Francisco Mazzola is a Lecturer in Middle East Studies at the Department of War Studies. He holds a PhD from King’s College London and his work examines how dynamics between public and private armed actors impact the state in Areas of Limited Statehood.

Francisco is currently working on a book manuscript based on his doctoral research that studies statehood in Lebanon through the lens of its national police force. His latest publication scrutinizes the impact of community policing as part of democratic policing reform in Lebanon.

Before joining the department, he taught security studies and political economy at City, University of London and the University of South Australia in Adelaide. He was also a Latin America analyst for a London-based security intelligence company and consulted for UNESCO and Transparency International’s Defence & Security programme.

Francisco is a member of the International Studies Association and the British International Studies Association.

Research interests

• Politics and security in Lebanon, the Middle East, and Latin America
• Police, policing, and police reform
• Areas of Limited Statehood

Francisco's work sits at the intersection of international relations, politics, and security. He examines how states wield authority within political power structures and uses the Areas of Limited Statehood paradigm to stress that states are primarily defined by their capacity to rule hierarchically rather than their public service delivery capacity. Statehood configurations result from unique interactions between public and private (armed) actors, governed by political settlements. His research has mainly concentrated on Lebanon and the Middle East, but he is looking to add Latin American cases to his work.

Publications

• Mazzola, Francisco (2023) ‘Community policing in areas of limited statehood: The case of Lebanon’, Mediterranean Politics (online first)
• Mazzola, Francisco (2020) ‘Mediating security–hybridity and clientelism in Lebanon’s hybrid security sector’, in: Hanau Santini, R., Polese, A., & Kevlihan, R. (Eds.) ‘Limited Statehood and Informal Governance in the Middle East and Africa’, Routledge

Teaching

Francisco teaches on or convenes the following:

• 6SSW2041 Conflict and Security in the Middle East and North Africa (BA)
• 7SSWN191 International Politics of the Middle East (MA)

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