Biography
Abdullah al-Jabassini holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent, Canterbury. His main research interests include political violence and civil war, rebel governance, peacebuilding and reconciliation processes, rebel-military integration, authoritarian conflict management, and local governance in areas of limited statehood.
In his PhD dissertation, al-Jabassini introduced a new phenomenon in the study of civil war: wartime social order in tribal regions. Bridging insights from anthropology and sociology with civil war studies, his PhD research offers a comparative study that investigates wartime social order in tribal regions. By theorising the relationship between rebel leaders and tribal shaykhs, his doctoral research delves into dynamics of insurgency formation, governance under rebel rule, civilian agency, and their impact on the conduct of war in southern Syria.
As a Max Weber Fellow, al-Jabassini will engage in two work packages. First, he will refine and publish journal articles derived from his doctoral research. Second, he will launch his book project, which examines how border politics, regional contentions, and Russia's authoritarian approach to conflict management have contributed to conflict transformation rather than resolution or termination in southern Syria.
Al-Jabassini was a teaching assistant for graduate-level courses on theories of conflict and violence, as well as on international security, at the University of Kent. His teaching interests encompass political violence, rebel governance, conflict management, reconciliation processes, and local governance in areas of limited statehood.