Virginie Collombier is a Professor of Practice at Luiss Guido Carli University, School of Government (SoG). At the School of Government she is the scientific coordinator of the newly established Mediterranean Platform, a programme for policy-relevant research and dialogues on the security, political economy and socio-political transformations affecting the MENA region and the broader Mediterranean. She also directs several projects combining policy-oriented field research, research mentorship and support to homegrown mediation initiatives and policy dialogues in Libya.
Between 2015 and 2022, she was co-founder and scientific coordinator of the Middle East Directions Programme at the European University Institute (EUI), where she also launched and directed the Libya Initiative.
Virginie’s main research interests are in social and political dynamics in Libya and the broader MENA region, with particular emphasis on peacebuilding and processes of mediation and reconciliation, former regime constituencies and security issues.
She holds an MA in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Grenoble, France. She speaks French, English, Arabic and Italian.
Her most recent publications include:
Edited volumes
- Violence and Social Transformation in Libya (ed. with W. Lacher), London: Hurst, forthcoming, 2023.
- Tribes and Global Jihadism (ed. with O. Roy), London: Hurst, 2017.
Ebooks
- Inside Wars: Local Dynamics of Conflicts in Syria and Libya (ed. with L: Narbone and A. Favier), MEDirections ebook, European University Institute, 2016.
Articles
- “Libyan Salafis and the Struggle for the State”, in Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, 2022.
- “Les salafistes libyens après la révolution”, with T. Blanc, in Confluences Méditerranée 2021/3, N° 118, pp. 119-132.
- “Salafi Politics: ’Political’ and ‘Quietist’ Salafis in the Struggle for the Libyan State”, Research Project Report, MEDirections European University Institute & Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, December 2020 (link).
- “To engage or not to engage? Libyan Salafis and State Institutions”, with F. Barsoum, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, May 2019 (link).