Dr Simone Bunse

Senior Researcher

Dr Simone Bunse

Dr Simone Bunse is a Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Food, Peace and Security Programme. Prior to her current role, she was the Content Manager for the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. Her previous positions have included Director of Academic Affairs at Lead University, Costa Rica; Director of Georgetown University's International Management Programme and Associate Teaching Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy in Washington DC, USA; Director of INCAE Business School's Poverty Research Programme and Assistant Professor in Costa Rica; and Visiting Researcher at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium.

Before her academic career, she was a project manager at the international consulting firm Oxford Analytica in the UK. She has published with leading publishers, including Oxford University Press and Palgrave McMillan. Her book Small States and EU Governance won the Choice Outstanding Academic Titles Award by the American Library Association for excellence in scholarship.

Subject expertise

Comparative politics, comparative policy process, policy analysis, political risk analysis, decision-making for public policy, interlinkages between climate, food, peace and security, gender equality, and European integration, EU institutions and policy-making

Regional expertise

EU, Western Europe and Latin America

CONTACT Dr Simone Bunse

Languages

German, English, Spanish

Education

DPhil in Politics, University of Oxford; MPhil in European Politics and Society, University of Oxford; BA in European Studies/Economics, University of Kent at Canterbury

SIPRI COMMENTARY

Beyond food security: The potential gendered consequences of food aid (Blog, October 2024 )
More effective aid by design: Integrating food, climate and peace (Blog, September 2024 )
The difficult journey to trust in conflict-affected societies (Blog, September 2024 )
Food security programming: Strengthening preparedness, responses and prevention (Topical backgrounder, September 2023 )
Social media: A tool for peace or conflict? (Topical backgrounder, August 2021 )

SIPRI AND PARTNER PUBLICATIONS

Tarif, K., Koefoed, M., Bunse, S., Seyuba, K., Iversen, T.O. and Brodtkorb, I., Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: South Sudan (2025) (SIPRI, Stockholm: April 2025)
Bunse, S., Delgado, C. and Blair, R., From Silos to Synergies: Partnering for Social Cohesion in the Sahel (SIPRI, Stockholm: October 2025)
Bunse, S. and Delgado, C., Promoting Peace through Climate-resilient Food Security Initiatives (SIPRI, Stockholm: February 2024)
Bunse, S., Delgado, C. and Riquier, M., Towards Humanitarian Action that Intentionally Promotes Peace in South Sudan (SIPRI, Stockholm: June 2024)
Bremberg, N. and Bunse, S., Climate, Peace and Security in a Changing Geopolitical Context: Next Steps for the European Union (SIPRI, Stockholm: February 2023)
Bunse, S and Murugani, V., The World Food Programme’s Contribution to Improving the Prospects for Peace in Sri Lanka (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2023)
Bunse, S. et al, Mapping European Union Member States’ Responses to Climate-related Security Risks (SIPRI, Stockholm: September 2022)
Bunse, S. et al, Advancing European Union Action to Address Climate-related Security Risks (SIPRI, Stockholm: September 2022)

External publications

Bunse, S., and McAllister, C., ‘Securing peace in a time of environmental crisis’, Baltic Rim Economies, no. 2 (May 2023).
Bunse, S., and McAllister, C., Securing Peace in a Time of Environmental Crisis—The Research Agenda Emerging from the 2022 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development Policy Dialogues, Journal of Peacebuilding & Development (2022)
Bunse, S., Small States and EU Governance, Palgrave/MacMillan: London (2009)
Bunse, S. and Nikolaïdis, K., ‘Large versus Small States in the EU: Anti-hegemony and the Politics of Shared Leadership’ in Oxford Handbook of the EU, Oxford University Press: Oxford (2012)
Bunse, S. and Klein, C., ‘What is left of the rotating presidency? The future of national presidencies’ in Foret and Rittelmeyer (eds.) The European Council and European Governance: The Commanding Heights of the European Union Routledge: London (2014)
Bunse, S., 'The Rotating Presidency under the Lisbon Treaty: From Political Leader to Middle Manager?' In: Van Hecke and Bursens (eds.) Readjusting the Council Presidency. Belgian Leadership in the EU, ASP: London (2011)
Bunse, S., Magnette, P., Nicolaidis, K., ‘Big versus Small: Shared leadership and Power politics in the Convention’, in Mazzucelli, C. and Beach, D. Leadership in the Big Bangs of European Integration, MacMillan: London (2007)
Bunse, S., Magnette, P., Nicolaidis, K., ‘Shared Leadership in the EU: Theory and Reality’, in Curtin, Kellermann, and Blockmans eds. The EU Constitution: The Best Way Forward?, T.M.C. Asser Press: The Hague (2005)
Concuelo Cárdenas, M. et al. ‘Latin American Female Executives: An Interesting Surprise’, Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 29, Issue 1 (2014)
Bunse, S., ‘Women in Politics: Debunking Myths and Fixing the Pipeline’, INCAE Business Review (2013)
Bunse, S., ‘Making Public Sector Reforms Work: Political and Economic Contexts, Drivers and Strategies’, Policy Research Working Paper 6174, World Bank, Public Sector Governance Unit: Washington DC (2012)
Bunse, S., ‘The 2003 Greek Council Presidency’, Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 9 No. 2 (2004)