Jennifer Keister was a visiting research fellow with expertise in insurgency, terrorism, and the southern Philippines. Her work investigates rebel groups’ relationship with civilian populations, and how they balance domestic and foreign constituencies. She has also worked on development challenges in conflict zones. Her current research focuses on the structure of authority and governance in so-called “ungoverned spaces.”
Keister has spent some 21 months in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao (southern Philippines) conducting survey and interview research, and previously worked in several post-Soviet states.
She has held positions at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in both the International Security and Intrastate Conflict Programs, the United States Institute for Peace, and the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.
Keister holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Government from the College of William & Mary.