About
I am senior analyst on Jihad and Modern Conflict at the International Crisis Group (ICG) and research associate at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) (Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP)). I was previously advisor for Non-State Armed Groups at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
I bridge the worlds of academia and practitioners, studying the evolution of non-state armed groups with a special emphasis on jihadis, especially how they can become more pragmatic overtime and engaged by external actors (including states and humanitarians)
I have conducted extensive field research in conflict zones, including Syria, where I have interviewed hundreds of jihadi militants and foreign fighters – from their military, political, and religious leaders to their foot soldiers – to gain a deeper understanding of their changing political views in armed conflicts
I hold a PhD from Durham University. I formerly held research fellowships at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) (Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (CCDP)) the University of Oxford (the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) and the Blavatnik School of Government), and the University of Manchester (Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis)
You can follow me on academia.edu, google scholar, linkedin, mastodon, research gate and twitter. Feel free to contact me (jerome AT drevon DOT org)
Research focus
My research examines (mostly Islamist) non-state armed groups at the meso-level, including institutional, organisational, and networking approaches. Building upon social movement theory and contentious politics studies, I am particularly interested in armed groups’ trajectories in armed conflicts, which I have researched extensively in both Egypt and Syria. I focus specifically on the transformation of armed groups into more pragmatic and mainstream political actors. In terms of methodology, I rely on extensive field research and interviews with armed groups’ leaders and members in addition to primary sources. I use rich case studies to develop theoretical models that are relevant beyond them. My research contributes to broader issues in conflict studies, including armed groups' alliances, institutionalisation, and structures of governance.
My first book, Institutionalizing Violence, examines how jihadis adopt violence and mobilise short of territorial control, focusing on the case of Egyptian jihadis from the formation of Islamic Jihad and al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya in the 1970s to these groups' interactions with al-Qaeda in the 1990s and partial joining of the political process after 2011.
My second book (forthcoming), From Jihad to Politics, delves into how jihadis fight and take over territory, manage their relations with one another and with foreign states, as well as their politicisation in the Syrian conflict based on the in-depth case study of Ahrar al-Sham and, to a lesser extent, Jabhat al-Nusra, within the Syrian armed opposition.
My third book will analyse the transition of (former) jihadis into governance, using the case of the former Nusra Front or HTS in Syria after 2017.
My research has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMPES), and the Durham Energy Institute (DEI). I have conducted extensive field work in Egypt, Iraq (Kurdistan), Lebanon, Mauritania, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Syria (pre and post-2011, including Idlib), Thailand, and Turkey.
Books
The ebook version is available for free (open access) here (pdf version)
Order a book copy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Forthcoming book
From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics
The Syrian regime unleashed unprecedented violence to suppress large-scale non-violent protests amid the 2011 Arab uprisings. Hundreds of armed groups formed throughout the country to defend the protesters and fight back. However, in contrast to other conflicts previously dominated by al-Qaeda and Islamic State, the two largest Syrian Jihadi groups, Ahrar al-Sham and then Jabhat al-Nusra, rejected global jihad and began to cultivate new ties with the population, other armed opposition groups, and even foreign states. This strategic shift is a response to the Jihadi paradox—a realization that while Jihadis excel at leading insurgencies, they fail to achieve political victories. In From Jihad to Politics, Jerome Drevon offers an examination of the Syrian armed opposition, tracing the emergence of Jihadi groups in the conflict, their dominance, and their political transformation. Drawing upon field research and interviews with Syrian insurgents in northwestern Syria and Turkey, Drevon demonstrates how the context of a local conflict can shape armed groups’ behavior in unexpected ways. Further, he marshals unique evidence from the Arab world’s most intense conflict to explain why the trajectory of the transnational Jihadi movement has altered course in recent years.
