Maria Amjad

Maria Amjad is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Security, Risk, and Vulnerability program at the University of Genoa, Italy, and a visiting research fellow at the Center for International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM) at Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Her doctoral studies at the University of Genoa focus on rebel decision-making in peace processes, with expected completion in 2024. She employs qualitative methodologies including process tracing and semi-structured interviews to examine institutional influences on rebel commitment.

Maria's research centers on civil conflict dynamics and rebel behavior across wartime and peacetime contexts, with specialized regional expertise in the Af-Pak region. Her dissertation analyzes comparative case studies of the Taliban (Afghanistan), OPM (Singapore), LTTE (Sri Lanka), and FARC (Colombia) to develop a typology of rebel decision-making processes during peace negotiations.

As a visiting research fellow at CICAM, Radboud University, she conducts in-depth analysis of the Taliban's engagement in the Afghan Peace Process, leveraging this case study to refine her theoretical framework on institutional determinants of rebel commitment.