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Kaitlyn Robinson

Kaitlyn Robinson

Assistant Professor

Political Science

CONTACT

krobinson@rice.edu

WEBSITE(S)| Personal Website

SURF Mentoring

Potential projects/topics: What role do foreign states play in the formation of new rebel and terrorist organizations? For example, there is evidence that Iran directly intervened to support the formation of Hezbollah, which is now one of the most capable militant groups in the world. Why did Iran do this? What did this support look like? And what are its effects on armed conflict?

The Foreign Foundations project aims to answer these questions by collecting new data on foreign state involvement in rebel and terrorist formation. Research assistants (RAs) would help with this data collection by researching cases of rebel and terrorist group formation during the Cold War (1945-1989). More specifically, RAs will be asked to find and use a mix of primary and secondary sources to understand the formation processes of certain groups and investigate whether a foreign state played any role in that process. RAs will write up their findings in a short narrative about the group and code a series of variables about group formation in a spreadsheet.

Potential skills gained: (1) Independent research skills, including the ability to locate and evaluate primary and secondary sources on a hard-to-research topic; (2) Strong writing skills, including the ability to synthesize and distill multiple sources into one coherent narrative and coding; (3) A deeper understanding of the history and politics of rebel group formation, civil war, and international intervention during the Cold War; (4) Experience in data collection and coding in the social sciences

Required qualifications or skills: This project is not limited to specific majors. Research assistants (RAs) should have an interest in learning about civil war, international politics, and the formation of rebel, terrorist, and militant groups. They also should have strong reading and writing skills, as much of this project will be reading and writing. A challenge of this research is that many rebel and terrorist groups operate clandestinely, so public information about them may be limited. A successful RA will be creative and entrepreneurial in finding sources, utilizing a combination of online publications, library books, and declassified digital archives.

Direct mentor: Faculty/P.I.

Research Areas

Kaitlyn Robinson is an Assistant Professor at Rice University who specializes in civil war, political violence, and international relations. Her research seeks to explain how violent non-state actors organize, build relationships with foreign states, and carry out violence in armed conflict. This work draws on original datasets, fieldwork interviews, and archival materials. Professor Robinson also manages the Mapping Militants Project, a research project run jointly with Stanford University that documents the organization and development of militant groups around the world.