monica duffy toft is an american international relations scholar. her research interests include international security and strategy, ethnic and religious violence, civil wars, and the relationship between demography and national security. among her researches, her theory of indivisible territory explains how certain conflicts turn violent while others not, and when it is likely for a conflict to become a violent. since 2017 she holds the position of professor of international politics at the fletcher school of law & diplomacy at tufts university, and director of the fletcher school's center for strategic studies.