Annette Idler

Dr Idler's research interests lie at the interface of conflict, security and transnational organised crime, especially drug trafficking as well as terrorism, peace building and governance. She is particularly interested in the role that diverse types of violent non-state groups play in these dynamics. Among other areas, she focuses on the political economy of borderlands as spaces where crime and conflict dynamics converge. Methodologically, she is fascinated by the use of ethnographic methods in International Relations. 

• The Changing Character of Conflict Platform: Understanding, Tracing and Forecasting Change across Time, Space and Cultures
• From Conflict Actors to Architects of Peace: Promoting Human Security in Colombia and Internationally (in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
• Borderlands: Violent Non-state Groups and Insecurity on the Edges of Colombia  (Book Project)
• Implementing a Ceasefire and Ending Armed Conflict: How to enhance human security and cross-border development in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela
• Violent Non-state Groups and their Impact on Civilian Security: Comparing the Andean Region, the Great Lakes Region and the Afghan-Pakistani Border Region
• Putting Frontier Research into Action: Tackling Violent Non-state Groups in Peripheral Spaces (in collaboration with UN Colombia and the UN System Staff College)
• Dynamics of War and Peace: Drama, Poetry, Music and Dance (in collaboration with Rama Mani, Theatre of Transformation)
• Negotiating with Armed Actors: Peace Communities in Colombia (in collaboration with Cécile Mouly and Belen Garrido, FLACSO Quito)
• Beyond the War on Drugs: The International Drug Control Regime in the 21st Century (in collaboration with Juan Carlos Garzón, Woodrow Wilson Center)
• Towards Sustainable Peace in Colombia and the World: A Critical Perspective on Army Transformation

Civil wars Conflict management International relations International security Violence security and conflict

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

• “How Peace Takes Shape Locally: The Experience of Civil Resistance in Samaniego, Colombia”, Peace and Change, 2016, 41 (2), 129-166 (with Cécile Mouly and Belén Garrido).
• “Peace Territories in Colombia: Comparing Civil Resistance in Two War-Torn Communities”, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 2015, 10(3), 1-15 (with Cécile Mouly and Belén Garrido).
• “Zones of Peace in Colombia’s Borderlands”, International Journal of Peace Studies, Summer 2015, 20 (1), 51-63. (with Cécile Mouly and Belén Garrido)
• “Behavioral Patterns among (Violent) Non-State Actors: A Study of Complementary Governance”,Stability, 2015, 4(1):2, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/sta.er. (with James Forest)
• “Power Unpacked: Domination,Empowerment and Participation in Local Guatemalan Peace Forums”,Journal of Peace, Conflict and Development, Issue 21, 2015. (with Lenin Miranda and Cécile Mouly)
• ‘Exploring Arrangements of Convenience among Violent Non-state Actors’, Perspectives on Terrorism,September 2012, 6 (4-5).
• ‘Arrangements of Convenience in Colombia’s Borderlands: An Invisible Threat to Citizen Security?’, St. Antony’s International Review, 2012, 7 (2).

 

JOURNAL ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS

• “Colombia and the Responsibility to Protect: Illustrating Pillars One and Two”, in Serrano, Mónica and Fuentes, Claudio, eds., The Responsibility to Protect in Latin America: the New Map, Routledge, forthcoming. (with Diego Dewar)
• “El Carácter Cambiante de la Guerra: El Mapa Actual de los Retos a la Seguridad” (Translation: The Changing Character of War: The Current Map of Security Threats), Transformación Militar. Revista de Difusión y Análisis, 2016, 1, 18-23.
• “When Peace Implies Engaging the Terrorist. Peacebuilding in Colombia by Talking to the Enemy?”, in Tellidis Y. and Toros H. eds., “The Nexus between Terrorism Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies”(Abingdon: Routledge), 2015. (with Borja Paladini)
• ‘‘Espacios Invisibilizados: Actores Violentos No-Estatales en las Zonas Fronterizas de Colombia” (Translation: Invisible Spaces: Violent Non-state Actors in Colombia’s Borderlands), Estudios Indiana, Ibero-American Institute, (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag), 2014.
• ‘‘The Transnationality of Conflict: Lessons Learned from Borderlands”, in Kalogeresis, A.,ed. Proceedings of the 2010 European Conference of the Association for Borderlands Studies (Thessaloniki: University of Thessaloniki), 2011, 185-204. (with Lindsay Scorgie)

 

