Luca Raineri

Dr. Luca Raineri is an Assistant Professor in Security Studies at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy, specializing in critical security and conflict studies with a focus on transnational security phenomena in Africa, European borders, and EU external action. He has conducted extensive field research in Mali, Niger, Tunisia, and Senegal since 2010.

His educational background includes a PhD in Global Politics and Human Rights from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (2016), a Master's degree in Human Rights and Conflict Management (2011), and a degree in political theory from EHESS Paris (2008). He was a member of the Research School on Peace and Conflict in Oslo (2014-2016) and a visiting researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid (2017).

Raineri's research critically examines informal security practices, state fragility, and EU policies through qualitative fieldwork in the Sahel region. His work challenges conventional security narratives by highlighting marginalized perspectives and hybrid governance structures, with recurring themes including jihadist governance, drug trafficking, migration dynamics, and the political economy of borders.

His recent publications reveal a concentrated focus on the Sahel, analyzing how transnational crime, climate change, and digitalization reshape security governance. Key trends include the interplay between informal economies and state authority, gender dimensions of jihadist rule, and EU policies' unintended consequences on migration and conflict.

Dr. Raineri serves as co-Principal Investigator for the SHUT-MED project (funded by the Italian Ministry of University Research), examining migration governance in the Central Mediterranean, and contributes to the ETRA-ID project (funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) on interreligious dialogue for peacebuilding. He has provided consultancy to international organizations including PREVEX, EUISS, and International Alert on security and development in West Africa.