Maggie Dwyer

Dr. Maggie Dwyer serves as Senior Lecturer in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh, specializing in African security dynamics, peacekeeping operations, and political violence. Her research examines military institutions across West Africa with fieldwork conducted in Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Liberia, Tanzania, and Kenya.

Her primary research interests focus on African militaries, international peacekeeping interventions, and political transitions, particularly analyzing how security forces navigate democratic transitions and post-conflict environments. She investigates the social dimensions of military service including soldiers' family dynamics during deployments and the political implications of social media in African governance.

Recent publications reveal consistent thematic development across three interconnected domains: (1) Peacekeeping effects on veterans and contributing nations, (2) Military fragmentation and coup dynamics in West Africa, and (3) Digital politics and security sector communication. Her 2023-2025 work increasingly examines post-deployment veteran welfare and transitional security challenges in The Gambia following the 2017 democratic transition.

Dr. Dwyer has secured significant research funding including the ESRC-funded 'Return from Peacekeeping' project (2019-2024), Gerda Henkel Foundation support, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation grants, and UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund awards. She has collaborated with Peace Research Institute Oslo and contributed to projects involving the U.S. State Department and World Bank.

Her academic supervision focuses on African politics, peace and conflict studies, and security-development nexus topics for PhD candidates in African Studies, Politics, and International Development programs. She maintains active research partnerships with institutions across Africa and regularly contributes policy analysis to international media outlets including Washington Post, New Lines Magazine, and African Arguments.