Dr. Shanthie Mariet D’Souza is a founder of Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies(MISS); a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst, USA; a visiting faculty at the Naval War College, Goa; an Affiliate at the Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.; a research fellow at Welt Trends-Institut für Internationale Politik, Potsdam, Germany; an international advisor for Nordic Counter-Terrorism Network, Helsinki, Finland; an adviser for Independent Conflict Research and Analysis, London.

Dr. D’Souza has been a Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Chair at the School of Public Policy, UMass Amherst, USA (2024); a founding professor, Kautilya School of Public Policy, Hyderabad(2021-2022); a board director at Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo(2018-22); a visiting research fellow at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin(2022); a visiting research associate at the School of Business & Governance, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia (2017); a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (2010-14); an associate fellow, Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi (2006-10); a Fulbright fellow and visiting research associate at South Asia Studies, The Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C. (2005-06). She has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Africa, Australia, Canada, the United States, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s North East.

Dr. D’Souza’s research interests and expertise include: Countering terrorism, insurgencies and violent extremism; politics of aid, development, gender and security in Afghanistan; women, peace and security; state and peace building in fragile states; security sector reform; non-traditional security threats and crisis response in Asia; climate change, energy transition, and public policy; geopolitical trends in Asia; great power competition, emerging powers and the Indo-Pacific; India’s foreign, maritime and security policy

Among her most recent published work are edited books titled Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia (Cass Military Studies, Routledge: UK), Afghanistan in Transition: Beyond 2014?, co-edited books, Perspectives on South Asian Security and Saving Afghanistan. She has contributed chapters to edited books, journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals, encyclopedias, yearbooks and regional surveys and op-eds in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, The Straits Times, Asian Age, Indian Express, and Business Standard among others. She has been invited to speak at various international and national forums on key security, political and geopolitical trends in Asia.

Further bio details available at https://miss.org.in

She can be reached at shanthiedsouza@miss.org.in, smdsouza@umass.edu