State of Origin: Georgia
Degree Program: PhD
Entered Program: Fall 2022
Expected Graduation: Spring 2026
Dissertation Topic: Investigating how the social networks of actors in violent conflicts change over time and space in North and West Africa.
Research Interests: Conflict, political violence, terrorism, war, political geography, social network analysis, North and West Africa, Sahel.
Research Statement: Conflicts involving non-state actors can be notoriously complex, with different armed groups appearing, fragmenting, disappearing, and joining and leaving a dizzying array of alliances and rivalries. The damage done by these conflicts necessitates a close look at how begin, evolve, and draw to a close. David’s current work focuses on quantifying how the social networks of such armed conflicts change across space and as conflicts evolve over time. David is interested in studying political violence in through the lenses of spatial statistics, social network analysis, and the study of geopolitical rhetoric. This research focuses on case studies in North and West Africa, and especially on the ongoing conflict in Libya. David has researched political mobilization and violence in the United States, the Middle East, and in North and West Africa.
Adviser: Dr. Olivier Walther
Educational Background
- BA in History, Middlebury College, 2015
- MS in Geography, University of Idaho, 2019
Publications
Walther, O. J., Radil, S. M., & Russell, D. G. (2021). Mapping the changing structure of conflict networks in North and West Africa. African Security, 14(3), 211-238.
Walther, O. J., Radil, S. M., Russell, D. G., & Trémolières, M. (2021). Introducing the Spatial Conflict Dynamics indicator of political violence. Terrorism and Political Violence, 1-20.
Russell, D. G., & Radil, S. M. (2022). Landscapes of Control: The Geography of Counterinsurgency in the Sinai, Egypt. The Arab World Geographer, 25(2-3), 98-118.
Russell, D. G., & Radil, S. M. (2023). The New Anglo-Saxons: Race, Space, and the Production of a Geopolitical Discourse. GeoHumanities, 1-17.