The independent resource on global security
Dr Virginie Baudais
Programme Director (Non-resident)
Dr Virginie Baudais
Dr Virginie Baudais is a Senior Researcher and Director of the SIPRI Sahel and West Africa Programme. Prior to joining SIPRI in August 2019, she worked for two United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, as a Political Officer. Prior to her experience with the UN, she worked as a Teaching Assistant at Toulouse 1 Capitole University. Virginie Baudais graduated from Sciences Po Toulouse and holds a PhD in Political Science from Toulouse 1 Capitole University. Her research interests focus on the Sahel, peacebuilding, security, governance and state reform.
Subject expertise
Peacebuilding and peace consolidation, democratic transitions, state reform and decentralization, political parties, elections and citizenship building, UN peacekeeping operations and UN transitions
Regional expertise
West Africa/Sahel
CONTACT Dr Virginie Baudais
Languages
French, English, Italian
Education
PhD in Political Science, Centre Morris Janowitz, Science po Toulouse, Universite Toulouse-Capitole
SIPRI COMMENTARY
- Mali’s transition: High expectations and little time (Blog, )
- Mali: Fragmented territorial sovereignty and contested political space (Topical backgrounder, )
- The impact of the Malian crisis on the Group of Five Sahel countries: Balancing security and development priorities (Topical backgrounder, )
- The high cost of insecurity: The case of Hodh el Gharbi in Mauritania (Blog, )
SIPRI AND PARTNER PUBLICATIONS
- Through their Eyes: Experiences of Displaced Sudanese Women and Girls in Eastern Chad (SIPRI, Stockholm: March 2025)
- Military Entrenchment in Mali and Niger: Praetorianism in Retrospect (SIPRI, Stockholm: October 2024)
- Humanitarian Protection in the Liptako-Gourma Region: Local Protection Mechanisms and Humanitarian Response—Field Research Conducted in the Liptako-Gourma Region (August–September 2020) (SIPRI, Stockholm: June 2023)
- Humanitarian Protection in the Liptako-Gourma Region: Local Protection Mechanisms and Humanitarian Response—Field Survey Conducted in the Liptako-Gourma Region (June–July 2021) (SIPRI, Stockholm: June 2023)
- Humanitarian Protection in the Liptako-Gourma Region (2020–2022): Local Protection and Humanitarian Mechanisms (SIPRI, Stockholm: June 2023)
- ‘Listen to Us!’: Local Perceptions of Populations in Central Mali (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2023)
- The European Union Training Mission in Mali: An Assessment (SIPRI, Stockholm: April 2022)
- EU Military Training Missions: A Synthesis Report (SIPRI, Stockholm: May 2022)
- The Challenges of Data Collection in Conflict-affected Areas: A Case Study in the Liptako-Gourma Region (SIPRI, Stockholm: October 2022)
- Conflict Mediation and Peacebuilding in the Sahel: The Role of Maghreb Countries in an African Framework (SIPRI, Stockholm: January 2021)
External publications
- Baudais, V., Niger: Armed Force Politics and Counterterrorism (Oxford Research Encyclopedia (Feb 2021)
- Baudais, V., Les trajectoires de l’Etat au Mali, Paris, Karthala (2016)
- Baudais, V., Chauzal, G., L’Annus Horribilis d’Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta: de la figure du Président de crise à la crise de la figure présidentielle, Annuaire français des Relations internationales, Volume XVI (2015)
- Baudais, V., Sborgi, E., The general elections in Niger, Electoral Studies, vol. 31(2), pp. 448-458 (June 2012)
- Baudais, V., Chauzal, G.,The 2010 Coup d´Etat in Niger: A Praetorian Regulation of Politics?, African Affairs, Vol. 110, n°439, pp. 295-304 (April 2011)
- Baudais, V., Sborgi, E., Takokelen: ATT´s “consensus politics” at test in the 2007 general elections in Mali, Electoral Studies, vol. 27, Issue 4, pp. 769-773 (Dec 2008)
- Baudais, V., La decentralisation au Mali. Enjeux et impact d´une reforme, Annales de l´Universite des sciences sociales, Presses de l´Universite Toulouse I, Tome XLIX, pp. 277-313.
- Baudais, V., Chauzal, G., Les partis politiques et l’indépendance partisane d’Amadou Toumani Touré, Politique Africaine, n°104 (Dec 2006)
- Baudais, V., Sborgi, E., The general elections in Niger (November 2004), Electoral Studies, vol. 25, pp. 147-191 (March 2006)