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Borderlands

Communities that sit in conflict-affected borderlands are often subject to a complex combination of cultural and geographical factors. XCEPT’s research into these conflict areas explores local governance, other influential actors, and the alternative institutions and strategies that borderland communities rely upon to protect themselves against violence and abuse. It also examines how economic transitions, markets, and trade are affected by changes in the social and political context of a borderland community.

Below you can find and download publications by XCEPT partners that investigate the unique contexts of conflict-affected borderlands.

Briefing paper

29th September 2026
In Pakistan’s western borderlands, growing interest in mineral extraction is reshaping debates over land, governance and development.

Briefing paper

25th September 2026
Iraq’s disputed territories remain caught between competing authorities, patronage networks and unresolved claims to power – dynamics that continue to...

Briefing paper

24th September 2026
What appears as stability on the Sudan–South Sudan border may in fact be a fragile order sustained by coercion, extraction and elite control.

SPOTLIGHT

XCEPT Workshop: Local, People-Focused Policymaking

26th October 2022
Addressing securitization in conflict zones in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
READ NEWS

Briefing paper

22nd September 2026
In South Sudan’s Greater Pibor region, a grassroots movement of mothers and grandmothers demonstrates how women can govern, regulate violence and exer...

Event

1st October 2026
A webinar exploring how communities across South Sudan’s borderlands navigate conflict, shape or are shaped by authority and sustain livelihoods throu...

Briefing paper

7th September 2026
Checkpoints are more than barriers to movement in South Sudan. They have become central to how markets function, how resources circulate and how power...

Event

21st October 2026
The final XCEPT conference will bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to examine nine years of cross-border conflict research and...

Event

30th September 2026
A webinar on how political and economic elites shape authority, resource extraction, governance, and everyday life in contested borderlands.

Event

22nd September 2026
A webinar exploring how women in conflict-affected borderlands are reshaping governance, authority and peacebuilding.

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