Dominik Balthasar, PhD | Asian Institute of Management

Expertise

Peace, conflict, and fragility (FCV); development policy; strategic foresight

Research Interests

International/ Global Development, Peace- and State-Building, Fragility, Conflict and Violence, Political Settlements and Elite Networks, Aid Effectiveness and the Future of Development.

Back to Faculty

Dominik Balthasar, PhD

Associate Professor
Academic Program Director, Master in Development Management

About
Selected Publications

Academic Background

PhD in International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science
MSc Development Studies (Best Dissertation Award), London School of Economics and Political Science

Professional and Academic Experience

Independent Consultant, Freelance
Portfolio Manager, KfW Development Bank
Sector Economist Peace & Fragility, KfW Development Bank
Senior Researcher, swisspeace/ Swiss Peace Foundation
Consultant, Institute of Peace and Security Studies
Fellow, European Union Institute for Security Studies
Fellow, United States Institute of Peace
Fellow, Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House)
Lecturer, University of Basel
Consultant, i.a. World Bank, United Nations Development Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UK Department of International Development, Oxford Analytica, Saferworld
Researcher, Small Arms Survey
Teaching Fellow, London School of Economics
Teaching Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies

Affiliations, Awards, and Honors

Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute
Digital Executive Fellow, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Member, Next Generation Foresight Practitioner Network
Member, Association of Professional Futurists
Fellow, Global Diplomacy Lab
Associated Researcher, swisspeace/ Swiss Peace Foundation
Research Grant, Swiss National Science Foundation
Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellowship for International Relations and Security
Post-Doctoral Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service
Global Governance 2022 Fellow, Global Public Policy Institute
Post-Graduate Program for International Affairs Best Dissertation Prize, London School of Economics and Political Science
German National Academic Foundation
Cusanuswerk
Global Public Policy Network Award

Professional Certifications

Certificate: Foundations in Design Thinking, IDEO U
Certificate: Oxford Scenarios Programme, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Certificate: General Management for Juniors, Business School of St. Gallen

Peer-reviewed Journals

Balthasar, D. (2019). On the (In)compatibility of peace-building and state-making: Evidence from Somaliland. The Journal of Development Studies, 55(4), 457-472. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2017.1417586
Balthasar, D. (2018). State-Making in Somalia under Siyad Barre: Scrutinizing historical amnesia and normative bias. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 51(1): 141-162.
Balthasar, D. (2017). Peace-building as state-building’? Rethinking liberal interventionism in contexts of emerging states. Conflict, Security & Development, 17(6), 473-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2017.1406180
Balthasar, D. (2017). State-making at gunpoint: The role of violent conflict in Somaliland’s March to statehood. Civil Wars, 19(1), 65-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2017.1343411
Balthasar, D. (2017). In search of more than a state: Trajectories of political ordering and identity plurality in Somalia. African Identities, 15(2), 171-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2016.1227694
Balthasar, D. (2015). From hybridity to standardization: Rethinking state-making in contexts of fragility. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 9(1), 26-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2015.993502
Balthasar, D. (2014). Somalia: Unable to escape its past? Revisiting the roots of a fractured state and elusive nation. Critical African Studies, 6(2-3): 223-39 https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2014.965835
Balthasar, D. (2013). Somaliland’s best kept secret: shrewd politics and war projects as means of state-making. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 7(2), 218-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2013.777217

Book Chapters

Balthasar, D., & Tourinho, M. (2019). UN sanctions and mediation: Somalia country study. In R. Brubaker, D. Lanz, & T. Biersteker, Thomas (Eds.), UN Sanctions and Mediation: Establishing Evidence to Inform Practice. United Nations University.
Balthasar, D. (2019). State-building ‘off the beaten track’: Insights from Somaliland. In H. G. Ehrhart, & M. Staack (Eds.), Sicherheits- und Friedensordnungen in Afrika – Nationale und regionale Herausforderungen, 187-204. Nomos: Baden-Baden. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748900740
Balthasar, D., & Osei, A. (2018). Collaborating for peace - An analysis of networks of cooperation in Somalia. In M. Keating, & M. Waldman (Eds.), War and Peace in Somalia – National Grievances, Local Conflict and Al-Shabaab. Oxford University Press: New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190947910.001.0001
Balthasar, D., & Druey, C. (2017). Governance as context: Are conflicts part of the system? In B. Bellak, J. Devdariani, B. Harzl, & L. Spieker (Eds.), Governance in Conflict: Selected Cases in Europe and Beyond; LIT Verlag: Wien und Zürich, 13-36.
Balthasar, D., & Grzybowski, J. (2012). Between state and non-state – Somaliland's emerging security order. In Small Arms Survey (Ed.), Small Arms Survey Yearbook 2012, pp. 146-173. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.