Dr Alexander Gilder

Alex is a Lecturer in Law in the Department of Law and Criminology and Co-convenor of the International Law Subject Section of the Society of Legal Scholars. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa. Before joining the College, Alex taught at City, University of London and the University of Essex.

He specialises in public international law, especially areas related to international peace and security. His research currently follows two strands. First, Alex looks at themes related to stabilization in UN peacekeeping including robust force, counter-terrorism, and the effect of militarisation on other mandated tasks, such as entrenching the rule of law. Second, he is interested in the theory and history of international law and has worked on the relationships between the concept of human security, the individual, and international law. His research on these topics has appeared in journals, such as International Peacekeeping, Netherlands International Law Review, Indian Journal of International Law, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, and the Journal of International Peacekeeping. 

He is currently working on a monograph, under contract with Routledge, provisionally titled Stabilization and Human Security in UN Peace Operations. The book includes case studies on MINUSMA, MINUSCA, and UNMISS that examine whether the concept of human security can be seen in the UN's current stabilization activities.

Alex was previously the Editorial Assistant for the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law and sat on the Editorial Board of the Utrecht Journal of International and European Law.

• Public international law
• UN peace operations
• Human security
• International human rights law
• International humanitarian law
• Use of force
• International legal theory

Alex is the module convenor for Public International Law (LL2005/LL3505). He also teaches on Public Law (Constitutional, Administrative and Human Rights Law) (LL1001), Criminal Law (LL1003), and supervises dissertations (LL3003).

He is particularly interested in clinical legal education and is involved in the development and supervision of international law and human rights-based clinical projects for the Legal Advice Centre with the Director, Nicola Antoniou. One such project, with colleagues in the Department of Politics and International Relations, brings students together from Royal Holloway and the University of Hargeisa (Somaliland) to produce publicly accessible explainers on human rights and peacebuilding.

PhD supervision

Alex is available to supervise PhDs in public international law that are related to his above areas of research interest.

PhD, City, University of London

LLM Public International Law (and International Human Rights Law), Utrecht University

PgCAP, City, University of London

LLB (Hons), University of Lincoln

Fellow, Higher Education Academy