Charles Martin-Shields

Charles Martin-Shields
Fulbright-Clinton Fellow; Samoan Ministry of Communications on Technology and Information Policy

PhD, Visiting Scholar, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

Biography

Dr. Charles P. Martin-Shields is a Visiting Scholar in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. His research broadly explores how information technology affects political processes and public policy.

Dr. Martin-Shields' dissertation looked at how individuals in crisis-affected settings determined which sources of information were authoritative enough to act on, and how social, economic and political factors affected those decisions. The dissertation was based on surveys in Kenya and Samoa that yielded new data on which sources and mediums people turn to for information during political and social crises. He has a new article forthcoming in International Studies Perspectives that uses qualitative data from the Samoan case study to identify how political geography affects information use and trust, and is currently preparing a larger paper on the comparative political geography of information use in Kenya and Samoa based on his survey data.

During the 2016-17 academic year he will be completing two new papers, one on the economics of technology use in UN peace operations and the second on the comparative politics of innovation and technology adoption in international organizations. He has published articles on technology, public policy and peacebuilding in Business Peace and Sustainable Development, The Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. Stability, and The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.

Outside academia he remains active in applied research and policy development, consulting with the International Security and Development Centre and World Bank Group, as well as being a Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellow (2013-1



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Title Published Date
December 20, 2016
This collection of articles contributes to the growing body of research on how technology is affecting peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, and research methodologies in the field. Assumptions about the use of technology for peace are interrogated, such as...
Category: Journal Article
July 28, 2016
While information communication technologies (ICTs) have been innovatively used in crisis response and violence prevention by organizations for the last 7-10 years, there is relatively little theory and research into why and how these technologies affect socio-...
Category: Doctoral Dissertation
June 01, 2016
The use of information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure for peacebuilding has been an increasingly critical part of the peace making toolkit of governments, multilaterals and civil society. One of the key challenges that governance organizations...
Category: Journal Article
December 16, 2014
The expansion of access to mobile phones in the developing world has provided new opportunities for development and peacebuilding institutions to reach communities, and for communities to develop local development and peacebuilding solutions. Kenya has seen a...
Category: Journal Article
November 12, 2013
This paper will critically explore why mobile phones have drawn so much interest from the conflict management community in Kenya, and develop a general set of factors to explain why mobile phones can have a positive effect on conflict prevention efforts...
Category: Journal Article
July 26, 2013
The growth of mobile phone technology and Internet access globally has affected peoples’ lives in various ways. For the field of governance and conflict management, this has meant unprecedented levels of information sharing from within conflict and crisis...
Category: Journal Article
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Title Published Date
July 16, 2016
The events in Turkey last night were nothing short of astounding – the world watched a NATO country, in which all
Category: Newspaper Article

March 24, 2015
Ushahidi was born from the efforts of a team of Kenyan programmers, journalists, and lawyers who wanted to find a way
Category: Magazine Article

September 19, 2014
The Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (GDELT) has been gathering and databasing all the news events related
Category: Newspaper Article

July 11, 2014
How are organisations using communication technology (ICTs) for conflict early warning and prevention? The article
Category: Newspaper Article

May 09, 2014
After less than three years of nationhood, South Sudan stands on the precipice of civil war. The crisis represents a
Category: Newspaper Article

April 22, 2014
I was reading an update about the increasing ethnic violence in South Sudan forwarded to me by a colleague, and 
Category: Newspaper Article

September 29, 2013
Four students from the United States will be attached to several government Ministries for 10 months as part of the
Category: Newspaper Article

December 2011
Charles Martin-Shields, a PhD student in the 2011 cohort at S-CAR, was led into the Conflict Analysis field after
Category: Newsletter Article

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Title Event Datesort icon
When Information Becomes Action: How Information Communication Technologies Affect Collective Action During Crises Commitee: Thomas Edward Flores (Chair), Agnieszka Paczynska, and Todd LaPorte.Over the last 10 years, the dramatic increase in access to information communications technologies (
July 28, 2016
Where Technology Meets Trust: The Social Context of Technology, Information and Peacebuilding.Charles Martin-Shields, Research Fellow, Institute for Economics and Peace.
May 06, 2015
Dissertation Proposal Defense: Charles Martin-Shields - When Information Becomes Action: How social and political factors affect information technology (ICT) use during crisisTuesday, Dec. 9th 12:00pm-2:00pmConference Room 5145 Abstract: While information communication technologies (ICTs
December 09, 2014
Tech Tools for Creating Early Warning SystemsOpenGov HubWednesday, October 15, 2014 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM (EDT)Washington, DC
October 15, 2014
Mixed methods are becoming increasingly important in the fields of conflict analysis and resolution. Whether we are using them in practice to strengthen program design and evaluation, iteratively theory building or integrating qualitative approaches into quantitative research 
October 25, 2012
 The Central Asia, Africa and Latin America Working Groups are looking forward to welcoming you to the Truland Building on February 9th! This event will explore the ethical challenges of field work as well as three specific kinds of those challenges: corruption/obstruction, data
February 09, 2012
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