Professor Stig Jarle Hansen

Professor Stig Jarle Hansen is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), where he works primarily within the fields of organised crime, security, and risk. He is a world leading expert on Islamism in the Horn of Africa and the Al-Shabaab group.

Geographically, his focus is on the wider East and the Horn of Africa regions (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia Uganda, Yemen) and the Middle East, but he has conducted field studies both in the Middle East, South-Asia, and Scandinavia.

Professor Hansen’s 2013 book, ‘Al-Shabaab in Somalia’, was critically acclaimed by Foreign Policy and The Economist, and Newsweek published a chapter of the book in their magazine. In 2019, he also published a book entitled ‘Horn, Sahel and Rift: Fault-Lines of the African Jihad’, acclaimed by Foreign Affairs, International Affairs and The Washington Times.

He also worked as a maritime security analyst for the Danish based Risk Intelligence from 2006 to 2016, and has contributed to Jane’s Intelligence Review, as well as the MES Insights of the United States Marine Corps, and West Point’s CTC Sentinel. He has commented for CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters, CCTV 4, and many other international media outlets.

Professor Hansen has given presentations to various defence and governance institutions, including the US State Department, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the NATO Staff College, the NATO Intelligence Fusion Center, and the United States Special Operations Command in Tampa. He was a Belfer fellow at Harvard University’s JF Kennedy Center from 2016 to 2017 and is currently leading Norway’s only MA in International Relations.