Thomas Hinkel is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews. His research examines the political economy of conflict, with a particular focus on how illicit economies, migration systems, and transnational networks shape governance, authority, and instability across the Sahara–Sahel and the wider Middle East and North Africa. He has lived and conducted research in Cairo, Egypt, and Bamako, Mali. His work has been published in Conflict, Security & Development and Contemporary Voices of International Relations. He is currently completing a book manuscript on smuggling, conflict, and social transformation in the Sahara. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-hinkel-phd-299b09141/