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Transnational Flows

Violence and conflict spread across borders through flows of people, weapons, resources and goods along pathways that are often centuries old. Borderland communities, which frequently share social, linguistic and cultural ties, often are enmeshed in these flows.  XCEPT sheds light on the web of interactions that connect conflicts across borders and regions, sustaining both conflict actors and the communities coping with long-term instability.

Below you can find and download publications by XCEPT partners exploring transnational flows and cross-border conflict.

Briefing paper

3rd November 2026
How shifting trade routes are creating new opportunities for economic connectivity between Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.  

Research report

26th October 2026
In eastern Congo, controlling the movement of goods can be as important as controlling the places where they are produced. Following gold, cacao and ...

Event

21st October 2026
The final XCEPT conference brought together researchers, policymakers and practitioners in London on 21–22 October 2026 to reflect on nine years of cr...

Research report

25th August 2026
As the Houthis seek to expand their influence across the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, new connections are emerging between conflicts in Yemen, Somali...

Briefing paper

13th August 2026
How did armed actors in Afghanistan use their control of key roadblocks to gain rent and power, ultimately undermining support for the Afghan Republic...

Podcast

29th July 2026
How do the Houthis continue to build advanced weapons systems despite years of sanctions, surveillance and military pressure?

Podcast

29th July 2026
How the Houthi movement has developed advanced weapons capabilities through global supply chains, and what implications this has for regional security...

Working paper

8th July 2026
How do checkpoints shape governance, trade and conflict in Yemen, and what can their operation reveal about the competing political orders that have e...

Working paper

2nd July 2026
How is authority exercised along the movement routes that traverse the Sahara, and what does control over mobility reveal about power, trade and gover...

Blog

25th June 2026
Emerging working papers from the Trade, Rents, and Authority in borderland Checkpoint Economies​ (TRACE) project

Briefing paper

24th June 2026
War is conventionally seen as a struggle for territory, but across contexts from Afghanistan to the Congo and Myanmar, the real frontlines run along r...

Research report

24th June 2026
What happens when armed groups no longer depend on supply lines or state backing, but operate as self‑sustaining ecosystems embedded in the global eco...

Working paper

22nd June 2026
Are online scam centres in Southeast Asia merely a form of digital crime, or do they fundamentally rely on control of physical movement across conflic...

Working paper

10th June 2026
How does the proximity of checkpoints to roads influence where and how violence occurs?

Event

18th June 2026
A briefing on how checkpoint economies shape conflict dynamics, governance, humanitarian access, and livelihoods across fragile and conflict-affected ...

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