I have a BA in International Relations and received my Ph D in Peace and Development Research. I have extensive experience in international issues of both research and policy nature. Asia has been my primary geographical interest.

I work with “peacebuilding” and “post-conflict reconstruction” after deep-seated violence, genocide and/or civil war. Related to this interest, I also engage in issues of democratization with a special interest in local governance, decentralization, and local democracy. I also work actively with the political economy of natural resource management, especially transboundary water management. I have worked most extensively in Cambodia, but also in many other parts of Asia, and, increasingly, the Global South. For my interest in resource issues, the greater Mekong Basin (spanning from Northwest China to Southern Vietnam) has been my primary focus.

Current research I currently work on a book project named ”The imperative of good local governance: Challenges for the next decade of decentralization” med ICLD och UNU Press (Tokyo). I lead a multidisciplinary research project extending over several Universities, labelled ”Precarious peacebuilding”. I am a partner in a research project named ”Global climate change and transboundary water management,” which involves several researchers and universities/institutes. I am also pursuing a, as of yet unfunded, research project tentatively named “Taking it to the Ground - Peacebuilding through a Local Government Approach”, which may start up more fully by 2013.

I have supervised six PhD candidates, and a number of Master's degree students every year. 

Email : joakim.ojendal@globalstudies.gu.se