Deadline Extended: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on Transatlantic Defence

Application Deadline: 14th February 2020

The Changing Character of War Centre (CCW) wishes to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the field of Transatlantic Defence. CCW conducts interdisciplinary research on armed conflict from historical, legal, philosophical, sociological, economic, anthropological and political perspectives. The Centre is based at Pembroke College, and the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, with a range of global partners. 

The fellowships are open to applicants of any nationality, and are tenable for two years from 20 April 2020. The post-holder will be responsible for research on US relations with Northern Europe in the field of Defence Studies. They will also pursue their own research in one of the core disciplines of the Centre.

Applicants should have a doctorate in the relevant field of research.  We particularly welcome applications from candidates who can demonstrate:

  • Strong research skills and the potential to contribute research and  published outputs in the specified field of the highest standards, commensurate with their career stage;

  • Experience in high quality journal publication

  • Knowledge and understanding of the Centre’s research agenda, particularly in this field, and a demonstrable ability to develop, plan and implement the Centre’s strategic aims in consultation with the Director;

  • Experience of engaging both academic and practitioner audiences in research activities and advanced research methods;

  • Experience of managing projects and developing individuals, especially experienced or senior professionals, government, and senior armed forces personnel.

 The Research Fellow will be expected to engage in high level research in the field of transatlantic defence and disseminate this knowledge with academic and practitioner audiences. In addition, they will provide advice to the Centre’s Visiting Research Fellows in this field. They will contribute to the overall activities of CCW, for instance, by engaging in research conversations, seminars, conferences and collaborations. They will be expected to be actively involved in sharing and communicating their research. The Research Fellow will be based at Pembroke College, where they will work under the supervision of Dr Robert Johnson, Director of CCW.

Applications should be submitted by email to elizabeth.robson@pmb.ox.ac.uk by noon on Friday 14th February 2020 and should include:

1.       A letter of application indicating briefly how your training, education, and work plans/history meet the selection criteria outlined in the further particulars;

2.       A separate statement of no more than 2000 words setting out current and future research, and in particular, what work you envisage doing in this Centre,

3.       A detailed curriculum vitae/resume;

4.       You are asked to arrange for two referees to email in support of your application by the closing date.


Please see the Further Particulars for full information. The University Terms and Conditions shown elsewhere on this site do not apply.

 The salary for the role is £32,000 per annum.  Benefits include a shared office and all lunches and dinners when the college kitchens are open.

 The College is an equal opportunities employer. Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Oxford.

Funding extended for CONPEACE project

CCW’s project, ‘From Conflict Actors to Architects of Peace: Promoting Security and Development across Borders’, has been awarded continued funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of the Government of Canada until September 2020.

The project, which began in November 2018, strengthens civil society to identify and express security concerns to national-level policy-makers, in the context of the peace treaty between the FARC and the government of Colombia. Its research also contributes to increasing the knowledge and understanding of the UN and the Colombian government on the reconfiguration of armed actors and the impact of the humanitarian crises at Colombia’s borders with Venezuela and Ecuador.

This is part of a wider CONPEACE programme running since 2016, in partnership with UNHCR, and also funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation and the Oxford-Berlin Initiative.

Job Opportunity: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The Changing Character of War Centre is seeking to employ a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a research team for CCW’s “From Conflict Actors to Architects of Peace (CONPEACE) programme directed by Dr Annette Idler.

The project is a new and exciting research strand under the umbrella of CCW’s CONPEACE programme (https://conpeace.ccw.ox.ac.uk) which explores changing security landscapes in transitions from war to peace. In 2016, the Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group, the FARC-EP, signed a remarkable peace deal. While this agreement led to the FARC’s demobilization, major challenges remain to achieve sustainable peace and to guarantee basic security conditions, especially for those living in the country’s most marginalized regions. Moreover, the cross-border effects of the unstable situation in neighbouring Venezuela further contributes to the complexities of a successful transition from war to peace.

Against this backdrop, this project, implemented in close partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), investigates the changing security landscape along and across the Colombia-Venezuela and Colombia-Ecuador border. We trace how distinct configurations among various violent non-state groups (what we call “non-state order”) near and across the border influence security, yielding specific protection challenges. We also analyse how the “border effect” intensifies insecurities in these vulnerable borderlands in the context of the arrival of a large number of Venezuelans. The project has three major components:

  • Enhance knowledge through research and analysis,

  • Strengthen civil society capacities to mitigate the border effect and the spillover of the Venezuelan crisis through knowledge exchange,

  • Enhance understanding of the centre-periphery disconnect in the region through cross-stakeholder engagement.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be expected to engage in advanced independent research in the field of conflict, peace, and/or security studies, with a focus on the Andean borderlands and its international context, to publish research of an internationally excellent standard, and participate fully in the research life of the Changing Character of War Centre. 

The duties of the Post-doctoral Research Fellow will include carrying out research, assisting the Project Director in the academic and practical organisation of academic events in Oxford and in Colombia; to assist with publications; and to assist with the development of plans for the future extension and consolidation of CCW’s CONPEACE programme in Oxford.

