I am a Professor with the Department of Government at the University of Essex. My main research interests are in international relations and conflict resolution with a particular interest in the impact of peacekeeping operations. My research encompasses the analysis of secondary, mainly quantitative data, but I have also done field research and implemented surveys on the local perception of (and trust in) UN peacekeepers and other external actors post-conflict in Timor Leste, Haiti, and Colombia, and in Uganda I have surveyed refugee communities.