The Conflict Analysis Research Centre was preceded by the Centre for Conflict and Peace and its forerunner the Centre for the Analysis of Conflict , which was started in 1966 as an inter-university research project working on conflict issues in Malaysia & Singapore, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Lebanon and South Africa, under the guidance of pioneering academics such as John Burton, John Groom, Chris Mitchell, Keith Webb, Hugh Miall, Feargal Cochrane, and Neophytos Loizides. Since October 2026, its director has been Yaniv Voller.