Dr Shanthie Mariet D’Souza is Founder & President of Mantraya; Member of Research & Advisory Committee, Naval War College, Goa; Associate editor for the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs ( Sage), Editorial board member of Small Wars & Insurgencies ( Routledge), Expert and Contributor to the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP) at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC, Senior analyst for the South Asia desk with the Wikistrat Analytic Community, and Adviser for Independent Conflict Research and Analysis, London. Dr. D’Souza has previously been Visiting Research Associate at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore; Associate Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi; Fulbright Fellow at South Asia Studies, The Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC.

As Adviser, Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2015-16); International Election Observer for the audit and recount of Afghanistan’s Presidential Runoff elections, August-September, 2014; Senior Transition Consultant, United Nations Mine Action Service (2013), Kabul and External Reviewer for the country programme of Action Aid International, Afghanistan (2011), she has worked with governmental and non-governmental sectors for more than a decade in Afghanistan.

Her research interests and expertise include: Politics of Aid, Development, Gender and Security in Afghanistan; International interventions, Aid effectiveness and Post conflict stabilization; State and Peace building in fragile states; Transition and Prospects for long term stabilisation of Afghanistan; Security Sector and Civil Military Relations; Countering terrorism, insurgencies and violent extremism; Asymmetric and emerging security threats; Non State Armed Groups, Illicit Networks, transnational threats and counter-terror financing; Women, peace and conflict; Human security, non-traditional security challenges and crisis response in Asia; Subnational governance and Downward Accountability in Afghanistan; Strategic Communications; Great Power Politics, Global governance and Emerging Powers; India’s foreign, aid, maritime and security policy; Regionalism and Prospects for Regional Cooperation in South and South East Asia. Dr. D’Souza has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Africa, Canada, United States, Jammu and Kashmir and India’s North East.

Dr D'Souza has presented papers at various academic and policy forums and has numerous publications to her credit. Among her most recent published work is an edited book titled Afghanistan in Transition: Beyond 2014?, co-edited books, Perspectives on South Asian Security and Saving Afghanistan. She has guest edited a special issue on “Countering insurgencies and violent extremism in South Asia” in Small Wars & Insurgencies (UK: Routledge), February 2017. She has contributed chapters to edited books, international peer reviewed journal articles, encyclopedias (Europa and Britannica), yearbooks and regional surveys and op-eds in the national and international media on issues relating to security, political parties, political leaders and developments in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, China, Africa, Australia, South Asia, West Asia and South East Asia. Most of her publications are based on her field research findings and firsthand experience in conflict zones.

She can be contacted at shanthie.dsouza@mantraya.org. She tweets @ shanmariet. Further bio details available at http://mantraya.org/team.

Dr Shanthie Mariet D’Souza