Sabrina Karim is an associate professor in Government at Cornell University, where she directs the Gender and Security Sector Lab (GSS). The GSS lab is dedicated to advancing research on enhancing the security of vulnerable populations around the world by helping to create more gender-responsive security forces globally. Karim holds a BS in International Politics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, an MS in Forced Migration from Oxford University, and an MA and a PhD in Political Science from Emory University. She specializes in the study of political violence and conflict and peace processes, particularly state building in the aftermath of civil war. Karim has worked on international involvement in security assistance to post-conflict states, gender reforms in peacekeeping and domestic security sectors, and the relationship between gender and political violence. Karim is the co-author of two books: Positioning Women in Conflict Studies: How Women’s Status Affects Political Violence (with Daniel Hill Jr., Oxford, 2024) and Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping: Women, Peace and Security in Post-Conflict States (with Kyle Beardsley, Oxford, 2017), which received the 2017-18 American Political Science Association Conflict Processes Best Book Prize and the 2017 Conflict Research Society Book of the Year Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous academic journals, including the American Political Science Review, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Peace Research, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and International Peacekeeping, among others. Karim has received research support from the Geneva Centre for Security Governance, National Science Foundation, Economic and Social Research Council, and the British Research Council, among others.
At the Academy, Sabrina Karim is working on a book project entitled “Pockets of Restraint in Violent Security Forces.” The project seeks to understand when and why those tasked with the use of force show restraint in the midst of security threats. A significant challenge in post-conflict reconstruction is the creation of security forces that can exercise restraint in the exercise of their power. Do more fragmented security forces guard against excessive use of force? Can more autonomous security forces engage in political bargaining with governments to deter against excessive violence by security force personnel? In her book, Karim will evaluate characteristics of restraint among security force personnel, the significance of unit cohesion and displays of restraint, and the role of policy and military autonomy from civilian governments. Drawing on over 6000 surveys of security force personnel globally, global datasets on police and protest violence, police reform, and deep case study analysis, Karim seeks to demonstrate how governments can ensure that restraint becomes a key component in the creation of democratic police and military institutions.
Meet Sabrina Karim
A short portrait filmed at the Hans Arnhold Center, introducing the work and ideas behind fellows’ projects in Berlin.
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Why resistance to following orders occurs at individual, unit, institutional levels
How will peacekeeping meet geopolitical realities?
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Pockets of Restraint in Violent Security Forces
Why resistance to following orders occurs at individual, unit, institutional levels
Fellow Spotlight: Sabrina Karim
Sabrina Karim is working on a project entitled “Pockets of Restraint in Violent Security Forces.”
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Hakim Abderrezak
Marco Abel
David Abraham