Grade and salary : Grade 7.1: £32,236 per annum

Hours: Full time – 37.5 hours per week

Contract type: The fixed-term appointment will start as soon as possible, for a duration of one year in the first instance, with a possibility of contract extension for up to three years, subject to funding availability.

Location: Pembroke College, St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1DW

Deadline: Tuesday 17 December

Ax:son Johnson grant announced

The Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit generously fund the work of CCW.  A private foundation, Ax:Son Johnson promotes scientific and scholarly research with a strong current focus on the humanities and social sciences. The Foundation supports individuals, ideas and scholarly projects that perhaps run the risk of being ignored by current trends, and which are of decisive benefit to the public interest by preserving vital traditions and by renewing and developing society. It is an organisation true to the principles and aspirations of the Enlightenment, and fosters a community of scholars.  

The Ax:son Johnson Foundation has announced 3 years of funding which will allow us to stage our public seminars, specialist symposia, and our critical policy engagement work. Above all, it allows us to continue our deep research in armed conflict.

Looking ahead, we intend to recruit a new team member to work on the Trans-Atlantic defence relationship with the UK and Northern Europe.

We would like to express our gratitude to the Foundation for this support of our work, and the opportunity to host visiting research fellows at Oxford.

Justice, Politics, and Security: Understanding Transitions across Colombia’s Margins

Forum: Justice, Politics, and Security: Understanding Transitions across Colombia’s Margins

Nuffield College, University of Oxford

7-8 November 2019

CONPEACE held its first collaborative workshop with colleagues from the Institute of Latin American Studies (LAI), Freie Universität Berlin, at Nuffield College on 7 and 8 November 2019. The workshop was the first contribution to a joint research activity between the two partners in the context of the Oxford Berlin Research Partnership. A year earlier, the initiative had won a grant from the seed funding of the partnership.

During the two days, we held a keynote panel discussion and a collaborative research workshop with presentations on the most cutting-edge research from both sides. During the panel discussion, CONPEACE’s Annette Idler discussed questions from Sérgio Costa with Deputy Head of the Colombian mission to the UK, Vicente Echandía. During the workshop on the following day Prof. Sérgio Costa, together with Edna Martinez, Manuel Góngora, and Sergio Coronoda from Berlin discussed their research on Ex-FARC women combatants, the effects of human rights and constitutional courts on the transitional justice process, and land disputes in post-accord Colombia, respectively. From Oxford, Dr Jan Boesten, Dr Annette Idler, Dr Daire McGill, and Dr Katerina Tkacova presented their work on institutional trajectories in the course of transitions, borderland struggles in Colombia, marginality and participation in Colombia, and a new research paradigm to quantitatively study Colombia’s conflict, respectively. The event was not only successful because the discussions generated various new research leads to be united in a report and followed up with future research, but also because the keynote discussion attracted numerous visitors, including former Colombian President, and Peace Nobel Prize laureate, Juan Manuel Santos.

Photo 7 November.jpg

Lawrence of Arabia on War

Dr Rob Johnson’s book “Lawrence of Arabia on War: The Campaign in the Desert 1916- 1918” will be published on 30 April 2020 with Osprey.

Lawrence of Arabia on War is a critical appraisal of T. E. Lawrence’s ideas on war, examining his guerrilla campaign and his theories on strategy, juxtaposed against the operations conducted by the Ottoman Empire and those of the Allied army in Palestine. Dr Rob Johnson set out the strategic and political context of Lawrence’s thinking, contrasting this with his understanding of the nature of war, and how he conceived of strategic success beyond the tactical activities of insurgents.

This work traces the evolution of Lawrence’s ideas about guerrilla warfare, from theoretical beginnings at university to hard-won experience on the battlefield. It concludes with a survey of how Lawrence has been used by his successors, not least by military personnel in countering insurgency, and by those seeking to celebrate his achievements as heroic champion of liberation.

CCW co-hosts discussion on defending the Baltic States

Dr Rob Johnson travelled to Washington DC. to take part in a CCW event co-hosted with the Jamestown Foundation.

“New Perspectives on How to Defend the Baltic States,” was multi-panel discussion of the military, political and civil-military issues that the NATO alliance needs to address in order to more credibly secure its northeastern flank. The half-day event featured key US, UK and Allied military voices, including former ISAF Commander General (ret.) John Allen and former NATO Allied Land Forces Commander General (ret.) John W. “Mick” Nicholson, as well as defence experts with decades of experience looking into issues of defence and deterrence in Europe.

Dr Johnson was the moderator for the first panel on “A Military Perspective on Deterrence and Defense of the Baltic States”


Dr Kate Tkacova leads event with VC Louise Richardson for OxWiP

Dr Katerina Tkacova (CCW) was the moderator for the Oxford Women in Politics (OxWiP) latest event.

Dr. Louise Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford and member of the CCW Advisory board, led the discussion in an intimate fireside chat with woman interested in politics. The discussion focused around the themes of national security, terrorism and challenges faced by women involved in this field as researchers, policy advisors and practitioners.

Michaelmas Term Card available now

Our list of seminars for the coming term is now available.

We have a series on the core themes of the changing character of war running every Tuesday lunchtime.

