From Policy to Investigation: Researching War, Power, and Accountability in the Sahel
To mark International Women’s Day, established by the United Nations in 1975, the School of International Studies is hosting a series of events focused on the role of women in global affairs. The programme brings together scholars and practitioners for open discussion and exchange. It offers a space to reflect on leadership, current challenges, and future perspectives in the international arena.
The initiative is organised under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Municipality of Trento and the University of Trento, with the support of the Provincial Commission for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men. The series consists of three events, open to students and to the wider public.
This presentation traces a research path from institutional policy work — at NATO, the EEAS, OHCHR, and the Open Society Foundations — to independent fieldwork and investigation in Niger and Mali. It explores how moving between institutions, disciplines, and methodologies shaped an approach to studying conflict, paramilitarism, and governance in the Sahel, including doctoral research on remote warfare and investigative work on drones and proxy actors. The presentation also reflects briefly on positionality — on what it means to research war and armed actors as a woman, and how that shapes both access and interpretation in the field.