Maps

I enjoy creating maps from spatial data, as they provide valuable insights into the research questions I am exploring.

I primarily use QGIS and R to analyze and visualize spatial data. Here, I share some maps that I created for my research.

Battles in the Kivus and Ituri Before and After 2016

Battles in the Kivus and Ituri, Eastern DRC

In this map, I visualized battle events (source: ACLED), locations of artisanal mines (source: IPIS), major road networks (source: OpenStreetMap), and major towns involved in local gold trading (identified from the UN Group of Experts' reports). The data is divided into periods before and after 2016, when Uganda "formalized" its gold export by opening its first gold refinery.

Key observations include increased battle events after 2016, a high concentration of battles around major road networks (and borders), and fewer battles within natural parks (potentially/ partially due to reporting limitations.)

Looting and Attack on Civilians, North-Eastern DRC

Artisanal mining provides livelihoods and is not inherently conflictual. However, in contexts marked by limited economic opportunities and intercommunal tensions, unequal access to resource benefits and contested rights over mining areas can generate grievances and intensify conflict dynamics. These tensions are often instrumentalized by both state and non-state actors. This map contrasts 2011–2015 and 2016–2020, focusing on the Lendu–Hema (Southern Hema/Nyoro) tensions in Ituri. I highlight looting/property destruction—a form of economically motivated violence—and attacks on civilians. (Conflict events from ACLED, ASGM Sites from IPIS, Murdock’s Map of Ethnic Groups from Nunn, Basemap from ESRI.)

A map of Peacekeepers Deployed Locations and UCDP Conflict Events

Locations of UN Peacekeepers Deployed and Conflicts

In this map, I combined the Geo-PKO dataset (Cil et al., 2020) and the UCDP georeferenced event dataset (source: UCDP). Unlike ACLED, UCDP conflict data captures events that are typically more severe.

One observation is that UN peacekeeping forces do not engage in every conflict; some countries experience conflict without peacekeeping missions, highlighting the influence of political decisions at the UN headquarters and the necessity of host-state consent. There is also notable subnational heterogeneity, such as deployments concentrated in Eastern DRC.

One of my research agendas is to explore how foreign interventions interact with local political economies (often characterized by non-state forms of governance) in conflict zones and what this means for their effectiveness.

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