Dr. Rim Turkmani

Biography

Rim Turkmani is a Research Fellow and Director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her policy-oriented research encompasses identity politics, legitimate governance, and the dynamics between war economies and peace economies, analyzing both local and external factors influencing conflict. She is a member of the Women’s Advisory Board for the UN Special Envoy for Syria and sits on the advisory board for Airwars, which monitors International Coalition strikes against ISIS. Turkmani has directed projects such as ‘Crowd-sourcing Conflict Peace Events’ in the Syrian conflict, resulting in the creation of a detailed database documenting instances of violence and peace-making efforts. She has been called upon to provide expert evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament about various aspects of the Syria crisis and UK foreign policy. In 2016, she contributed a chapter on EU policy regarding Syria to the report ‘From Hybrid Peace to Human Security; Rethinking EU Strategy in Conflict,’ which was officially presented by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. Her insights frequently appear in both Arabic and English media, where she comments on the ongoing situation in Syria. Additionally, she has a background in astrophysics and serves as a Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow with the Royal Society, with a focus on the history of Islamic science and its impact on the scientific revolution of the 17th century.

Research Interests