Research Guides: Political Science: Conflict, Peace & Security

Introduction

Conflict, Peace & Security Research

This section provides databases and other resources for research in the areas of peace and conflict, national security, and domestic and international terrorism. Other subject areas covered by the databases listed include intelligence analysis, military, arms, and weapons. Here are a few tips when conducting research in the areas of conflict, peace, and security:

Use a subject encyclopedia such as The Encyclopedia of United States National Security to learn of security theories and concepts.
Search for research articles in a general, multidisciplinary database such as ProQuest Central.
Use subject-specific databases such as the ProQuest Military Collection.
Search the websites of public policy think tanks such as The Brookings Institution that provide news, articles, and commentary on defense and national security issues.

Using Keywords

When searching for articles on peace, peace building and other related issues consider the following search terms:

"peace-building"
"conflict management"
"reconciliation"
"institution building"
"post-conflict reconstruction"

You can combine those terms with:

"economic aspects"
"case studies"
"international organization"

Also, use the names of particular regions/countries

Relevant Peace Journals

These journals publish articles relevant to peace, peacebuilding, and other related issues.

Background Resources

Encyclopedia of United States National Security
Views national security from historical, economic, political, and technological perspectives. Key features include examination of the full range of contemporary weapons systems including air, sea, and land warfare; ballistic missile defense; space weapons; stealth technology; antisubmarine warfare; and biological weapons. Includes excerpts from treaties, speeches, and other sources and provides an overview of important events such as scandals and breaches of national security.
Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict
Provides crucial and contemporary information about antagonism and reconciliation within both the public and private realms. Covering topics as diverse as Arms Control, Peace Movements, Child Abuse, Folklore, Terrorism and Political Assassinations, the Encyclopedia comprehensively addresses an extensive information area in 225 multi-disciplinary, cross-referenced and authoritatively authored articles.
The Encyclopedia of War
A comprehensive print and electronic resource covering the history of warfare from ancient times to the present day, across the entire globe. The Encyclopedia provides an overview of the most important events, people, and terms associated with warfare - from the Punic Wars to the Mongol conquest of China, and the War on Terror; from the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman "the Magnificent", to the Soviet Military Commander, Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov; and from the crossbow to chemical warfare.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives
The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science perspective views war through the lens of the social sciences, looking at the causes, processes and effects of war and drawing from a vast group of fields such as communication and mass media, economics, political science and law, psychology and sociology.

General Article Databases

The two largest general academic databases are EBSCOhost and ProQuest Central. Known primarily by their vendor names, EBSCO and ProQuest are aggregators of individual databases that use a single search interface. Each contain a combination of full-text and citation databases and provide a varied mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, general magazines, and newspaper resources. EBSCO and ProQuest are also multidisciplinary, which means they cover a wide range of subject areas.Other important multidisciplinary databases are also listed.

EBSCO Discovery Service This link opens in a new window
EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) encompasses articles in databases across many disciplines. Users can locate peer reviewed articles, videos, audio files, images, and more from a range of subjects.

Full download of DRM-protected ebooks requires EBSCO account registration and Adobe Digital Editions.
Note: NYU Libraries is retiring EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) in June 2025. The Catalog Search replaces EDS as the tool for searching across multiple publishers’ databases and platforms. You can also use EBSCOhost to search across the full set of EBSCO-only databases.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Central is a large, multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. It serves as the central resource for researchers at all levels in all markets. Over 160 subjects areas are covered extensively in this product including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Complete is a multi-disciplinary full-text database with full text coverage of information in many areas of academic study. Users can access articles, book chapters, images, videos, reviews, both from peer-reviewed and popular resources.

