About the GIC

The Global Insecurities Centre is at the forefront of the latest thinking on today's most pressing security issues.

The Global Insecurities Centre (GIC) conducts research on the emergent insecurities of our complex and interconnected world. Our work is multifaceted and interdisciplinary, with a focus on the uneven and contested nature of contemporary insecurities, and the often emergent and bottom-up nature of our responses to them. The GIC emphasises a complex picture of multiple actors in dialogue with the insecurities that face them, and the opportunities for positive transformation and change that such circumstances present. 

Aims and objectives

The GIC aims to advance the intellectual agenda addressing global insecurities, to shape intellectual debates within the wider field,  to bring about a meaningful impact upon policy and practice, and to increase the profile of our work in these areas amongst academic and policy audiences.  

The GIC is characterised by: 

  • A vibrant research community, comprising academic staff, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students.
  • Interdisciplinary scholarship, drawing on security studies, international relations, peace and conflict studies, development studies, sociology, law and politics.
  • Theoretical diversity, fostering conversations between colleagues working in traditions of constructivism, feminist political theory, historiography, institutionalism, post-structuralism and subaltern realism.
  • Wide-ranging area studies expertise, including Latin America, Europe, South Asia, South-East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Western Balkans.
  • Public engagement with policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholder groups.
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration with the natural sciences and engineering. 
  • Research-led post-graduate teaching across the broader SPAIS teaching programme.  

GIC research programmes

 The GIC hosts five established research programmes: 

GIC research groups

The GIC has three research groups: