Forthcoming Projects
Transnational Appeal: QAnon in Italy
Principal Investigator
Climate Change, Conflict and the Sahel
Principal Investigator
Luciano Pollichieni
MA, PhD
Research Fellow
in the Geopolitics of Non-state Actors
Luciano Pollichieni’s research focuses on the interaction between organized crime and terrorism (crime-terror nexus) and the geopolitics of non-state actors. He is currently conducting research on the exploitation of geographical spaces by violent non-state actors in West Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Pollichieni has investigated the link between drug trafficking and armed violence in northern Mali. He has extensive experience analysing organized crime in Italy and West Africa, focusing on both terrorist financing and drug trafficking. His research is aimed at policymakers and academics.
He is a visiting research fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Conflict Security and Terrorism and is affiliated with the Urban Violence Research Network. He has previously worked for Limes: the Italian Review of Geopolitics, the Istituto of Affari Internazionali, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies (among others). Luciano has been interviewed as a security expert by prominent British, Italian, and Belgian media outlets.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
Luciano Pollichieni and Andrew Mumford
Terrorism, Slavery and the Evolution of the ‘Crime–Terror Nexus’
The RUSI Journal
A case of violent corruption: JNIM’s insurgency in Mali (2017–2019)
Small Wars & Insurgencies
Essays and Invited Commentary
A matter of context: power, conflict and climate change. A conversation with Tor Benjaminsen
Security Praxis
A crowded place with few solutions: old and new players in the geopolitics of the Sahel
ACCORD (African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes)
Is France at Risk of "Losing" the Sahel?
ISPI (The Italian Institute for International Political Studies)
Invited Speaking Events
EUCTER-Jean Monnet Network on EU Counter-Terrorism. October 15, 2021
Media Appearances
Linkiesta, June 2021
#ScholarSpotlight with Luciano Pollichieni
Next Generation Global Policy March 2021
Jihadisme in de Sahel is geen religieuze monoliet
Mondiaal Nieuws February 2021
Street Talk Ep.3 – Luciano Pollichieni: The COVID-19 Unrest in Italy.
Urban Violence Research Network November 2020
Mali, Pollichieni : “Improbabile coinvolgimento ivoriano”
Limes, September 2020
Halloween Night in Feed West’s police cell criticized as tasteless.
The Guardian, September 2018