Dr Makena Micheni, who recently joined LMH as Levin Junior Research Fellow in Peace Studies, has published a new book, Combatant Experiences in Multi-Ethnic Extremist Groups: Identity and Allegiance in Boko Haram (Routledge, 2025).
The book uses Boko Haram, a jihadist militant group operating out of Nigeria, as a case study to examine how extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa operate within ethnically diverse environments while striving to create a shared group identity. Drawing on first-hand interviews with ex-fighters and a detailed study of recruitment, indoctrination, combat leadership and unit behaviour, Dr Micheni highlights moments when, despite Boko Haram’s efforts to transcend ethnic boundaries, ethnicity re-emerges as a defining factor within particular combatant units.
By developing a theoretical framework to explain these instances, the book extends existing socialisation theories and sheds light on why such processes sometimes fail, causing ethnicity to resurface. In exploring how tribal and ethnic considerations shape the functioning of insurgent groups, Combatant Experiences in Multi-Ethnic Extremist Groups seeks to offer a more nuanced understanding of the social forces underpinning contemporary conflicts.
Dr Micheni, a Kenyan-British scholar, joins LMH from the University of St Andrews, where she taught International Relations. She completed her PhD on the role of ethnicity in extremist groups in Africa at the London School of Economics, following her completion of a BA in Politics and International Relations at Lancaster University and a Master’s in Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrews. Alongside her academic work, Dr Micheni has also worked with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Nairobi on its Strengthening Resilience against Violent Extremism in the Horn of Africa (STRIVE) programme.
The Levin Junior Research Fellowship in Peace Studies is named in memory of Jerry and Sis Levin, who dedicated their lives to the search for peace following Jerry Levin’s kidnapping in Beirut in the 1980s while he was CNN’s bureau chief. Endowed by the Levins’ children, the Fellowship is intended to support the research aspirations of an outstanding early-career academic, while also strengthening connections between scholarship and the wider national and international community.
