Geneva Centre for Security Policy Doctoral Fellow, Dr Dee Dee Derksen, was published in the April 2018 edition of the “UN Special” Magazine.

The entire issue is dedicated to the highlights the conflict in Afghanistan. In her article, Dr Derksen, a former news correspondent and columnist at the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, opines on whether or not arming militias to fight the Taliban and the Islamic State could lead to increased instability and violence in the country. While Dr Derksen states that some steps can be taken toward mitigation, she ultimately concludes that the very qualities that make militias attractive are also the same qualities that make their use so dangerous.

Dr Derksen is an expert on the politics surrounding the disarmament and rearmament in Afghanistan. She also is a Doctoral Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, where her research studies the reconciliation and reintegration of non-state armed groups.