Thomas Kruiper

On March 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate global ceasefire, saying the fury of the novel coronavirus illustrates the folly of war. While politically correct, his statement may well turn out to be empirically mistaken. The fact is that the consequences of the pandemic are more likely to spread political violence than to stop it. Rather than laying down their weapons, some might actually use the pandemic as one.

For the full article on IE’s knowledge hub, click here.

For those who don’t feel like reading my full PhD dissertation, Josep Maria Francàs just asked me a bunch of very relevant questions in the following interview (in Spanish):

Thomas Kruiper: ‘La ONU tiene un problema de credibilidad’

After many years of hard work and dedication, I am proud to announce the publication and defense of my PhD disseration titled “United Nations Sanctions Regimes and Selective Security”. Thanks to Prof. Dr. Carlos Juberías Flores for all the support throughout the years, and to Profs. Susana Sanz, Clara Portela, and Aleksi Ylönen for their feedback and kind words. Also thanks to all the people who took the trouble to come to the event. It really means a lot to me.

By the way, a PDF version of the thesis can be found here.

On the 17th of June 2019 I contributed to a panel about good practices and academic experiences at the Summer School for Young Researchers at the University of Valencia (UV). My contribution was about how focus group research has helped me become a better teacher. Thanks to Carmen Azcárraga Monzonís and the UV for directing and hosting this event.

UV Summer School for Young Researchers

On the 4th of April 2019 I participated in a seminar organized by the school of International Relations at the Universidad Europea in Valencia (UEV), titled “La Guerra por Otros Medios: Sanciones Internacionales“. Other speakers included Dr. Clara Portela, Dr. Frederic Mertens, and Drs. Jorge Mestre. Special thanks to the UEV and Jorge Mestre for hosting and organizing this excellent event!

Earlier this week I gave a seminar at the department of political science of Universidad Cardenal Herrera (CEU) in Valencia, titled “Las sanciones de la UE y la guerra civil desde 1990. Defendiendo la seguridad humana o política selectiva?” Thanks very much Dr. Susana Sanz Caballero for the organization and to those who participated in the seminar!

The IE School of International Relations asked me to write a short article related to my field of research, so I wrote this op-ed on the UN’s role in the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. You can also find it here.

Rohingya Crisis and UN involvement: Why Pragmatism is Key to Humanitarian Resolve

The United Nations’ half-hearted response to the Rohingya crisis[1] in Rakhine State (Myanmar) is disappointing, but unsurprising. The Security Council’s failure to act decisively to react to today’s fastest growing humanitarian crisis is reminiscent of its attitude towards similar crises since the 1990s across the world. Despite the ever-extensive toolbox of UN policy makers to deal with large-scale human rights violations, ethnic cleansing campaigns, and acts of genocide, the Rohingya crisis reminds us of the fact that human security is always secondary to political interests. There is no use for idealism. Pragmatism is key.

Click here to continue to the article

As part of IE University’s Summer Publications and Research (SPUR) programme, ReSeT just published two papers that I co-authored with Eleanor Manley and Federico Fargion. The articles can be found here (Kruiper & Manley) and here (Kruiper & Fargion), and the database on which the results are based here. Eleanor and Federico, thanks a million for your hard work and congratulations on two great papers!

On the 27^th of April I will present some of my research at the School of Law of the University of Valencia as part of their Legal English Workshops Conferences. I will present chapter 6 of my PhD dissertation, titled: “Civil War and United Nations Sanctions: 1990 – 2015”. Presentation and discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Carlos Flores. Constitutional law professor. Law School. UVEG.  For those who are interested in attending, it’s on the 4^th floor of the UV’s Law School, in the Tomas Vives room at 12:30.

Since 2013 I have been active as a consultant in the development sector in Liberia. Over the years, local researchers have helped me in collecting data and training enumerators for projects ranging from Agriculture to Climate Change, and from Business Development to Value Chain Management in Liberia.

In 2015 I started working more closely with two Liberian colleagues, Frank Garpue and Victor Kemoh, who have since become irreplaceable researchers and team leaders. That’s why we decided to launch Liberia Monitors together, a consultancy specialized in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) that combines international experience with local expertise and capacity building.

We are now proud to present our website, liberiamonitors.com, on which you can read about our projects and the skills learned by local researchers. Don’t hesitate to check it out and get in touch!