Expected publication: Under contract, publication in Summer 2024
HTS in Syria
I am currently working on the former Jabhat al-Nusra and its transformation into Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) with Patrick Haenni based on extensive field research in Syria and interviews with the leadership of HTS and ministers from the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG). We have already published a working paper that will serve as the foundation of a more comprehensive book covering HTS's establishment of structures of governance in the Syrian province of Idlib. It is available here (pdf)
Publications
Books
2. Drevon, J. (forthcoming). From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics, Oxford University Press
1. Drevon, J. (2022). Institutionalizing Violence: Strategies of Jihad in Egypt, Oxford University Press (open access here)
Journal Articles
7. Drevon, J. & Haenni, P. (2022), Redefining Global Jihad and Its Termination: The Subjugation of al-Qaeda by Its Former Franchise in Syria. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (online access here)
6. Drevon, J. (2021) Can (Salafi) Jihadi Insurgents Politicise and Become Pragmatic in Civil Wars? Social Movement Restraint in Ahrar al-Sham in Syria Third World Thematics (online access here)
5. Drevon, J. (2017). The Jihadi Social Movement: Between Internal Hegemonic Drive, Local Realities, and Transnational Aspirations, Perspectives on Terrorism, 11(6), 55-62 (online access here)
4. Drevon, J. (2017). The Constrained Institutionalisation of Diverging Islamist Strategies: The Jihadis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafis between Two Aborted Egyptian Revolutions, Mediterranean Politics, 22(1), 1-16 (online access here)
3. Drevon, J. (2016). Embracing Salafi Jihadism in Egypt and Mobilizing in the Syrian Jihad, Middle East Critique, 25(4), 321-339 (online access here)
2. Drevon, J. (2015). The Emergence of Ex-Jihadi Political Parties in Post-Mubarak Egypt, The Middle East Journal, 69(4), 511-526 (online access here)
1. Drevon, J. (2015). Assessing Islamist Armed Groups’ De-Radicalization in Egypt, Peace Review. A Journal of Social Justice, 27(3), 296-303 (online access here)
Book Chapters
6. Drevon, J. & Haenni, P. (2021), The Transformation of a Salafi Jihadi Group after 2011: From Jabhat al-Nusra to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, In: Blanc, T. & Roy, R., Salafism: Challenged by Radicalization? Violence, Politics, and the Advent of Post-Salafism, Middle East Directions, European University Institute, 69-74 (online access here)
5. Drevon, J. (2021) Ahrar al-Sham’s Politicisation during the Syrian Conflict In: Bano, M. Salafi Social and Political Movements: National and Transnational Contexts, Edinburgh University Press, 222-246 (online access here)
4. Drevon, J. (2020) The Challenge of Hybrid Actors’ Governance on Security Structures in MENA In: Conflicts, Pandemics, and Peacebuilding: New Perspectives on Security Sector Reform in the MENA Region, ISPI-DCAF (online access here)
3. Drevon, J. (2018) The Reconfiguration of the Egyptian Islamist Social Movement Family after Two Political Transitions In: Rivetti, P. & Kraetzschmar, H., Islamists and the Politics of the Arab Uprisings: Governance, Pluralisation and Contention, Edinburgh University Press, 258-273 (online access here)
2. Drevon, J. (2018). The Constrained Institutionalization of Diverging Islamist Strategies: The Jihadis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafis between Two Aborted Egyptian Revolutions In: Campana, A. & Jourde, C., Islamism and Social Movements in North Africa, the Sahel and Beyond: Transregional and Local Perspectives, Routledge [Reprint of Drevon, 2017]
1. Drevon, J. (2015). The Emergence and Construction of the Radical Salafi Milieu in Egypt In: Bosi, L., Ó Dochartaigh, N. & Pisoiu, D., Political Violence in Context: Time, Space and Milieu, ECPR Press, 215-235 (online access here)
Research Report
Drevon, J. & Haenni, P., How Global Jihad Relocalises and Where it Leads: The Case of HTS, the Former AQ Franchise in Syria, EUI Working Paper RSC 2021/08, Middle East Directions (MED), European University Institute (online access here and there)
Non-Refereed Articles and Reports
10. Drevon, J., & Herbert, I. (2021) Engaging Armed Groups at the International Committee of the Red Cross: Challenges, Opportunities and COVID-19. International Review of the Red Cross, 102(915), pp.1021-1031 (online access here)
9. Drevon, J., & Herbert, I. (2021) Interview with Attaher Zacka Maïga, Networking Coordinator. International Review of the Red Cross, 102(915), pp.981-989 (online access here)
8. Drevon, J., Haenni, P. & Quesnay, A., (2021) Des rebelles en deuil de révolution: la réorientation stratégique des opposition syriennes. Moyen-Orient (50), 44-49
7. Drevon, J.& Haenni, P., (2021) Repères islam politique: Idlib: le nouveau réalisme du salafisme syrien. Moyen-Orient (50), 50-53
6. Drevon, J. .& Haenni, P. (2020). The consolidation of a (post-jihadi) technocratic state-let in Idlib, POMEPS Studies 42: MENA’s Frozen Conflicts, I, 42-47 (online access here)
5. Drevon, J. (2019). Transnational Armed Salafi Networks: Emergence and Development, Orient: German Journal for Politics, Economics and Culture of the Middle East, I, 43-49 (online access here and there)
4. Kurabi, A & Drevon, J. (2018). Administering a Borderland at War: Baab al-Hawa in Syria, Accord Insight 4: Borderlands and Peacebuilding: A View from the Margins, Conciliation Resources, 42-47 (online access here and there)
3. Drevon, J. (2016). Salafi Jihadi Mobilization in Armed Conflicts: Situating Ideological and Political Rationales in Diverging Settings In: Youths and Radical Groups from the Perspective of Youths, The Arab Forum for Alternatives and Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, 135-148
