ADAM  LICHTENHELD, PHD

Population displacement is a devastating feature of contemporary conflict. This book demonstrates the extent to which displacement is a deliberate strategy of war, not just a consequence of it. Moving beyond instances of ethnic cleansing, Lichtenheld draws on field research in Uganda and Syria; case studies from Burundi, Indonesia, and Vietnam; and an original dataset of strategic displacement in 166 civil wars to show that armed groups often uproot civilians to sort the targeted population, not to get rid of it. When lacking information about opponents' identities and civilians' loyalties, combatants use human mobility to infer wartime affiliations through 'guilt by location'. As displacement reaches record highs, this book's findings have important implications for the study of forced migration and policy responses to it.

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**Winner, 2025 Conflict Research Society Book of the Year Prize and 2026 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award from the International Studies Association.​

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Praise for "Guilt by Location"

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"When and why are people displaced during war? Guilt by Location offers us entirely new insight into this question...It is the most theoretically sophisticated account of wartime displacement to date and is a remarkable achievement." 

Lachlan McNamee, Author of Settling for Less: Why States Colonize and Why They Stop

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"In this gripping book, Adam Lichtenheld gives us new tools to understand forced migration. Armed groups displace civilians not only to remove rival sympathizers, but also to identify them to begin with. This insight, and the rich empirics anchored by in-depth fieldwork and an original, cross-national dataset on all forms of strategic displacement, shows why displacement is such a prevalent form of wartime violence. All scholars of forced migration or wartime violence should read it."

Abbey Steele, Author of Democracy and Displacement in Colombia's Civil War

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"Population displacement during conflict is increasingly well documented but remains poorly understood. No longer. Combining analytical clarity with empathy and brimming with implications, Guilt by Location is essential reading for better understanding conflict."

Stathis N. Kalyvas, Author of The Logic of Violence in Civil War 

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"This is a timely and important book that significantly deepens our understanding of one of the most widespread and troubling manifestations of armed conflict today and presents policy relevant considerations and recommendations for actors attempting to prevent, mitigate and manage the impact of forced displacement...Written in a clear and accessible style, the book speaks directly to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike.."

Conflict Research Society Best Book Award Committee, 2025

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"Guilt by Location is a genuinely field-shaping book: it shows, with impressive conceptual clarity and rigorous evidence, how armed actors use displacement not simply to expel communities but to sort populations and infer loyalties through “guilt by location.” Drawing on rich fieldwork, comparative case studies, and an original dataset spanning 166 civil wars, Lichtenheld bridges conflict studies and forced migration research in a way that is both theoretically innovative and policy-relevant.”

ISA Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Distinguished Book Award Committee, 2026