I am an International Security Program Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Fellow (non-residential) at the Centre for the Comparative Study of Civil War at the University of York. I received my Ph.D. in International Development from the University of Edinburgh in 2024. 

My work lies at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations, focusing on peace and security, with a regional interest in Africa. My research examines how armed groups and civilians alike adapt to structural constraints and develop strategies for survival during armed conflict. My research uses a relational approach to provide insights into how structural constraints shape organizational and individual decision-making, behavior, and trajectories during armed conflict. Based on extensive field research in Nigeria with former Boko Haram associates, my book project, Civilians Behind Front Lines, explains differences in armed group governance and civilian cooperation patterns in insurgent-controlled territories. In other work, I study people’s navigation of internal armed group dynamics, the methodological and ethical challenges of researching armed groups, and more recently also the evolving security risks of militant organizations leveraging emerging technologies. 

My research has received the 2025 Kenneth Boulding Award from the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association and financial support from the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University, the Thomas and Ulla Kolbeck Foundation, and Open Philanthropy.

I hold an M.Sc. in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh, an M.Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in Social Sciences from Humboldt University Berlin. I have worked for and consulted the United Nations, the German Corporation for International Development (GIZ), and non-governmental organizations in Germany, India, Nigeria, Thailand, and the United States.

To get in touch, please email me at: antonia_juelich@hks.harvard.edu.