Research grants

Funds are granted once a year and members of FBA’s research working groups can apply. The applications are evaluated by a committee composed of senior researchers and practitioners.

FBA Research Grants 2025: approved projects

Attitudes of Colombians Toward the Implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement and New Peace Negotiations in the Context of ”Paz Total” 

Researcher: Miguel García-Sánchez

This research project aims to expand the repository of public opinion and peace data at the Observatorio de la Democracia, continue monitoring Colombians’ opinions on the 2016 peace agreement, and study opinions on the Petro government’s new negotiation experiences (Paz Total).

It seeks to understand how the implementation of the peace agreement affects public opinions and expectations nearly ten years after its signing. Additionally, the project will analyze public support for the Total Peace policy and how opinions vary depending on the group involved in negotiations. The study emphasizes the crucial role of public opinion in the success of peace agreements.

Understanding coalition building in ‘soft’ authoritarianisms: A comparative analysis of the Western Balkans and the Caucasus

Researcher: Florian Bieber

This project analyses coalition building in autocratic regimes and their implication for regime stability. Engaging in a cross-regional comparison, the project will scrutinise coalition building patterns in Armenia, Georgia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Contrary to established scholarly understanding, the project argues that regime cohesiveness can potentially be detrimental to regime stability, whereas elite splits, commonly understood as the main threat to autocratic regimes, can have stabilising effects.

The project will advance a dynamic understanding of coalition building, highlighting ‘strategic exclusion’ as an unexplored mechanism in autocratic coalition building.

Multimediation and the Challenge of Peacemaking in Ukraine

Researcher: Catherine Turner

This research seeks to understand the relationship between the interstate and internal aspects of the war in Ukraine, and to consider how these dynamics will shape conflict resolution efforts at the local and national level.

Building on existing literature related to Russia’s use of tactics such as population resettlement and disinformation to bring it into dialogue with the literature on mediation and dialogue, it will address the need to identify the ‘existential questions’ that exist within the occupied territories and to consider if and when dialogue can help to address these divisions.

Taliban Taxation

Researcher: Romain Malejacq

Taxation is conducted by most rebel groups, for a variety of reasons, in a variety of forms. Taxation modalities affect rebels’ legitimacy, their interactions with civilians and other sources of authority, and their relations with humanitarian and development actors. Yet, we know very little about why rebels tax the way they do, and how these preferences affect political order, conflict dynamics, and state building.

The project aims to fill this gap by conducting a 20-year longitudinal study of one specific case of rebel taxation, that of the Taliban (2001-2021), notably through the collection of unprecedented, interview-based, data.

Dynamics of Jihadist Sieges in the Central Sahel

Researcher: Yvan Guichaoua

Sieges and other tactics of economic warfare have become a frequent, if not systematic, way for jihadists to impose their rule in the Central Sahel, causing immense humanitarian distress. The project will explore the temporality and modalities of jihadist sieges and unpack their dynamics through mixed methods articulating spatial analysis and in-depth qualitative investigation in select localities.

On a practical level, we will provide insights into factors affecting the vulnerability of civilians in war zones. Conceptually, our project will engage in key debates on the drivers of jihadist expansion, jihadist governance, wartime civilian agency and restraint in wars.

Elected Local Self-Government Bodies and Challenges During Wartime: Lessons from Ukraine

Researcher: Volodymyr Venher

The research project envisages a comprehensive study of the theoretical and practical aspects of the functioning of elected local self-government bodies in Ukraine (village, town and city councils and their mayors) in wartime, considering the prospects for the post-war restoration of peace and stability in Ukraine.

Special attention will be paid to the analysis of the rule of law, the constitutional balance between the right to local self-government and the need to protect independence and territorial integrity. The researchers will also focus on the preconditions and peculiarities of organising and conducting post-war local elections in Ukraine. Analysis of international standards and practices will be a mandatory part of the activity.