This term we are also running a series on “Military Thought” on alternate Wednesday evenings, starting in week one.

Our colleague Professor Peter Wilson is running a series on the History of War on the the alternate Wednesday evenings.



Dr Jan Boesten wins extension to grant for Colombia research

Dr Jan Boesten has been awarded a year extension to his grant from the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung Foundation.

Research has shown that, contrary to intuition, civil war zones often appear fairly orderly. Rebels establish governance systems. Jan’s work in the previous academic year looked at how the changing security landscape affects trust relations in conflict zones through the peace process with the FARC in Colombia. This inquiry built on an original and innovative conceptualization of the relations between combatants and civilians in civil war, which borrows from sociological theories of trust and confidence.

The research project has brought two important findings to the surface: 1) prior to the peace accord, the FARC have mitigated uncertainty by providing what can be described as shadow citizenship; 2) the FARC, an insurgent group, and the AUC, a counterinsurgent paramilitary group, imposed government system that had differing effects on the ability of recognition between armed actors and local population.

These findings give rise to a further question: What are the effects of paramilitary preponderance on perceptions of (un)certainty and confidence in rules of conduct? This is now the focus of Jan’s work for the coming year.

Afghanistan Endgame by Melissa Skorka

Melissa Skorka, a Research Associate at CCW, has published a pair of articles resulting from her extensive research on Afghanistan.

Melissa L. Skorka is nearing completion of her DPhil with CCW. Skorka arrived at CCW after a decade of serving as an advisor and practitioner, specializing in international security with an emphasis on U.S. foreign policy, violent non-state actors, natural resource conflict, and governance institutions in Central Asia and Africa.

As a strategic advisor to the Commanding General of the International Security Assistance Force, Skorka completed four consecutive tours in Afghanistan, where she advised U.S. and NATO armed forces. In her final tour, she served in the ISAF Haqqani Fusion Cell as a policy and counterterrorism advisor to General Joseph Dunford, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Alongside her academic research, Skorka provides advice to the U.S. government and NATO armed forces on security issues. She is a counterterrorism expert who is respected by senior policymakers and armed forces professionals for her insights into violent extremism and its consequences.

Annette Idler - Visiting Scholar at Harvard

For the 2019-20 academic year, Dr Annette Idler will be a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University. Annette will be based in Boston for the first part of the year where, as well as taking part in seminars, she will focus on writing up the monograph resulting from research on her Changing Character of Conflict Platform project.

Annette will continue to run her Oxford based projects - the Changing Character of Conflict Platform and the ConPeace project. She will be fully back in Oxford in August 2020.

New Article: Zvezda - shipyard of the future or Soviet-style black hole?

The priority given to the Zvezda shipyard by the state is indicated by Sechin, one of Putin’s heaviest hitters, being directly responsible and by a significant level of state funding. The Zvezda story provides the basis for discussion of broader issues in the ongoing Russian quest for a sustainable model for the building of a modern, value-adding economy which has something to gain from and offer to all parts of the sprawling Russian Federation.

Stephen Fortescue holds a PhD in Soviet Politics from the Australian National University. He is an honorary Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences of the University of New South Wales, Sydney and Visiting Fellow in the Centre for European Studies of the Australian National University. He researches Russian policy-making capacity, Russia's development policy in the Russian Far East and its commercial engagement with the Asia Pacific, and Russian industry policy. The author acknowledges the useful comments of Julian Cooper and Richard Connolly on an earlier draft.

Russia Brief 5 now online

The fifth issue of the CCW Russia Brief is now available:

Andrew Monaghan
Russian Grand Strategy: Towards “Globally Integrated Operations”?

Nazrin Mehdiyeva
Energy Companies in Russia’s Global Integrated Operations

Alexander Kent
Mapping the World: Russian Military Mapping and Geographic Information Science

Michael Kofman
The Ogarkov Reforms: The Soviet Inheritance Behind Russia’s Military Transformation

Richard Connolly
The Russian Economy: From Unexpected Growth to Predictable Slowdown

The ‘border effect’ is allowing Venezuela’s crisis to fuel political violence in Colombia

Dr Annette Idler has written a blog post for LSE’s Latin America and Caribbean Centre.

he Colombian-Venezuelan borderlands are enabling crucial but largely unacknowledged interactions between Venezuela’s devastating crisis and ongoing political violence in Colombia. Key characteristics of these areas have facilitated violence, undermined trust relationships, attracted multiple violent non-state groups, and obscured the nuanced realities of particular conflicts. Failure to tackle these issues could have serious long-term implications for stability, potentially even derailing Colombia’s peace deal. This makes long-term plans for sustainable peace and security across and along the border an urgent necessity, writes Annette Idler (University of Oxford).

After the Cold War: The Impact of Economic and Financial Warfare on Civilians

A former Visiting Research Fellow with CCW has published a blog article with CCW’s Changing Character of Conflict Platform. Chris Holloway worked with CCW during 2018 and has now returned to the Australian Department of Defence.

This blog article compares two examples of indirect coercion, namely, economic and financial warfare, and shows a crucial role of informal authorities, such as banks, and non-physical space in current conflicts.