- Contested Cross-border Spaces, Illicit Flows, and Order in the Contemporary World
The Global Security Programme Webinar Series convenes leading scholars and practitioners to examine how conflict, governance, and illicit flows interact across borders, highlighting the growing significance of borderlands and emerging technologies.
Spanning six sessions, the series explores cross-border economies, trafficking networks, political transitions, and intervention dynamics, fostering policy-relevant, globally grounded debate.
Supported by #XCEPT.
Watch these episodes on our YouTube channel.
Also available on Spotify.
Episode 1 – Borderlands and the Making of Global (Dis)Order
Date: Wednesday 25 February, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (UK time)
This opening session introduces the intellectual framework of the webinar series by examining why borderlands have become central—rather than peripheral—to contemporary global security and political order. Drawing on comparative research from conflict-affected regions, the discussion explores how fragmented sovereignty, hybrid authority, and transnational connections shape patterns of violence, cooperation, and governance. By treating borderlands as spaces where order is actively negotiated and contested, the session challenges state-centric approaches and highlights why dynamics at the margins are essential for understanding regional stability and global (dis)order.
Panelists:
Dr. Daniel Agbiboa, Harvard University
Dr. Brian Wong, University of Hong Kong
Dr. Annette Idler, University of Oxford
Moderator:
Dr. John Helferich, University of Oxford
Episode 2 – Remote Sensing for Conflict Analysis and Security Governance
Date: Wednesday 4 March, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (UK time)
This session explores how Earth Observation (EO) and remote sensing technologies are reshaping conflict research and security governance. The discussion highlights emerging efforts to integrate geospatial data with social science methods to better understand development, conflict, and human rights challenges, particularly in the Global South. The episode also considers how combining EO-based insights with locally produced knowledge can strengthen monitoring, documentation, and policy responses in complex environments.
Panelists:
Dr. Valerie Sticher, ETH Zurich
Dr. Sebastian Schutte, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Lars Wirkus, Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies
Moderator:
Dr. Hernán Manrique, University of Oxford
Episode 3 – Illicit, Informal, and Licit: Rethinking Cross-Border Economies
Date: Wednesday 11 March, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (UK time)
Focusing on conflict-affected border regions, this webinar examines how illicit, informal, and licit economic flows are often deeply intertwined. Moving beyond narrow crime-focused narratives, the session analyses when cross-border trade and mobility contribute to violence and exploitation, and when they instead sustain livelihoods, stability, and local order. By foregrounding grounded perspectives, the discussion challenges binary understandings of legality and offers a more nuanced view of how cross-border economies shape conflict and governance dynamics.
Panelists:
Dr. Megan Stewart, University of Michigan
Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, Carnegie Middle East Center
Samira Gaid, Balqiis Insights
Azeema Cheema, Verso Consulting
Moderator:
Dr. Hernán Manrique, University of Oxford
Episode 4 – Trafficking Hubs and Global Supply Chain Networks
Date: Wednesday 29 April, 2:00 - 3:00 pm (UK time)
This episode investigates how trafficking hubs located in contested borderlands function as strategic nodes within global illicit supply chains. The discussion explores how local dynamics intersect with transnational crime, sanctions evasion, and broader geopolitical processes. By linking micro-level realities with global systems of exchange, the session highlights how borderland spaces play a pivotal role in the production and management of insecurity.
Panelists:
Dr Elizabeth Joyce, Chief of Section, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate
Ashleigh Whelan, Roya Development Group
Mo Salah, Policy Practitioner and Consultant for the Global Security Programme
Moderator:
Dr. Annette Idler, University of Oxford
Episode 5 – From Crisis to Uncertainty: How Conflict, Ceasefires, and Peace Processes Reshape Security
Date: Wednesday 6 May, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (UK time)
This webinar examines why periods of political transition—such as ceasefires, negotiations, and post-conflict settlements—often generate heightened insecurity, particularly in marginalised regions. The discussion focuses on how shifting incentives, fragmented authority, and institutional change reshape patterns of violence and governance across borders. Emphasising uncertainty rather than linear risk reduction, the session offers insight into why moments of change can produce instability and what this means for peace processes and policy interventions.
Panelists:
Dr. Tobias Hagmann, University of Basel
Dr. Shona Loong, Geneva Graduate Institute
Salma Daoudi, University of Oxford
Moderator:
Dr. John Helferich, University of Oxford
Episode 6 – Responding to Conflict and Illicit Flows: Policy, Practice, and the Politics of Intervention
Date: Wednesday 13 May, 1:00 - 2:00 pm (UK time)
The concluding session turns to the response side of conflict and illicit flows, analysing how governments, international organisations, and NGOs design and implement interventions in complex environments. The discussion explores the conditions under which responses may reduce violence or inadvertently reshape it, alongside the institutional constraints and competing priorities that influence practice. The episode highlights the challenges and possibilities of crafting effective, context-sensitive strategies for addressing insecurity and instability.
Panelists:
Svenja Korth, UN System Staff College
Dr. Erica Gaston, United Nations University
Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, Carnegie Middle East Center
Moderator:
Dr. John Helferich, University of Oxford
This Webinar Series is supported by the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development. XCEPT brings together world-leading experts and local researchers to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, the intersection of climate stresses and conflict, and the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour, to inform policies and programmes that support peace
