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Dr Virginie Baudais
POSITION AT SIPRI
Senior Researcher
Dr Virginie Baudais
Dr Virginie Baudais is a Senior Researcher and the Deputy Director of the SIPRI Sahel - West Africa Programme. Prior to joining SIPRI in August 2019, she worked for two UN peacekeeping operations. In 2014, she worked in Bamako as special assistant to the chief-of-staff. From 2008 to 2013, she served with UNOCI first as electoral adviser in Abidjan and then as special assistant to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General/UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator.
Prior to her experience with the UN, Virginie worked as chef de cabinet to the mayor of Albi (France) and as teacher assistant at the University of Toulouse-Capitole. She also lived several years in Tunisia and Jerusalem.
Virginie graduated from Science po Toulouse and holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toulouse Capitole/Science po Toulouse. Her doctoral thesis on “The institutionalization of the State: Comparing Mali and Niger” focused on democratization processes, decentralization and state reform, elections and citizenship building. She also has master´s degrees in International Relations from Science po Toulouse and in History from the University of Rennes II Haute-Bretagne.
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
Citizenship
France
SIPRI COMMENTARY
- Mali’s transition: High expectations and little time (Blog, September 2020)
- Mali: Fragmented territorial sovereignty and contested political space (Topical backgrounder, June 2020)
- The impact of the Malian crisis on the Group of Five Sahel countries: Balancing security and development priorities (Topical backgrounder, May 2020)
- The high cost of insecurity: The case of Hodh el Gharbi in Mauritania (Blog, April 2020)
SIPRI AND PARTNER PUBLICATIONS
- Conflict Mediation and Peacebuilding in the Sahel: The Role of Maghreb Countries in an African Framework (SIPRI, Stockholm: January 2021)
External publications
- 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)