Omar McDoom

I am a comparative political scientist and I welcome inquiries from researchers, policy-makers, journalists, and students in the following areas:

• Conflict, violence, and security: I have expertise in genocides, civil wars, and ethnic conflicts, and know a little also about insurgencies, terrorism, and guerrilla warfare.
• Ethnic and religious integration: I am very interested in strategies that promote coexistence and cooperation across group boundaries in diverse, multi-ethnic societies.
• African and south-east Asian politics: I have area expertise in central Africa – primarily Rwanda, Burundi, the D.R.C., and Uganda - and developing knowledge of south-east Asia, in particular the Philippines.

My substantive interests lie in the study of conflicts and violence that are framed along ascriptive boundaries. I am particularly interested in understanding how and why divisions arise between groups that are defined in ethnic and religious terms within societies. More recently, my research has included the study of the converse, that is understanding how and why ethnic and religious groups achieve coexistence, conciliation, and even cooperation in diverse societies.

Prior to joining the LSE I held research fellowships at Harvard University, at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and then at Oxford University, in the Department of Politics and International Relations. My professional experience outside of the Academy includes work as a Policy Officer for the World Bank, as a Legal Officer for the Government of Guyana, and on electoral missions for the OSCE and UN. I also co-founded a non-profit organisation which develops leadership potential in children affected by northern Uganda's civil war. Do take a look at what it does - www.thechildisinnocent.org

I hold law degrees from Kings College London and the Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Masters degree in International Development Studies from George Washington University, and a PhD in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. I’m also an Attorney (non-practicing) admitted in New York.

Research interests

• Genocide
• Civil wars
• Ethnic conflicts
• Social integration
• Interethnic coexistence
• Multiculturalism
• Religious extremism
• Radical Islam
• Terrorism
• African politics
• Teaching responsibilities

Education

• PhD The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2002 — 2008)
• Master of Arts (M.A.) The George Washington University (1997 — 1999)
• Maitrise University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne (1994 — 1996)
• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Kings College London (1992 — 1994)

Books

• The Path to Genocide in Rwanda: Security, Opportunity, and Authority in an Ethnocratic State
  (2020), Cambridge University Press.

Peer reviewed Articles

• Radicalization as Cause and Consequence of Violence in Genocides and Mass Killings (2020), Violence, Vol. 1(1), 123-143.
• Contested Counting: Toward a Rigorous Estimate of the Death Toll in the Rwandan Genocide (2020), Journal of Genocide Research, Vol. 22(1), 83-93.
• Inequality, Status, and Ethnicity in a Ranked Society: Intermarriage in Mindanao, the Philippines (2019), Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Vol. 59, 71-80.
• Ethnic Inequality, Cultural Distance, and Social Integration: Evidence from a NativeSettler Conflict in the Philippines (2019). Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 45(9), 1532-1552
• Inequality between Whom? Patterns, Trends, and Implications of Horizontal Inequalities in the Philippines (2018), with C. Reyes, C. Mina, & R. Asis, Social Indicators Research 145, pp. 923-925
• The Measurement of Ethnic and Religious Divisions: Spatial, Temporal and Categorical Dimensions with Evidence from Mindanao, the Philippines, with Rachel Miyoshi Gisselquist (2018), Social Indicators Research, 129(2), pp.863-891.
• Predicting Violence within Genocide: A Model of Elite Competition and Ethnic Segregation from Rwanda (2014), Political Geography, Vol 42, pp.34-45.
• Antisocial Capital: A Profile of Rwandan Genocide Perpetrators’ Social Networks (2013), Journal of Conflict Resolution, 58(5), pp.865-893.
• Who killed in Rwanda’s Genocide? Micro-space, Social influence and Individual Participation in Intergroup Violence (2013), Journal of Peace Research, 50 (4). pp. 453-467.
• The Psychology of Threat in Intergroup Conflict: Emotions, Rationality, and Opportunity in the Rwandan Genocide (2012), International Security, Vol. 37(2). pp. 119-155