Introduction

Dr Vinay Kaura is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Affairs and Security Studies and the Deputy Director of Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Rajasthan, India. He is also an adjunct faculty on the Program on Terrorism and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany and a Non-Resident Scholar for Afghanistan and Pakistan Studies at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC.

Having Masters’ degrees in History and Political Science, Dr Kaura obtained his doctorate on Afghanistan-Pakistan relations with special reference to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. His current research interests include Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, terrorism and proxy warfare, India’s foreign policy with a specific focus on India-United States strategic cooperation and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region.

Dr Kaura has written for a range of international publications and his scholarly articles have appeared in journals including India Review, The Round Table, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, Parameters: The US Army War College Quarterly, Strategic Analysis, The RUSI Journal, India Quarterly, Israel Affairs, The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs and Central European Journal of International and Security Studies.

Dr Kaura’s recent chapter contributions include ‘India’s Emerging Geopolitics’ in Zack Cope (ed), The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Geopolitics, Palgrave Macmillan, (2024); ‘When Proxies Win: The Impact of the Taliban’s Changing Fortune on Pakistan’s Leverage’, in Pawel Bernat, Cüneyt Gürer and Cyprian Aleksander Kozera (eds), Proxy Wars from a Global Perspective: Non-State Actors and Armed Conflicts, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing (2023); ‘The Changing Landscape of India-Pakistan-Afghanistan Relationship’, in Aparna Pande (ed), Routledge Handbook on South Asian Foreign Policy, London: Routledge (2022); ‘India’s Counterterrorism Diplomacy’, in Harsh V. Pant (ed), in Routledge Handbook of Indian Defence Policy: Themes, Structures and Doctrines, Routledge (2020).

He has also produced policy-relevant research and analysis on a broad array of subjects, including institutional reforms, strategic communications and public diplomacy.

Areas of Interest and Expertise

• Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations
• Terrorism and Proxy Warfare
• India’s Foreign Policy and National Security
• Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific Region
• Political Psychology