World-leading Research

Our research looks at big and broad-ranging topics and answers important questions through rigorous analysis and strong theoretical approaches.

With access to expertise in a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods, our people apply their academic and methodological skill to help us understand the political worlds of today—and shape those of the future.

Funding opportunities

Research Excellence

REF

DPIR achieved excellent scores in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, confirming the excellence of our research. The proportion of Oxford’s research outputs judged to be world-leading has also risen significantly since the last REF exercise in 2014.

Pluralism

DPIR's diverse community bridges International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory. It creates a rich intellectual environment for interdisciplinary engagement.

Global Expertise

Our research community holds in-depth, area-specific expertise in the politics of Europe, Russia and the Former Soviet Union, the US, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

A nexus for big questions and big ideas. We develop innovative new ways for gathering, processing and analysing data; we create new theoretical frameworks; and our research projects tackle some of the most-pressing challenges around the globe.

Research Networks

OxPo network

Programme for Global Leadership

Centre for Democratic Resilience

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Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

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Oxford Computational Political Science Group

Fawcett, L. (2026) “The Middle East amid the changing global politics of regionalism”, in P. De Lombaerde, A. Acharya, and B. Furtak-Cambell (eds.) Essays on Global Regionalism. Springer.

Billingham, P. (2025) “Democracy and Morality: Religious and Secular Views”, Journal of Church and State [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csaf060

Ketchley, N., Andersen, M. and Sending, O. (2025) “The Chinese are coming! U.S. think tanks and the Belt and Road Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa”, Review of International Political Economy [Preprint].

Hussein, H. (2025) “Yarmouk Treaty could ease Jordan’s water crisis”, Science, 389(6762), pp. 789–789.

Available at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady5453

CAPLAN, R. (2025) “Rethinking UN Peace and Security Engagements in a Changing World”, International Affairs [Preprint].

Nagheeby, M. et al. (2025) “Decolonizing water diplomacy for justice: Conceptual reflections and policy implications”, Environment and Security [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/27538796251362284

Power, T. and Chaisty, P. (2025) “Coalition Management and Governance Outcomes in Multiparty Presidential Regimes”, Political Studies [Preprint].

Howlett, M. and Konkenk, L. (2025) “Finding the ‘field’ in our ‘homes’ and our ‘homes’ in the ‘field:’ a critique of the ‘home-field’ dichotomy”, PS: Political Science and Politics [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/s1049096525000447

Kim, W., Chae, S. and Sandler, T. (2025) “Do non-UN peacekeeping operations work in conjunction with UN peacekeeping troops to reduce civilian casualties?”, Conflict Management and Peace Science [Preprint].

Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942251353419

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