Contact

BlueSky: @blairwelsh.bsky.social

My pronouns are he/they.

I am an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Western Ontario, affiliated with the Africa Institute and the Centre for Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. My research investigates the politics of armed violence and development across three major themes: 1) causes and consequences of armed violence; 2) conflict and displacement; and 3) post-conflict recovery.

My research is published or forthcoming in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly (x2), Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Global Security Studies, Conflict Management and Peace Science, and the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. The regional focus of my research is sub-Saharan Africa. My methodological portfolio includes survey and field experiments, text-as-data, spatial econometrics, machine learning, and strategies for causal inference.

Prior to joining Western, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University — Abu Dhabi. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Government, University of Essex, in 2023. I have held fellowships at the Governance and Local Development Institute, University of Gothenburg, School of Government and Public Policy, the University of Arizona, the Centre for International Studies (CÉRIUM), the University of Montréal, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CEPSI), McGill University and the University of Montréal, and the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex.

My research is supported by funding and provisions from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Centre for International Peace and Security Studies at McGill University and University of Montréal, Economic and Social Research Council, IKEA Foundation, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, Mitacs Canada, Montréal Centre for International Studies, South East Network of Social Scientists, and University College London. It includes collaborations with the Ministry of Justice in Somalia, United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, and UN Women.

I have also worked as an Analyst and Researcher for Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), AKE International, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), E-International Relations (E-IR), Global Risk Insights, and the House of Commons (UK Parliament), and served as an advisor to The United Nations and the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.