Alex Waterman

Dr. Alex Waterman is a Visiting Research Fellow in Security, Terrorism & Insurgency at the University of Leeds' School of Politics and International Studies. He holds affiliations with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Centre for Global Security Challenges. His research focuses on counterinsurgency theory and practice, with a regional specialization in Northeast India. Waterman completed his PhD at Leeds in 2018, earning the POLIS Research Excellence Recognition for his thesis analyzing counterinsurgency dynamics in India. He has held visiting fellowships at India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

His current research explores how militaries integrate militia and rebel group insights into counterinsurgency doctrines through a comparative Western/non-Western lens. Waterman serves as Associate Reviews Editor for Civil Wars journal and is a research consultant for the IISS Armed Conflict Database, covering conflicts in Northeast India and Kashmir. His work bridges academic research with practitioner applications, emphasizing nuanced analyses of order negotiation in conflict zones.

Key research themes include rebel governance, insurgency dynamics, and the evolving nature of counterinsurgency in non-Western contexts. His publications span strategic analyses of India’s counterinsurgency practices, militia integration in doctrine, and perception management in asymmetric warfare. Awards include recognition for academic excellence and a Higher Education Academy fellowship.