Margherita Belgioioso, PhD

Welcome!

I am an Associate Professor of Quantitative International Relations at the University of Leeds, Editor-in-Chief of Conflict Management and Peace Science, and I lead the POLIS Quantitative Cluster. My research lies at the intersection of International Relations and International Security, with a focus on how citizens’ dissent influences conflict outcomes, peace processes, and political transitions.

I examine the strategic logic of civil resistance and its role in shaping negotiations and fostering conflict resolution, as well as the links between environmental policy, societal unrest, and international governance. Combining rigorous quantitative analysis with immersive fieldwork in conflict and post-conflict countries, my work seeks to bridge academic research and real-world policy solutions.

Selected Recent and Forthcoming Publications

• 2026 “Breaking the conflict trap with citizens’ non-violent mobilisation” (with Abbs) forthcoming in International Studies Quarterly
• 2024 Belgioioso, M. & Newman, E. (2024). A just transition? Fossil fuel reforms and civil unrest. Energy Research & Social Science.
• 2023 Belgioioso, M., Dworschak, C., & Gleditsch, K. (2023). Local deprivation predicts right-wing hate crime in England. PLOS ONE.
• 2022 Belgioioso, M. & Thurber, C. (2022). From Doctrine to Detonation: Ideology and Terrorism in Campaigns of Mass Resistance. Journal of Peace Research.
• 2020 Belgioioso, M., Di Salvatore, J., & Pinckney, J. (2020). Tangled Up in Blue: External Intervention, Peacekeeper Nationality, and Civil Resistance.
  International Studies Quarterly.
• 2019 Belgioioso, M. & Chenoweth, E. (2019). The Physics of Dissent: The Effect of Movement Momentum. Nature Human Behaviour.
• 2018 Belgioioso, M. (2018). Going Underground: Resort to Terrorism in Mass Mobilization Dissident Campaigns. Journal of Peace Research.

Grants and Funding

My work has been supported by over £300,000 in research funding as Principal Investigator from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Royal Economic Society, and other institutions. It has been recognized with the Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar Award (2023) and the Cedric Smith Prize from the Conflict Research Society (2019). I teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in International Relations, Security Studies, Terrorism, Conflict Resolution, Quantitative Analysis, and Research Methods. My modules consistently receive outstanding student evaluations and received teaching prices at the University of Kent.