Dr Aaron Edwards is an academic, author and global security expert whose work explores how leadership, influence and strategy shape modern conflict.
With a career spanning Professional Military Education (PME), Higher Education, and International Peace-building, he bridges the worlds of academia, policy and practice in defence and global security.
Aaron holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the Queen’s University of Belfast. His early research into ethnic conflict and cooperation in divided societies – particularly in Northern Ireland – laid the foundations for his later work on conflict, security and intelligence.
Before entering academia, Aaron worked in community dialogue and journalism, contributing to The Other View Magazine – a cross-community initiative founded by former loyalist and republican paramilitaries. He also led a major EU-funded peacebuilding project at INCORE, then a United Nations University Centre of Excellence, which included residential study visits to the United Nations International Leadership Institute in Amman, Jordan, to facilitate Track Two Diplomacy with conflict resolution practitioners from Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
These experiences grounded his understanding of how leadership, local knowledge and influence networks operate in post-conflict environments.
Since 2008, Aaron has served as a Senior Lecturer in Defence and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he educates future military leaders. He has delivered specialist training and briefings for the UK Ministry of Defence, FCDO, and NATO partners, and provided instruction to military personnel, diplomats, and intelligence officers in more than 25 countries worldwide.
His PME work includes academic support to military operations and developing professional programmes on geopolitical risk, counter-terrorism and conflict management.
A Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the UK Higher Education Academy, Aaron has held research affiliations with Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Leicester. He also supervises PhD candidates in Modern War Studies and Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham.
Aaron’s books include Agents of Influence: Britain’s Secret Intelligence War Against the IRA (2021) and the forthcoming Enemies Within: Johnny Adair and the Intelligence Operation That Saved the Peace Process.
He is also editor, along with Frank Ledwidge and Helen Parr, of Ground Truth: The Moral Component in Contemporary British Warfare (2024).
Aaron’s analysis and commentary appear regularly in outlets such as The Conversation, BBC News, The Economist, Financial Times, RUSI, The Irish Times, and War on the Rocks.
He is a trusted voice on global security matters, offering nuanced, historically grounded insights to practitioners and policymakers alike.
He can be contacted at: aaron@aaron-edwards.co.uk
