Author · Scholar · Speaker
Dr. Jérôme Drevon
Research Associate, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID)
Fellow, Centre on Armed Groups
Quoted & Featured In
Financial Times
New York Times
Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
Foreign Affairs
BBC
CNN
Al Jazeera
Le Monde
Le Figaro
France 24
PBS
Author
Three books tracing insurgent transformation
From emergence through institutionalisation, politicisation, and governance — grounded in field research and interviews with armed group leaders and fighters.
New
2025 · Hurst / Oxford University Press
Transformed by the People
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's Road to Power in Syria
HTS's journey from besieged al-Qaeda affiliate to conservative Islamist government — based on interviews with Ahmad al-Sharaa and HTS leaders.
Open Access
2024 · Oxford University Press
From Jihad to Politics
How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics
How the two largest Syrian jihadi groups rejected global jihad and cultivated ties with populations, opposition, and states.
Open Access
2022 · Oxford University Press
Institutionalizing Violence
Strategies of Jihad in Egypt
How Egyptian jihadi groups made divergent strategic decisions despite sharing the same ideology.
Scholarly Research Focus
Core areas of inquiry
01
Armed Group Transformation
How ideologically driven organisations become pragmatic, engage in governance, and seek political legitimacy over time.
02
Insurgent Governance & Authority
Institution-building beyond the state — how armed actors create structures of administration, social control, and contested authority.
03
Jihadi Strategic Adaptation
The evolution of transnational jihadi movements, their relocalisation, and the emergence of post-jihadi political forms.
Speaker
Keynotes, briefings & expert consultations
Regular contributions to high-level policy dialogues, academic conferences, government consultations, and United Nations deliberations on armed groups, counter-terrorism, and sanctions.
70+
Events Worldwide
Keynote lectures, expert briefings, and strategic analysis for diplomatic, security, and humanitarian stakeholders across five continents.
30+
Universities
Invited lectures and seminars at Columbia, Oxford, LSE, ETH Zurich, Peking University, West Point, and many more.
22
Think Tanks & Policy Institutes
Carnegie, CSIS, ECFR, IISS, International Crisis Group, Middle East Institute, and leading policy research centres.