Research areas
Kasia is a post-doctoral research fellow with the PeaceRep Global Fragmentation project at the University of St Andrews. She contributes to the creation of the Mediation Events and Negotiators Database (MEND)—a global database of third-party mediation in violent conflict.
More broadly her research focuses on external interventions in violent conflict, especially in the Middle East, investigating the changing nature of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and warfare. Theoretically, her work sits at the intersection of strategic studies, peacebuilding, and post-Western approaches to global politics. Her doctoral research focused on the role of Russia in the Syrian conflict, specifically on the impact of its integrated military, diplomatic, and economic strategy. In addition to her academic work, she engages in policy discussions about mediation and peace operations, particularly with the FCDO and British and Scottish Parliaments.
Kasia is a member of the University of St Andrews’ Centre for Global Law and Governance (CGLG), the Institute for Middle Eastern, Central Asia, and Caucasus Studies (MECACS), and Centre for Syrian Studies (CSS). She holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews, which was funded by the ESRC, and has previously lectured and tutored there and at Durham University. She was an al-Qasimi Master’s Excellence Scholar, securing funding for her MRes in Middle East Studies from the University of Exeter.
Selected publications
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Open access
The Dayton peace process: a keyhole into Russian and Chinese engagement with liberal peacebuilding
Peter, M. & Houghton, K. A., 16 May 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Peacekeeping. Latest Articles, 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Russia and China in liberal peacebuilding: perceptions and engagement with the Dayton peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Peter, M. & Houghton, K. A., 19 Apr 2024, Edinburgh: Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform, University of Edinburgh. 47 p. (Global transitions series)Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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The BRI in conflict zones: the case of Syria
Houghton, K. A., 1 Jan 2024, China moves West: the evolving strategies of the Belt and Road Initiative. Ehteshami, A., Houghton, B. & Liu, J. (eds.). Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, p. 135-154 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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China, Russia, and the USA in the Middle East: the contest for supremacy
Houghton, B. (Editor) & Houghton, K. A. (Editor), 1 Dec 2023, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 244 p. (Changing dynamics in Asia-Middle East relations)Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Congestion and Diversification of Third-Party Mediation in Sudan and South Sudan: First Look at some Longer-Term Trends
Peter, M. & Houghton, K. A., 2023Research output: Book/Report › Other report
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Introduction: great power competition and the Middle East
Houghton, K. A. & Houghton, B., 1 Dec 2023, China, Russia, and the USA in the Middle East: the contest for supremacy. Houghton, B. & Houghton, K. A. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 3-11 9 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Looking through the Lens of the Syrian Conflict: Russia Seeks Status through the Middle East
Houghton, K. A., 4 Apr 2023Research output: Book/Report › Other report
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The competition over norms: the case of the Syrian conflict
Houghton, K. A., 1 Dec 2023, China, Russia, and the USA in the Middle East: the contest for supremacy. Houghton, B. & Houghton, K. A. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 46-64 19 p. (Changing dynamics in Asia-Middle East relations).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Written evidence submitted by Kasia A. Houghton (MENA0063): For the Foreign Affairs Committee's inquiry into the UK's engagement with the Middle East and North Africa
Houghton, K. A., 18 Dec 2023Research output: Book/Report › Other report
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Russia in the Syrian Conflict: An Imperial Power?
Houghton, K. A., 2022, (In preparation).Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper