CONFLICT, SECURITY & DEVELOPMENT

Join us for the 11th Annual Conference

King's College Great Hall, Strand Campus

6th - 7th March 2025

Justice Through Conflict: Exploring Resistance, Power & the Law

This year’s theme, "Justice Through Conflict: Exploring Resistance, Power, and the Law," explores how justice is shaped, tested, and even advanced within conflict itself—emerging through struggles, resistance, and contestation over power and law. From grassroots resistance to legal battles, from transitional justice mechanisms to post-war reconciliation, struggles for accountability and human rights shape the way societies define and achieve justice.
We will be joined by leading experts for four thought-provoking panels:

1. Justice Beyond Retribution

Justice in conflict and post-conflict settings is not just about punishment but also about reconciliation, restoration, and transformation. This panel explores the diverse approaches to justice, from state-led prosecutions to transitional and transformative justice, examining their impact at different levels—international courts, national systems, and community-led processes. Discussions will cover truth and reconciliation efforts, the balance between accountability and healing, and how justice can address structural inequalities

2. “The Role of Narratives: Stories that Shape Power”
Narratives play a crucial role in conflict and post-conflict settings, shaping perceptions, justifying actions, and influencing power dynamics. This panel examines how stories are used to manufacture consent for interventions, legitimise violence, and, conversely, offer pathways toward peace by reimagining pasts and futures. Discussions will explore how narratives are constructed, who controls them, and their impact on justice and reconciliation.

3. Local Solutions for Lasting Peace

Sustainable peace requires more than top-down interventions; it must be rooted in local communities. This panel explores bottom-up approaches to peacebuilding and their coexistence with traditional UN-led missions. It rethinks conventional paradigms by prioritizing justice over security, examining how locally driven initiatives can foster lasting stability. Discussions will address the effectiveness of community-led reconciliation, the role of traditional justice systems, and the challenges of integrating local and international efforts.

4. Eyes Everywhere: Technology, Control, and Resistance

Technology is reshaping conflict, offering both new tools for control and opportunities for resistance. This panel examines the dual role of technology, from OSINT-led investigations exposing human rights violations to AI-powered surveillance, autonomous weapons, and mass disinformation campaigns. Discussions will explore how states, corporations, and activists use technology to shape narratives, enforce power, or challenge oppression

Our Speakers

Keynote Address

Andrew Gilmour

Andrew Gilmour is the former CEO of the Berghof Foundation and former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights. With over three decades of experience in peacekeeping and human rights at the UN, he has served in some of the world’s most challenging conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Kosovo, the Middle East, and West Africa. As Director for Political, Peacekeeping, Humanitarian, and Human Rights affairs in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, he played a key role in implementing the Human Rights Up Front initiative.

Keynote Address

Taban Shoresh

Taban Shoresh is the Founder and CEO of The Lotus Flower, a non-profit organization that has supported over 60,000 vulnerable conflict survivors, particularly women and children, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. She was awarded an OBE in 2024 for her services to refugees and displaced conflict survivors. Taban, who arrived in the UK as a refugee at the age of six after escaping imprisonment and near-death in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, founded The Lotus Flower in 2016 in response to ISIS attacks on her homeland. Her work focuses on providing humanitarian aid, empowerment, and advocacy for survivors of conflict.

International Alert

Nic Hailey

Nic Hailey became Executive Director of International Alert in September 2021. Before this role, he served for 24 years in the UK Diplomatic Service, holding senior positions such as Director-General at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, overseeing the merger of the FCO and DFID. His diplomatic career also included being the UK High Commissioner to Kenya from 2015-2019, Africa Director from 2013-2015, and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012-2013. He has worked in various UK embassies, including in Washington DC, Berlin, and Paris.

Drone Wars UK

Peter Burt

Peter Burt is a former research manager at the Nuclear Information Service, a not-for-profit organisation supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, which focuses on promoting public awareness and debate on nuclear weapons, safety, and environmental issues. He holds a degree in biological sciences and has worked with UK government environmental regulatory agencies, as well as serving as a freelance consultant on environmental and nuclear policy. Currently, Peter is researching the use of armed drones in warfare.

