With NSF Funding, Conrad to Study Insurgents, Terrorists

With a $405,818 National Science Foundation grant, Dr. Justin Conrad will research how
competition influences the behavior of insurgent groups, terrorist organizations, and pro-
government militias. The work will address a gap in understanding of the impact of competition
between such non-state groups.

The project, “Violent Non-State Rivalry and Organizational Behavior,” will include teams of
undergraduate students from UNC Charlotte, who will collect data on competitive relationships
between specific groups in Asia and Africa. The two-year project is expected to result in a
publicly available dataset that will capture detailed information about the nature and intensity of
intergroup rivalries over time. The research will also address the impact of multiple intergroup
relationships on group behavior, which is expected to result in insights into how violent behavior
and rivalries co-evolve.

Conrad is an associate professor who studies international security issues, including terrorism
and interstate conflict. He also has received funding from the Department of Defense, and his
work has been published in leading academic journals, including International Organization, the
Journal of Politics and the British Journal of Political Science. He has appeared in, and his
research has been cited by, a variety of international media outlets, including The Washington
Post, Los Angeles Times, Slate France, Salon, and Voice of America.

He is also a key researcher at the Resources and Conflict Project, and co-editor of the “Future of
Global Security” book series at the U.S. Naval Institute Press.