George Kefford

George Kefford joined the ICCT in November 2022 as the Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism Intern. After the completion of his internship in June 2023, he was appointed as a full-time Junior Researcher focusing on the use of disinformation by violent extremist actors in Iraq and the Lake Chad region. He is currently studying his MA in International Relations at the University of Groningen, following the International Security track. In July 2022, he graduated with a BA in International Studies degree at Leiden University, choosing the regional specialisation of the Middle East and learning Arabic. He wrote his BA thesis on the legitimising discourse of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces.

Prior to joining ICCT, George authored a book detailing an 800km walk he undertook across the Southern Levant, and he recently returned from Iraq where he followed the millions of Shi’a pilgrims walking to the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala. Alongside his work for the ICCT, he runs a grassroots OSINT and journalism page called The Partisan Report. His research interests focus on the activities of the pro-Iran ‘Axis of Resistance’, the Syrian Civil War, and Non-State Armed Actors across the wider Middle East.