Conciliation Resources

Daniel Tucker

Daniel Tucker is a Project Manager for the West Africa programme at Conciliation Resources, bringing over ten years of experience in designing and managing peacebuilding initiatives in the region. He has led efforts focused on issues such as pastoralist-farmer violence in Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency, and the spread of violence by armed groups in the Sahel region. Daniel's work supports locally-driven peace efforts through a variety of methods, including peace leadership, youth resilience building, conflict mediation, and reconciliation. Before joining Conciliation Resources, he worked in Saudi Arabia providing conflict and political risk analysis in the MENA region.

Freedom from Torture

Sonya Sceats

Sonya Sceats is the Chief Executive of Freedom from Torture and a qualified Australian lawyer specializing in international human rights law. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked with leading organizations such as Chatham House, Amnesty International, and the British Institute of Human Rights, advocating for justice and the protection of human rights globally.

Survivors Speak OUT

Kolbassia Haoussou

Kolbassia Haoussou serves as the head leader of Survivors Speak OUT (SSO) since he founded it together with Freedom from Torture in 2007. This group stands as the UK's sole activist network directed by torture survivors. Through his leadership of Survivors Speak OUT, he has appeared at United Nations meetings and sexual violence conferences where he spoke together with William Hague and Angelina Jolie. His participation with the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) provides essential guidance to the UK government about survivor-led policymaking. Besides his responsibilities at the LSE Centre for Women Peace and Security Kolbassia maintains a position on the board.

(Un)common Heritage

Sam Guthrie

Sam Guthrie is a heritage professional with a strong track record in developing, managing, and delivering heritage projects across Ireland and the UK, particularly those supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. In 2024, he consolidated his freelance work under (Un)common Heritage, offering services in project management, strategic review, consultancy, engagement, and oral history training. He serves as the Oral History Society's Regional Advisor for Northern Ireland and is an accredited British Library National Life Stories/Oral History Society trainer. His work focuses on participatory, place-based heritage, engaging with contested histories and community collaboration.

Building Bridges for Peace

Jo Berry

Jo Berry is the founder of Building Bridges for Peace, an international speaker, and a workshop facilitator dedicated to promoting peace and reconciliation. Following the loss of her father in the 1984 Brighton bombing, she chose to seek understanding over revenge, ultimately forging a dialogue with Patrick Magee, the man responsible for the attack. Their ongoing work together has inspired conflict resolution efforts worldwide. Jo also serves on the executive committee of Uniting for Peace, the board of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace, and is a founding member of Survivors Against Terror. She focuses on empowering young people to become agents of change, advocating for non-violence, dialogue, and shared humanity.

King's College London

Dr Ross Peel

Dr Ross Peel is a Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies and the Centre for Science & Security Studies (CSSS) at King’s College London. His research focuses on nuclear security and safeguards, the role of nuclear power plants in warfare, and their use in international diplomacy. He also manages projects related to non-proliferation, strategic trade controls, and open-source intelligence. Ross joined King’s College London as a Research Associate in June 2019, leading work on nuclear safeguards, machine learning, and intangible technology transfer, before assuming his current role in 2020. Prior to this, he was an Associate Partner and Nuclear Systems Consulting Engineer with Nuclear-21 Ltd. Ross holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield in nuclear fuel cycles and an MEng in Mechanical Engineering with French, having studied at INSA Lyon in France.

University of Dundee

Dr Ana-Maria Bliuc

Ana-Maria Bliuc is a social and political psychologist at the University of Dundee, specializing in the influence of social identities on behavior across health, environmental, and socio-political contexts. Holding a PhD from Australian National University, she previously held academic positions at Western Sydney University, Monash University, and University of Sydney. Her recent research focuses on online communities, exploring how collective identities and behaviors are shaped through digital interactions, particularly in far-right political groups and addiction recovery networks.

King's College London

Dr Rebekka Friedman

Dr. Rebekka Friedman is a Reader in International Relations, specializing in peacebuilding, transitional justice, and gendered experiences of conflict and recovery. Her research spans Sri Lanka, Peru, Sierra Leone, and Colombia, exploring the long-term impacts of violence, memory, and healing. She co-leads the UKRI GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub and has directed projects on marginalized voices in conflict, including the Legacies of the Disappeared. A former editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies, she holds a PhD from LSE and has been a fellow at KCL’s Policy Institute and Tufts University’s Fletcher School.