Dr Florian Weigand is co-director of the Centre on Armed Groups, a Geneva-based think tank. He is an associate fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and at the Geneva Graduate Institute. His work focuses on conflict zones, borderlands and other complex environments, how they function and are governed. He conducts extensive field research and has published widely on armed groups, legitimacy, and illicit economies, including several books and numerous policy reports. In addition, he has worked for international organisations such as the United Nations in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines, supporting dialogue and engagement efforts as well as conducting analysis on armed actors, conflict dynamics, and the political economy. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and master's degrees from the LSE and the University of Oxford.