This online XCEPT panel discussion assessed the differing impacts on the Horn of Africa and Syria of disruption of global commodities, such as grain, ...

Event

27th March 2023
At this event Dr Fiona McEwen, Dr Nafees Hamid, and Dr Rajan Basra offer up new perspectives on what can motivate someone to engage in terrorism, and ...

Event

20th February 2023
At this event, King’s College London researchers Dr Craig Larkin and Dr Inna Rudolf will explore how competing narratives of a traumatic past are shap...

News

26th October 2022
Addressing securitization in conflict zones in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia

Event

20th July 2022
As part of the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) program, the X-Border Local Research Network held a report launch event to ex...

Event

26th May 2022
The Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme held a panel event to discuss the experiences of young people growing...

Event

20th January 2022
The Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme held a virtual panel discussion exploring how technology is advancing...

Event

7th December 2021
On 7 December, XCEPT team members Dr Alexander Ramsbotham of Conciliation Resources and Peter Beaumont of Satellite Applications Catapult took part in...

Event

22nd January 2021
To discuss the Algerian-Tunisian border relationship, the Carnegie Middle East Center hosted a virtual panel discussion on Monday, June 22nd. The eve...

Event

22nd January 2021
On Friday, January 22, the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center held a virtual panel discussion to examine the local actors and geopolitical s...

Event

19th October 2020
This is an interactive report on how individuals move and interact across borders and transnationally. The report summarises the outcomes of these di...

Event

20th August 2020
The session provides insights into the needs of refugees, their coping strategies, family ties abroad, and the adequacy and limitations of the current...

Event

20th August 2020
A focus on recent research on local populations’ everyday experience of transnational connectedness in the Horn and the implications for the aid and d...

Our research

XCEPT consists of three research components with different constellations of research partners:

X-Border Local Research Network

What are the causes and implications of conflict in border areas? How can we develop local research skills to investigate these issues?

Transnational Conflict Dynamics and Policy Responses

How do conflicts connect across borders through flows of people, weapons, and resources? How should policy responses adapt?

Violent and Peaceful Behaviour

What behavioural factors drive violence and enable peace? What are the implications for recovery and conflict prevention?  

What is XCEPT?

The Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme brings together world-leading experts to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, and the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour.

Funded by UK International Development, XCEPT offers actionable research to inform policies and programmes that support peace.

PARTNERS

Chemonics International is one of the world’s leading partners in international development. As the world’s largest government funded development practitioner, Chemonics has a unique understanding of what works on programmes across fragile and conflict affected states.

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The Asia Foundation is a non-profit international development organisation committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia.

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Chatham House is a world-leading policy institute, with a mission to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world.

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King’s College London (KCL) is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. Research is core to King’s: it is what we do, what we care about and how we educate.

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Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center is an independent research institute based in Beirut, Lebanon, that is part of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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The Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is an independent, non-profit organisation, founded in Sudan in 2001, whose researchers currently work across eastern and central Africa.

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Conciliation Resources is an independent international organisation working with people involved in conflict to prevent violence and build peace, and providing advice, support and practical resources.

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The Satellite Applications Catapult is an independent, innovation and technology research organisation. Our mission is ‘to innovate for a better world, empowered by satellites. We help organisations make use of, and benefit from, satellite technologies.

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