Duygu Ozaltin
International relations

Dr Duygu Ozaltin

I study what it means for a society to be secure and how violence shapes people’s decisions about whether and when to leave home during armed conflict.

Dr Duygu Ozaltin

Research

Forced displacement

How does violence shape the decision to leave home? For my PhD in International Relations at the University of Kent, I combined a large-scale study of forced migration with a survey of migration intentions in Iraq and interviews with refugees.

In my postdoctoral work, I am developing this research into a monograph on when violence becomes a tipping point for people deciding whether to leave home during armed conflict.

Sustainable security

How can we measure security for individuals, states and the international community together? As a postdoctoral researcher at Kent, I helped develop the Sustainable Security Index, collecting data and selecting measures of instability.

Journal articles

Journal article · 2024

The Sustainable Security Index: A new measure for research and policy analysis

Conflict, Security & Development

Journal article · 2019

Why do people flee? Revisiting forced migration in post-Saddam Baghdad

Journal of International Migration and Integration

Teaching

IES Abroad London
2025–present
  • Human Right to Migration (BA)
University College London
2024–2025
  • Violent and Non-Violent Conflict (MSc)
  • International Public Policy (MSc)
  • Spread of Conflict in International Relations (BSc)
King’s College London
2023
  • The United States in the Middle East: Intervention and Mediation since 1945 (MA)
SOAS University of London
2020–2021
  • International Migration and Diaspora Studies (MA)
  • Going Global: An Introduction to International Migration (BA)
University of Kent
2016–2020
  • International Security (BA)
  • Terrorism and Political Violence (BA)
  • Politics of the Middle East (BA)
  • Globalisation and World Politics (BA)

Education

PhD in International Relations
University of Kent
MSc in Security Studies
University College London
MA in Mediterranean Studies
King’s College London
BA in Economics and International Relations
Tulane University