Matthew Hughes

Professor Matthew Hughes is a leading academic in Military History and War Studies at Brunel University London, affiliated with the Department of Politics and History within the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences. His research specializes in British colonial pacification, counter-insurgency operations in Mandate Palestine and Borneo, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has held prestigious roles including the Maj-Gen Matthew C. Horner Distinguished Chair in Military Theory at the US Marine Corps University and serves on editorial boards for journals like British Journal of Military History and Middle Eastern Studies.

• BA in Geography and History (SOAS, 1988)
• MSc in International Relations (LSE, 1989)
• PGCE in History (Cardiff, 1991)
• PhD in War Studies (King’s College London, 1995)

His research explores British military strategies during the Arab Revolt (1936-1939), colonial control mechanisms, and post-1945 counterinsurgency doctrines. Recent work examines the 1960s Confrontation between Britain and Indonesia in Borneo, funded by the A.V.B. Norman Trust and Moody Research Grant.

Selected publications highlight trends in British imperial military history, colonial state-building, and Middle Eastern conflict analysis. Key works address the Templer Medal-commended monograph Britain's Pacification of Palestine, UNSCOP's role in partition, and British operations in Borneo.

• Commended finalist: Society for Army Historical Research Templer Medal Prize (2019)
• Longlisted: British Army Military Book of the Year (2020)
• Fellow: Royal Historical Society

He has supervised ten PhD students to completion and serves as an external examiner at multiple institutions. His grants include funding from the British Academy for archival research in Lebanon/Egypt and the US Marine Corps University Foundation for studies on colonial pacification.