Dr. Niels Terpstra

Biography

Niels Terpstra is an Assistant Professor in Conflict Studies at the Centre International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM) at Radboud University. His research focuses on the dynamics of civil war, political violence, insurgency, and terrorism, particularly the governance and legitimation practices of non-state armed groups during civil war. Additionally, he is interested in foreign policy, especially the political and strategic dimensions of peace and state-building missions. Niels has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Germany, and the Netherlands. His dissertation, 'Rebel Governance Legitimacy in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka', examines the governance of Taliban-controlled territories in Afghanistan and those controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, investigating how rebel governance affects civilian compliance and the legitimacy and authority of rebel groups in state formation processes. Over the past few years, he has been involved in advisory and evaluation projects with the Netherlands Ministry of Justice and Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the peace organization PAX, including evaluations of the Dutch Police-training Mission in Kunduz, Afghanistan, and studies on terrorism and the crime-terror nexus in Western Europe. Niels has been featured on BBC Radio, NPO Radio 1, and in Dutch national newspapers. In 2013, he was awarded the J.C. Baak MA thesis prize for research enhancing peaceful societies, presented by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.

Research Interests

Courses