Research 

Book Project

Title: Seeing Without Protecting: Technology, Institutions, and Civilian Protection in Conflict

This book project examines why improved surveillance and information-gathering technologies do not necessarily produce more effective civilian protection in contemporary peace operations. Focusing on the use of drones and related technologies in United Nations peacekeeping, the project investigates the institutional processes that connect information, decision-making, and protection on the ground.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

7. Michael Yekple and Linda Darkwa. “A Trajectory of the ECOWAS Architecture for Peace and Security.” African Journal of International and Comparative Law. Accepted.

6. Michael Yekple and Zlatin Mitkov. 2026. “Local Perceptions, Regional Actions: On Sources of Legitimacy for Africa’s Regional Democracy Promotion Mechanisms.” Democratization, 1-24  [Paper]   Replication data

5. Zlatin Mitkov and Michael Yekple. 2025. “Public Opinion and Leaders’ Crisis Behavior Against Domestic Armed Groups.” Political Studies.  74(1), 253-280  [ Paper]  Replication data

4. Michael Yekple and Zlatin Mitkov. 2024. “Can Trusted Authorities Change Minds on Anti-LGBTQ Norms? Evidence from an Experiment in Ghana.” PLOS ONE. 19(8), e0304698 [ Paper]   Replication data 

3. Daniel Banini, Jonathan Powell, and Michael Yekple. 2020. “Peacekeeping as Coup Avoidance: Lessons from Ghana.” African Security. 13(3), 235-259.  [Paper] 

2. Michael Yekple. 2016. “Drones, African Militaries, and the Nature of Proliferation.” Legon Journal of International Affairs, 8(2). [PDF]

1. Philip Attuquayefio and Michael Yekple. 2015. “Drones in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: A New Direction in UN Peace Operations?” Africa Peace and Conflict Journal. [PDF] 

Book Chapter

Michael Yekple, Daniel Banini, and Philip Attuquayefio. 2023. “Ghana: The Origins and Evolution of a National Intelligence Culture.” In The Handbook of African Intelligence Cultures, edited by Ryan Shaffer, 277–290. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Work in Progress

“The Generalizability of Survey Experiments in the Democratic Peace Research Program: Evidence from the Global South” With Zlatin Mitkov and Michael Mousseau. Revise and resubmit.

 Pre-Analysis Plan

“Disaster Exposure and Political Disillusionment: Evidence from Nepal’s Ashwin 2081 Floods” With Konstantin Ash, Zlatin Mitkov, and Santosh Sapkota. Under review.

Draft, Pre-Analysis Plan 

“The Democratic Coup from Below: Explaining Public Support for Military Coups and Post-Coup Democratic Transition” With Zlatin Mitkov.

Draft

“Violence in the Eye of the Beholder: How Identity Shapes Perceptions of Third-Party Interveners’ Response to Civilian Victimization” With Zlatin Mitkov.

Draft, Pre-Analysis Plan 

“Inter-Group Conflict in the DRC: How the Perception of Being Among the Victims Versus the Perpetrators Shapes Support for Retributive Violence and Reconciliation” With Zlatin Mitkov.

Draft, Pre-Analysis Plan

“Parochial Altruism, Punishment, and Support for Armed Groups: Evidence from the Eastern DR Congo” With Zlatin Mitkov. 

Draft, Pre-Analysis Plan

“Explaining Support for Military Coups in States with Legacies of Failed Military Regimes: Experimental Evidence from West Africa” With Zlatin Mitkov. Data analysis completed. 

Pre-Analysis Plan 

“Does the Desire for Regional Leadership Shape the Public’s Tolerance for Peacekeeping Casualties?” With Zlatin Mitkov. Data analysis in progress.

Pre-Analysis Plan 

“Postwar Pathways: Reintegration, Political Attitudes, and the Legacies of Peace in Nepal” With Konstantin Ash and Zlatin Mitkov. Data collection in progress.

Pre-Analysis Plan 

Other Publications

Michael Yekple and Zlatin Mitkov. 2026. "Why African Publics Turn to Military Coups." 2026. Journal of Democracy, Online Exclusive.

Michael Yekple. 2019. “What Can Drones Do for Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict?” 2019. The Conversation US.

Michael Yekple. 2017. “When Drones Become a UN Peacekeeping Staple” Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre Policy Brief.