2. Drevon, J. (2014). An Interview of Muhammad Omar Abd al-Rahman, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford University Press (online access here)
1. Drevon, J. (2014). Democracy and Islamist Violence: Lessons from Post-Mubarak Egypt, Digest of Middle East Studies, 23(1), 1-14
Op-Eds
4. Drevon, J. , Haenni, P. .& Quesnay, A.(2021). Pour défaire durablement l’Etat islamique en Syrie, ce sont désormais les rebelles qu’il faut stabiliser, Le Monde, March 15 (online access)
3. Drevon, J. (2019). Renouncing al-Qaeda and the prospects for engagement, Middle East Institute, February 6 (online access)
2. Drevon, J. (2014). How Syria’s War Is Dividing the Egyptian Jihadi Movement, Syria in Crisis, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, January 9 (online access)
1. Drevon, J. (2013). A Return of Violent Islamist Insurgency in Egypt?, Sada, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, August 13 (online access)
Book Reviews
1. Drevon, J. (2013). Review of Lisa Blaydes, Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), New Middle Eastern Studies 3 (online access here)
Conferences, Seminars, Workshops
Academic Symposium (invited)
Aarhus University, Australian National University, Birkbeck College, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding (Graduate Institute, Geneva), Copenhagen University, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Durham University, ETH Zurich, European University Institute (EUI), Hasan Kalyoncu University, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Middle East Dialogue, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris Dauphine, Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS), Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) (Hamad Bin Khalifa University), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Nanyang Technological University), Université Laval, University of Lancaster, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, Uppsala Universitet, Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS), Webster University.
Academic Institutes
Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences: 2014
European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Joint Session: 2016, 2021
Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute (TASI): 2011
Policy Symposium and Workshops (invited, non-exhaustive)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Antalya International Security Symposium, Arab Forum for Alternatives, Berghof Foundation, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), DGAP EU-Middle East Forum, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) European University Institute, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, GIGA German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD), Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), International Crisis Group (ICG), Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Midde East Institute, Swiss Peace, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UN-CTED), Washington Institute for Near East Policy, World Council of Churches
Academic Conferences
American Political Science Association (APSA): 2015
Conflict Research Society Annual Conference: 2017, 2021, 2023
European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR): 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021
Global International Studies Conference: 2014, 2017
International Studies Association (ISA): 2016, 2017, 2018
Middle East Studies Association (MESA): 2013
CV
You can download my CV here
Current Positions
Senior Analyst, Jihad and Modern Conflict, International Crisis Group (ICG), September 2021-
Research Associate, Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva, Switzerland, June 2019-
Former Positions
Advisor For Non-State Armed Groups, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva, Switzerland, September 2019- August 2021
Non-Resident Fellow, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA, January 2019- December 2020
Research Fellow, Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva, Switzerland, June, 2018 - May, 2019
Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, January, 2018 - June, 2018
Research Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, January, 2017 - December, 2017
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, July, 2015 - December, 2016 Additional training undertaken in Social Statistics, including Longitudinal Data Analysis, Multilevel Modeling, and Social Network Analysis
Education
Ph.D in International Relations, Durham University, Durham, UK, October, 2010 - July, 2015
Master of Arts in International Affairs, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva, Switzerland, September 2008
External Funding / Fellowships
Advanced Research Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), 2017-2018 and 2018-2019
Research Engagement Grant, Project on Middle East Political Science (POMPES), George Washington University, 2016
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), 2015-2016
Research Fellowship, Durham Energy Institute (DEI), July - August, 2013
Doctoral Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), 2012-2013, 2013-2014
Teaching
Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy (HEA) (Teaching accreditation)
Field Work
Egypt - Iraq (Kurdistan) - Jordan - Lebanon - Mauritania - Nigeria - Palestine - Rwanda - Syria (pre and post-2011, including Idlib) - Thailland - Turkey
Languages
French (mother tongue) English (professional fluency) Arabic (working fluency)
IT Skills
Applications and Statistical Packages: LaTeX, SPSS
Languages: C, C++, Python, R
Operating Systems: Linux / Unix