Dr Siobhan O’Neil is Senior Fellow (Non-Resident) and acts as Project Director of the Managing Exits from Armed Conflict project at the Centre for Policy Research.
Dr Siobhan O’Neil was previously Project Lead for UNU’s Children and Extreme Violence project and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Project Manager.
Prior to joining UNU, Dr O’Neil was a consultant at the UN Mine Action Service (UNAMS), providing strategic guidance and programme support for key mine action programmes in Mali and Palestine. Dr O’Neil has experience in both the security and intelligence fields: In the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks, she worked for the newly created state homeland security agencies in New York and New Jersey, helping state and local governments build their capacity to detect, prevent, and recover from terrorist attacks. She later served as the analyst for domestic security and intelligence at the Congressional Research Service, identifying emerging threats and evaluating possible policy responses for Congress. During the course of her doctoral studies, Dr O’Neil worked as a research analyst at the RAND Corporation on projects pertaining to counterinsurgency transitions, insurgent motivations, and civil-military coordination during domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive attacks.
Research Interests
- Conflict resolution
- Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism
- Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration
- International Security
- Mediation Negotiations and Post-conflict Recovery
- Policymaking
