Lucas Kori Leonhard

Doctoral Researcher

Lucas Kori Leonhard is a Doctoral Researcher at PRIF's Research Depart­ment Intra­state Conflicts. His focus is on develop­ment policy issues in peace and conflict studies and in particular the appli­cation of quanti­tative methods.

Lucas Kori Leonhard
leonhard(at)prif.org
 Press photo

CV

| since 2023
Doctoral Researcher at PRIF

| 2021–2023
M.A. Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz

| 2017–2021
B.A. Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz

PhD Project

Can intervening in ongoing conflicts effectively save human lives? Humanitarian Military Interventions (HMI) have been at the center of highly polarized debates in politics and academia, but evidence on such missions remains scarce. Building upon PRIF's dataset on HMIs, I use quantitative comparative methods to explore which conflicts are more likely to experience an HMI and how HMIs impact conflict dynamics such as duration and intensity. By combining this quantitative analysis with in-depth case studies, I attempt to paint a complete picture of the effects and modes of effects of HMIs and ensure causal identification. With this contribution, I not only aim to fill a gap in the academic literature but also to provide much-needed evidence for decision-makers and enable a more reasoned political debate.

Projects

Highlights

Curse or blessing? Development cooperation after civil wars ...

[Translate to Englisch:] PRIF Spotlight by Lucas Kori Leonhard on how development cooperation influences violence in post-civil war societies

Publications

  • Saving Strangers Selectively. Conditions Affecting the Occurrence of Humanitarian Military Interventions
    | 2026
    Gromes, Thorsten; Leonhard, Lucas Kori (2026): Saving Strangers Selectively. Conditions Affecting the Occurrence of Humanitarian Military Interventions, International Peacekeeping. DOI: 10.1080/13533312.2025.2608853
    Publication
    ISBN: 1743-906X
  • Sectoral effects of development aid on post-war violence: spatially disaggregated evidence from the Great Lakes region
    | 2025
    Leonhard, Lucas Kori (2025): Sectoral effects of development aid on post-war violence: spatially disaggregated evidence from the Great Lakes region, World Development, 195: 107144.
    Publication

  • Segen oder Fluch? Wie Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Gewalt in Nachbürgerkriegsgesellschaften beeinflussen kann
    | 2025
    Leonhard, Lucas Kori (2025): Segen oder Fluch? Wie Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Gewalt in Nachbürgerkriegsgesellschaften beeinflussen kann, PRIF Spotlight, 11, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/prifspot2511