Areas of interest
Dr Gilder works on areas related to international peace and security, such as UN peace operations, peacebuilding, and human security. His research is interdisciplinary, drawing on perspectives from law and international relations. Alex investigates various aspects of UN peacekeeping including stabilization, counter-terrorism, the rule of law, the protection of civilians, and security sector reform. His research has also applied the multidisciplinary concept of human security to examine the role of the individual in international law.
Alex has published on the aforementioned topics as well as other areas of international law including the law of occupation, international human rights law, and the law on the use of force. His research has appeared in journals and volumes, such as International Peacekeeping, the Journal of International Peacekeeping, Global Policy, the Netherlands International Law Review, the Indian Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, the Wisconsin International Law Journal, the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, and the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies.
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.
Postgraduate supervision
Alex welcomes PhD applications that fall within his above areas of interest.
Teaching
Alex teaches on the following modules:
- International Law and Global Security (UG) (Module co-convenor)
- Public Law 1 (UG)
- Criminal Law (UG)
- Disaster Risk Management (PG)
He is particularly interested in clinical legal education and has been involved in the development and supervision of international law and human rights-based clinical projects. In one such project, a collaboration with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (Somaliland), students produced a publicly accessible website on human rights and peacebuilding which is available at www.knowaboutpeace.com. The project won a Commendation in Royal Holloway’s 2021 Team Teaching Prize.
Background
Alex joined the School of Law after previously teaching at Royal Holloway, University of London, the University of Essex, and City, University of London. He is currently Co-convenor of the International Law Section at the Society of Legal Scholars and an Associate Editor of the Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Royal Holloway’s Conflict, Violence and Terrorism Research Centre.
Alex teaches as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa, where he delivers a module on Peace, Conflict & Human Rights and has been a Guest Instructor on the University of Notre Dame’s London Law Programme.
Academic qualifications
PhD (City, University of London), LLM (Utrecht University), PgCAP (City, University of London) LLB (Hons) (University of Lincoln).
