Alexander Gilder

Associate faculty

Humanitarian Studies

Peacekeeping

Peacebuilding

International law

Dr Gilder’s research investigates various aspects of UN peacekeeping including stabilization, counter-terrorism, the rule of law, the protection of civilians, and security sector reform. One of the few international lawyers working in the peacekeeping space, his research is necessarily interdisciplinary, drawing on perspectives from law, peace and conflict studies, and international relations.

His monograph, Stabilization and Human Security in UN Peace Operations (Routledge 2022), includes case studies on Mali (MINUSMA), the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and South Sudan (UNMISS) that examine whether the concept of human security can be seen in the UN's current stabilization activities.

He is also the lead editor of Multidisciplinary Futures of UN Peace Operations (Palgrave Macmillan 2023) and is working on his second book, Peace Operations: Law, Policy and Practice, for Edward Elgar Publishing’s Principles of International Law series.

Experience

Alex is associate professor of International Law and Security at the University of Reading (UK) where he co-directs the School of Law's Postgraduate Taught Programmes and is also deputy director of the Global Law at Reading research group. 

He has been a visiting professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University (Canada), Gujarat National Law University (India), and the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa (Somaliland). 

He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of International Peacekeeping and the Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

Education

2020
PhD in Law

City, University of London

2019
PgCAP, Academic Practice

City, University of London

2019
Fellow

Higher Education Academy

2016
LLM Public International Law

Utrecht University

2015
LLB (Hons) Law

University of Lincoln

Awards

2022
Distinguished Excellence in Teaching International Studies Award

British International Studies Association

2022
Team Teaching Prize

Royal Holloway, University of London

2021
Commendation, Team Teaching Prize

Royal Holloway, University of London

2018
Second Equal Prize, Trench Gascoigne Prize

Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI)

Publications

Multidisciplinary Futures of UN Peace Operations. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023 (with David Curran, Georgina Holmes and Fiifi Edu-Afful (eds)) (in press).

The Responsibility of the United Nations During Stabilization Operations. In: Richard Collins, Rossana Deplano and Antal Berkes (eds), Reassessing the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations: From Theory to Practice. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2023 (in press).

The UN and the Protection of Civilians: Sustaining the Momentum. Journal of Conflict & Security Law, Vol. 28 (2023): 1-32.

Responding to Complex Relationships in International Law. European Journal of Legal Studies (Special Section), Vol. 14, No. 2 (2023) (with Arman Sarvarian (eds)).

The role of UN peace operations in security sector reform as a contribution to the protection of civilians. Journal of International Peacekeeping, Vol. 25, No. 1 (2022): 33-60 (with Lenneke Sprik and Jennifer Giblin).

Peer learning and student ownership in an international environment: A student-created website on human rights and peacebuilding. European Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2022): 49-67 (with Michelle Bentley, Nasir M Ali, Nicola Antoniou and Daniela Lai). 

Contracting space for opposing speech in South East Asia and restrictions on the online freedom of expression. In: Javaid Rehman, Ayesha Shahid, and Steve Foster (eds), Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Leiden: Brill, 2022.

Human security, TWAIL, and the importance of self-reflection in our own scholarship. NYU J Int’l L & Pol Online F, Vol. 54, No. 1 (2021): 1-13.

UN Peace Operations and the Role of the Local in (Re)Building the Rule of Law. Utrecht Law Review, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2021): 70-86.

Human Security. In: Oliver Richmond and Gëzim Visoka (eds). The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.

Human security and the stabilization mandate of MINUSCA. International Peacekeeping, Vol. 28, No. 2 (2021): 200-231.

International law and human security in a kaleidoscopic world. Indian Journal of International Law, Vol. 59 No. 1-4 (2021): 111-137.

The local turn and the framing of UNOCI’s mandated activities by the UN. Journal of International Peacekeeping, Vol. 23, No. 3-4 (2020): 226-248.

Royal Holloway, University of London and Afghanistan and Central Asian Association: New Partnerships and Challenges during Covid-19 in the Clinical Legal World. International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, Vol. 27, No. 4 (2020): 155-178 and International Journal of Public Legal Education, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2020): 155-178 (with Nicola Antoniou, Jill Marshall and Rabia Nasimi).

International law as a help or hinderance to world peace. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2020): 447-459.

The effect of ‘stabilization’ in the mandates and practice of UN peace operations. Netherlands International Law Review, Vol. 66, No. 1 (2019): 47-73.