POLICY BRIEFS AND REPORTS

• ‘Borders vulnerable as peace stalls in Colombia’, Jane’s Intelligence Review, November 2016.
• ‘Criminal Groups Hinder International Peacebuilding’, Oxford Analytica, October 2016.
• ‘Securing Peace in the Borderlands: A Post-Agreement Strategy for Colombia’, DPIR, University of Oxford, August 2016.
• ‘Poor Peacebuilding Risks Power Vacuums in Colombia’, Oxford Analytica, April 2016.
• ‘Stability Indexes can be Deceptive Tools‘, Oxford Analytica, October 2015.
• ‘State Neglect Fosters Global Illicitly-governed Spaces’, Oxford Analytica, July 2015.
• Organised Crime and Fragility: The Role of the Broker. Report for the Sector Programme Peace and Security, GIZ, January 2015.
• ‘Chávez’ Re-election: A Delusive Continuity?’, RUSI Newsbrief, November 2012, 32 (6).
• ‘Post-Americas Summit Outlook: Walking the Walk?’, RUSI Newsbrief, May 2012, 32 (3).
• ‘Citizen Security at the Summit of the Americas: Why Europe should Care.’, RUSI Newsbrief, March 2012, 32 (2).

 

OPINION PIECES, ACADEMIC AND POLICY BLOG POSTS

• Santos got the Nobel Prize for not giving up on peace –  here’s why all Colombians won. The Conversation, October 2016.
• Colombia just voted no on its plebiscite for peace. Here’s why and what it means. Washington Post, October 2016.
• La verdadera prueba para la paz en Colombia empieza después del proceso de desmovilización. ¿Por qué?, OpenDemocracy and democraciaAbierta, September 2016 (also available in English).
• Why the real tests for Colombia’s peace begins after the demobilization process, Washington Post, September 2016.
• A momentous peace deal with the FARC – so what next for Colombia? The Conversation, August 2016.
• How Nonviolent Resistance Works: Factors for Successful Peacebuilding in Samaniego, Colombia, Political Violence @ a Glance, July 2016 (with Cécile Mouly and Belén Garrido)
• What will the peace process mean for Colombia’s border regions? The government will have to start governing, Washington Post, June 2016
• La línea entre la paz y la guerra está en las fronteras, Silla Vacía, April 2016
• Megateo, the armed groups and the future of Colombia’s Catatumbo, openDemocracy, October 2015 (also available in Spanish and Portuguese).
• ¿Qué significa la muerte de ‘Megateo’ para la gente del Catatumbo?, Semana, October 2015.
• Colombia’s Deal with the FARC could bring peace – or create a power vacuum, The Conversation, October 2015.
• A Humanitarian and Diplomatic Crisis is Unfolding on the Colombia-Venezuela Border, The Conversation, September 2015.
• The Colombia-Venezuela border crisis: the civilian backdrop, openDemocracy, September 2015.
• La población civil, víctima de la crisis fronteriza entre Colombia y Venezuela, democraciaAbierta, September 2015.
• El Índice Global de Paz 2015: ¿cómo vamos en Colombia?, Razon Publica, August 2015.
• Violent Non-state Actors and Complementary Governance: What ISIS, Hizballah and FARC Have in Common, Centre for Security Governance, June 2015.
• From The Field: Intuitive Trust Matters:  Researching Conflict and Crime across Borders. Border Criminologies, June 2015.
• “Narco-brokers and Financiers: the Key Elements in the Cocaine Business”, EU Cocaine Route Programme: Combatting Transnational Organised Crime, March 2015.
• “Narco-brókers y Financieros: Piezas Claves del Narcotráfico”, Razón Pública, August 2014.
• “The Margins at the Centre of the FARC’s Future. A Response to Ivan Briscoe’s Piece on the Transition of the FARC in Colombia”, DAG-3QD Online Symposia on Peace & Justice, February 2014. 
• “Security and the Post-Chávez Bolivarian Project: A Convenient Revolution for Free-riders?”, Politics in Spires, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, March 2013. 
• “Arrangements of Convenience among Violent Non-state Actors”, Extremis Project, December 2012.

 

TALKS AVAILABLE ONLINE

• “International Security: Scholarship and Practice”, Panel Discussion at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, November 2015, Oxford, UK.
• “Fragile Alliances among Colombian Violent Non-state Actors”, Talk at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, January 2015, London, UK.
•  “Peace and Security in Colombia: Challenges Ahead”, Panel Discussion at International Institute of Strategic Studies, March 2014, London, UK
• “Illicitly Governed Spaces: Drugs, Conflict and Peace in Colombia”, Talk at the OxPeace 2013 Conference “The Future of Peace Building”, May 2013, Oxford, UK

 

Dr Idler has appeared in numerous TV and radio interviews with media outlets such as BBC and Al Jazeera.