A political scientist by background, Stefan Wolff specialises in the management of contemporary security challenges, especially in the prevention and settlement of ethnic conflicts and in post-conflict reconstruction in deeply divided and war-torn societies. He has extensive expertise in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union, and has also worked on a wide range of other conflicts elsewhere, including the Middle East, Africa, and Central, South and Southeast Asia. Bridging the divide between academia and policy-making, he has been involved in various phases of conflict settlement processes, including in Sudan, Moldova, Sri Lanka, and Kosovo. Currently, he is involved in an advisory capacity in the settlement of the status of Kirkuk, Iraq, and Transnistria, Moldova.

Prior to his appointment at Birmingham, he taught at the Universities of Keele, Bath, and Nottingham and has held visiting professorships at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Bologna Center, the Universities of Sofia, Bucharest, Skopje, and Belgrade, and at Humboldt and Free University, Berlin. In 2006, Wolff served as Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the UK Defence Academy

POLS 218: International Security

POLS G22: Security Studies

I am happy to discuss dissertation and research proposals on any topic related to:

• Ethnic conflict and conflict resolution, including post-conflict reconstruction and international/humanitarian intervention
• EU Common Security and Defence Policy and European security more generally
• German history and politics, including former East Germany, reunification, and German relations with Eastern Europe

Research and academic interests

Comparative Ethnopolitics

• Ethnic Conflict Settlement, especially institutional design and the contribution by international organisations
• External Minorities as Sources of Conflict and Cooperation within and between States
• Democratisation, Minority Rights and Ethnic Conflict
• Post-conflict Reconstruction and the Stability of Conflict Settlements

State Failure

• Causes and Dynamics of State Failure
• Regional Dimensions of State Failure
• Policy Responses to State Failure

The German Question: Past, Present and Future

• German Minorities Abroad
• Ethnic Germans and Their Integration in the Federal Republic
• The Policies of German Governments towards German Minorities Abroad
• Expellee Organisations in the Federal Republic

More information about my research, including details of current projects and recently completed projects, as well as a range of working papers.

Academically, other activities include my co-editorship of the journal Ethnopolitics and co-chairmanship of the PSA Specialist Group Ethnopolitics. I am also involved in a number of research projects, including a programme on Climate Change and African Political Stability Led by Professor Alan Kuperman at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the  Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin.

Beyond academia, I regularly consult to governments and international organisations, particularly on issues of conflict management and resolution. Currently (and for the past several years), on of my main focal points in this respect is conflict resolution in Moldova.

I also write a semi-regular blog on a range of topics in international affairs and contribute UK and international print media and web media. Over the past several months, I have written particularly on the Arab Spring in Libya.

In July 2010 I gave a talk at the TEDGlobal conference on civil wars and ethnic conflict.

There is also a video interview I gave to PeerIndex in which I talk about the way in which social media have added a whole new and very valuable dimension to my work as an academic and conflict resolution practitioner that enables me to connect more and better with a broader audience.

• Selected Authored Volumes

Cordell, K. and Wolff, S. (2009) Ethnic Conflict: Causes-Consequences-Responses. Cambridge: Polity.

Wolff, S. (2006) Ethnic Conflict: A Global Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cordell, K. and Wolff, S. (2005) German Foreign Policy towards Poland and the Czech Republic. London: Routledge.

Wolff, S. (2003) The German Question. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Wolff, S. (2002) Disputed Territories. Oxford: Berghahn.

• Selected Edited Volumes

Wolff, S. and Yakinthou, C. eds. (2011) Conflict Management in Divided Societies: Theories and Practice.  London: Routledge.

Cordell, K. and Wolff, S. eds. (2011) The Routledge Handbook of Ethnic Conflict. London: Routledge.

Whitman, R. and Wolff. S. eds. (2010) European Neighbourhood Policy since 2003. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Weller, M. and Wolff, S. eds. (2008) Institutions for the Management of Ethnopolitical Conflict in Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Weller, M. and Wolff, S. eds. (2005) Autonomy, Self-governance and Conflict Resolution. London: Routledge.

Cordell, K. and Wolff, S. eds. (2004) The Ethnopolitical Encyclopaedia of Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Schneckener, U. and Wolff, S. eds. (2004) Managing and Settling Ethnic Conflicts. London: Hurst.

• Selected Journal Articles

“The Regional Dimensions of State Failure”, Review of International Studies, vol. 37, no. 3 (June 2011), 951-972.

“Managing Ethno-national Conflict: Towards an Analytical Framework”, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, vol. 49, no. 2 (April 2011), 162–194.

“The Merits and Perils of Territorial Accommodation”, Political Studies Review, vol. 9, no. 1 (January 2011), 26-41.

“Governing (in) Kirkuk”, International Affairs, vol. 86, no. 6 (November 2010), 1361-79.

“Building Democratic States after Conflict: Institutional Design Revisited”, International Studies Review, vol. 12, no. 1 (March 2010), 128-41.

“The EU as a Conflict Manager: The Case of Georgia and Its Implications”, International Affairs, vol. 86, no.1 (January 2010; with Richard G. Whitman), 87-107.

A full list of all of my publications, many of them downloadable in PDF format, including book chapters, review essays and policy reports, as well as a range of working papers.

• German

Stefan is an experienced media commentator on wide range of issues relating to contemporary security challenges including Northern Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Unnion. He has been promient in addressing security issues around the 'Arab Spring' including writing pieces on Libya for outlets like the Independent.

• Professor Scott Lucas