Koen Vlassenroot

Koen Vlassenroot has studied conflict dynamics in the Great Lakes Region for over 15 years and has become a leading international expert on eastern DR Congo. His PhD dealt with conflict and social transformation in South Kivu. He specialises in issues of governance, armed groups, citizenship and land issues and has provided an important contribution to the scholarly debate around hybrid governance and governance without government. Key publications on the Lord’s Resistance Army, on conflict and social transformation in eastern DR Congo, and on conflict dynamics in Ituri have been widely cited. Without ignoring the larger levels of conflict, he was one of the first to concentrate on micro-level dynamics of conflict.

In 2002, he instituted the Conflict Research Group, which wants to build expertise on these micro-level dynamics of conflict environments. Through his research work, he regularly advises