Cora Alder is a MPhil/PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Her research focuses on ways in which ‘secularised’ views of mediators impact international peace efforts and how implicit ‘visions of good peace’ are dialogically negotiated between armed groups and third parties.

Prior to joining LSE, Cora worked as an Associate Political Affairs Officer at the UN Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs; as a Program Officer in the Mediation Support Team at the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich; and as an Academic Attachée at the Embassy of Switzerland in Belgium.

Cora holds a Joint Degree MA in Religion-Economics-Politics from the Universities of Basel, Lucerne and Zurich and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Zurich.

Research topic

Western Perceptions in Intractable Conflicts: The Impact of Secularism on International Peace Efforts

Academic supervisors

Mark Hoffman

Professor James Walters

Research Cluster affliation

Security and Statecraft Research Cluster

Theory/Area/History Research Cluster