Working with journalists

Media engagement

The Centre on Armed Groups’ team and experts are available for media interviews and background briefings for journalists on the full range of contexts where we work, from Myanmar to Syria to Ukraine to Haiti.

Email us to arrange an interview

To ensure prompt attention, please include the country/topic/armed group and, if relevant, the expert’s name in the subject line of your message.

Our mission

The Centre on Armed Groups supports efforts to reduce violence and end armed conflict.

Our work in the media

EL PAÍS

“Instead of limiting their efforts to military fighting, they [the Taliban] had begun governing territory and the population. Widespread corruption made it easier for them to present themselves as an alternative authority.”
Florian Weigand

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Foreign Policy

“Border fortifications like fences may not simply disrupt smuggling networks but instead reconfigure them, potentially consolidating power among more organized and well-connected actors while marginalizing smaller, less-resourced participants.”
Shalaka Thakur, Max Gallien and Florian Weigand

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NYT

“HTS decided to totally restructure the way that they were organized. Their brigades were formed as specialized units with different functions like infantry, mortars, etc. In addition, it was much more centralized.”

Jerome Drevon

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Washington Institute

“The most probable outcome of the current UN-backed “roadmap” peace plan is escalating violence. The Houthis would likely exploit a breakthrough in the process to grow stronger and dominate additional parts of Yemen.”

Nadwa Al Dawsari

ICTD Blog
Al Jazeera

“Responses to the crisis in DRC are often informed by simplistic readings of the causes of war. Pundits and influencers – including on social media – rehash tired colonial tropes about natural resources and ethnic hatred.”

Koen Vlassenroot and Christoph Vogel

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Al Jazeera

“I don’t think these divides at this point are wide enough to trigger violent conflict. There’s no indication that the Taliban is divided enough to turn on itself.”

Ashley Jackson

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RFI

“The risk is that we will produce even better criminals than before if we are not able to offer them something in the long term.”

Patrick Naef

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New Humanitarian

“Population control, rather than territorial control, has become a key practice of West African jihadists.”

Ashley Jackson, Florian Weigand and Leigh Mayhew

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War on the Rocks

“As African Union forces continue to leave, al-Shabaab has gone on its own offensive, retaking many former African Union bases or assaulting waning bases still occupied.”
James Barnett

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Economist

“The Taliban are using the Qosh Tepa Canal to project ‘autonomy, independence and strength.’”

Ashley Jackson

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TED

“Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world's population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth.”

Anjan Sundaram

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France 24

“Assad offered Moscow a foothold against NATO's eastern flank and a stage to test military capabilities.”

Emadeddin Badi

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Modern War Institute

“The dominant understanding of control, viewed through the lens of territory, insufficiently captures how armed groups operate. Control does not have clear dividing lines or even require armed groups to be physically present.”

Ashley Jackson, Florian Weigand and Leigh Mayhew

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Politico

“The line between what is IS and ISIS-K is often blurred when it comes to claiming responsibility for attacks. This conveniently magnifies media attention to both entities.”

Ashley Jackson

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New Lines

“Twelve years after gaining its independence from Sudan and five years after the peace agreement that sought to end the young nation’s horrific civil war, South Sudan is stuck in a violent limbo between peace and war.”

James Barnett

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LSE Blog

“In order to build legitimacy during armed conflict, it is not tradition or some ideological claim that matters. How people experience day-to-day interactions is crucial.”

Florian Weigand

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New Humanitarian

“You can’t prevent aid diversion if those who speak about it are punished. That’s just a recipe for perpetuating diversion and corruption.”

Ashley Jackson

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Working with journalists

Our mission

Our work in the media

EL PAÍS

Foreign Policy

NYT

Washington Institute

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

RFI

New Humanitarian

War on the Rocks

Economist

TED

France 24

Modern War Institute

Politico

New Lines

LSE Blog

New Humanitarian