Researcher
Andreas Hirblinger
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Summary
Andreas Hirblinger is a senior research fellow in the Global Order and Diplomacy research group at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
He conducts research on international efforts to prevent conflict and build peace, with a particular interest in practices of knowledge production. Andreas is specifically concerned with how digitalization and new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, affect how international actors make sense of, and respond to conflict and violence. His forthcoming book, "Digital Peacebuilding? The Socio-Technicality of Transforming Armed Conflict”, will be published with Oxford University Press (OUP) in 2026.
Before joining NUPI, Andreas worked at the Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP) at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and he was a visiting researcher at the European University Institute (EUI) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He has also been engaged as a consultant, advisor, and trainer for many international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
His publications have appeared, inter alia, in Security Dialogue, Review of International Affairs, International Studies Perspectives, Cooperation and Conflict, Peacebuilding, Information, Communication & Society, and Social Media + Society. Andreas holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge, an MA in International Conflict Studies from King’s College London, and a BA in Regional Studies and Sociology from the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
Expertise
Education
2016 PhD, Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge
2010 MA, International Conflict Studies, King's College London
2009 BA, Regional Studies Africa/Asia and Sociology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Work Experience
2026- Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
2024 Visiting Research Fellow, European University Institute (EUI), School of Transnational Studies
2021-2024 Associate Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
2022-2025 Senior Researcher, Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP), Geneva Graduate Institute
2019-2021 Post-doctoral Researcher, Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP), Geneva Graduate Institute
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersDigital Peacebuilding? The Socio-Technicality of Transforming Armed Conflict
This book explores how we can make sense of the increasing use of digital technology in peacebuilding. It studies digital peacebuilding at different stages of conflict, including conflict prevention, conflict mitigation, peace mediation, and sustainable transitions from armed conflict. Moving beyond a focus on individual tools, the book encourages a ‘post-digital’ posture that enables a reflexive position vis-à-vis the appeal of digital innovation. It suggests exploring how technologies are always socially embedded, and how the socio-technicality of digital peacebuilding conditions prospects of conflict transformation. To this end, the book develops the concept of apomediated peacebuilding, which suggests that authoritative knowledge about conflict and peace that underpins digital peacebuilding is generated in decentred peer-to-peer networks that involve both humans and machines. It also encourages a critical-reflexive engagement with how claims about technology and society shape digital peacebuilding. In addition, the book is interested in how these dynamics and outcomes differ globally depending on variations in the degree of digitalization of the conflict context and levels of political repression. The book presents comparative empirical research on digital peacebuilding initiatives in South Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Northern Ireland, as well as illustrative examples from several other cases. It delves into a variety of applications, including social media monitoring to counter harmful speech, the use of mobile phones and mobile apps to enable localized early warning and early response, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in digital dialogues to support peace processes, and everyday online interactions that can foster societal reconciliation and political change.
Preventing climate-change related conflict: Why Artificial Intelligence (AI) alone won’t close the early-warning response gap
Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings new opportunities and challenges to international efforts to warn about and respond to climate change-related conflict. This policy brief discusses the benefits and risks of AI-enhanced Conflict Early Warning and Early Response (CEWER) systems for climate-induced conflict, demonstrating that the effectiveness of such systems depends on how well they can be aligned with context-specific approaches to data analysis. In this policy brief the author recommends the following: • International partners should prioritise supporting locally embedded, participatory conflict early warning initiatives that carefully balance technical sophistication with local needs. • National civil society organizations should increase their capacity to engage with AI systems and AI-generated information, to support the integration and uptake of AI-driven early warning systems among local communities. • Research organisations and technology companies that build and supply AI-powered early warning systems should adopt human-centred design approaches.
Navigating the Era of Indicators (Navigator)
The European Research Council funded Navigator project (2025-2030) explores how public and private bodies, civil society and the state, navigate the era of indicators in global governa...