Key Subject Databases

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Includes more than 60,000 of the most important declassified documents regarding critical U.S. policy decisions.
International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center (ISCTRC) This link opens in a new window
International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center provides information on security and terrorism policy and analysis, including reports such as Stratfor Analysis, Stratfor Forecasts and Stratfor Geopolitical Diary.
Military Database This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Military Database covers topics across all government and military branches, including international relations, political science, criminology, defense, aeronautics and space flight, communications, civil engineering, and more. It includes over 600 titles, with more than 430 available in full-text.
Security Studies Collection This link opens in a new window
The Security Studies Collection helps scholars explore a wide range of journals, ebooks, and research reports in the field of security studies. This content looks at security studies through a broad lens, encompassing research on international security and peace and conflict studies from all corners of the globe.

Datasets & Statistical Resources

The Correlates of War Project
An open-access database with datasets on international relations topics such as interstate disputes, membership in intergovernmental organizations, and international alliances. The Correlates of War project collects and disseminates quantitative data in international relations. Datasets include: COW Country Codes; State System Membership; COW War Data; Militarized Interstate Disputes; Militarized Interstate Dispute Locations; National Material Capabilities; World Religion Data; Formal Alliances; Territorial Change; Direct Contiguity; Colonial/Dependency Contiguity; Intergovernmental Organizations; Diplomatic Exchange; Trade.
Global Terrorism Database (GTD)
An open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2015 (with annual updates planned for the future). The GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period. Currently contains information on over 150,000 terrorist attacks, 75,000 bombings, 17,000 assassinations, and 9,000 kidnappings since 1970. Includes information on at least 45 variables for each case, with more recent incidents including information on more than 120 variables. Over 4,000,000 news articles and 25,000 news sources were reviewed to collect incident data from 1998 to 2015 alone.
Political Events Project, 1948-1965
This study contains data on 6,754 political instability events in 84 selected nations in the period 1948-1965. These data, which permit measurement of political instability and the correlates of internal conflict behavior, are concerned with conflict directed by groups and individuals in the prevailing political system against other groups or persons, and with uncovering the determinants of stability within all national political systems. The variables in the dataset are divided into four basic types: variables that identify events, classify events, describe events, and evaluate events. The study provides a conflict intensity rating for each event. Political instability events are classified from low to high and include institutionally prescribed elections, the fall of cabinets, martial laws, assassinations of significant group leaders, mass arrests, coup d'etats, and civil wars.
Polity IV: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions
This Web site contains information on and access to the most recent update of the Polity data series, originally designed by Ted Robert Gurr. The Polity IV Project continues the Polity research tradition of coding the authority characteristics of states in the world system for purposes of comparative, quantitative analysis.
SIPRI
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI produces databases of data in five major areas: Arms Transfers; Arms Industry; SIPRI Multilateral Peace Operations Database; SIPRI Military Expenditure Database; SIPRI also provides information on arms embargoes, provides national reports on arms exports, and links to all publicly accessible national reports on arms exports.

Top Defense and National Security Think Tanks

Each year the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCP) publishes a detailed ranking of the top regional and global think tanks. Think tanks are public policy institutes that produce and publish research on global, regional, and national policy. Listed below are links consistently listed as the top think tanks for defense and national security.

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (United States)
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization focused on defense and security.Topical areas covered include civil conflict; conflict prevention; conflict resolution insurgency; intervention; peace keeping; refugees and territorial disputes.
International Institute for Strategic Studies (United Kingdom)
The IISS is a non-partisan organisation, independent of government and other bodies. Its mission is to promote the adoption of sound policies to further global peace and security and maintain civilized international relations. Topics covered include civil conflict, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, aerospace, defense policy, defense economics, climate change, energy security, and food security.
Rand Corporation (United States)
The RAND Corporation is a global public policy organization providing research across various policy areas including international affairs, national security and terrorism and homeland security.
Brookings Institution (United States)
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level. The international affairs research is focused on global governance and politics; human rights; illicit trade; islamist movements; migrants; refugees and internally; displaced persons; nation-building; U.S. foreign policy; and the United Nations.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (United States)
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a global network of policy research centers in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, and the United States providing research on in bilateral, regional, and global issues. Program areas covered include: Asia; cyber policy initiative, democracy and rule of law, energy and climate, Europe, geo-economics and strategy, Middle East, nuclear policy, Russia and Eurasia, and South Asia.

Political Science