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Associate Professor in Global Security, RMIT University

Dr Charles T. Hunt is a Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in the School of Global, Urban & Social Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia. He is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (APR2P) at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Charles is currently an ARC DECRA fellow (2017-2020).

Charles’ background is in political science with specialisation in international relations and critical security studies. He has a PhD International Relations from the University of Queensland, Australia, as well as MA International Studies and a BSc (Joint Honours) Economics and Political Science – both from the University of Birmingham, UK. During his tenure at the University of Queensland, Charles was Senior Researcher in the Institute for Social Science Research (2008-2012), Leader for the protection of civilians program at the APR2P (2009 to 2015), Lecturer in International Security in the School of Political Science and International Studies (2012-2015) and has been an Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council’s Centre for Excellence in Policing and Security since 2009.

His research in the field of international relations, peace and conflict studies focuses on four main areas:

1. The changing nature of United Nations peace operations – with particular focus on protection of civilians
2. Reform of governance, security and justice systems in conflict-affected countries and regions
3. Monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment and organisational learning in conflict management, peacebuilding and development programming
4. The ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) and prevention of mass atrocity crimes

Dr Hunt is widely published, having authored and edited five books and over twenty articles and chapters. He is also a regular blogger on sites including the Global Observatory (International Peace Institute, New York), The Conversation, The Interpreter (Lowy Institute, Sydney), and Australian Outlook (Australian Institute for International Affairs, Canberra).

Charles has worked with the Australian government over a number of years assessing their role in peace operations and as a Principal Advisor to DFAT’s Fragility and Conflict Panel. He has worked extensively in Africa conducting field research in a number of locations (e.g. South Sudan, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe) and performed consultancy roles with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the United Nations and a number of international humanitarian NGOs. Charles’ previous work for international organisations, think tanks, civil society organisations, NGOs and academic institutions in Africa, Asia and the Pacific has provided him with a global perspective on issues of peace, security and justice.

Experience

  • –present
    Lecturer in International Security, University of Queensland
  • –present
    Senior Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, RMIT University

Education

  • 2012 
    University of Queensland, PhD
  • 2005 
    University of Birmingham, UK, Masters in International Studies (International Peacekeeping)

Publications

  • 2020
    Responsibility to Protect: Consolidation & Contestation,
  • 2018
    Hybridity Revisited: Relational Approaches to Peacebuilding in Complex Sociopolitical Orders, Wallis, J., Kent, L., Forsyth, M., Dinnen, S. and Bose, S. eds. Hybridity on the Ground in Peacebuilding and Development: Critical Conversations (Canberra: ANU Press): 51-65
  • 2018
    Exploring Peace Formation: Security & Justice in Post-colonial States, Routledge
  • 2018
    The Unintended Consequences of the Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers, Nadin, P. ed. The Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping, Global Institutions Series (Abingdon: Routledge): 145-168
  • 2018
    Regionalism and Human Protection: Reflections from Southeast Asia and Africa, Brill
  • 2017
    Beyond the binaries: towards a relational approach to peacebuilding, Global change, peace & security
  • 2017
    'All necessary means to what ends? The unintended consequences of the 'robust turn' in UN peace operations, International Peacekeeping
  • 2016
    Emerging Powers and the Responsibility to Protect: Non-linear Norm Dynamics in Complex International Society, Cambridge Review of International Affairs
  • 2016
    Regionalism and Human Protection Norms: An Overview in Africa, Global Responsibility to Protect
  • 2016
    Avoiding Perplexity: Complexity-oriented Monitoring and Evaluation for Peace Operations, Brusset, E., de Coning, C., Hughes, B. eds. Complexity Thinking for Peacebuilding Practice and Evaluation (London: Palgrave): 79-109
  • 2015
    Twenty-first century UN peace operations, International Affairs
  • 2014
    The role of the African Standby Force in implementing Article 4(h), Dan Kuwali and Frans Viljoen (Ed.), Africa and the Responsibility to Protect: Article 4(h) of the African Union Constitutive Act (pp. 173-192) Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge
  • 2014
    UN Peace Operations and International Policing: Negotiating Complexity, Assessing Impact and Learning to Learn, Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution
  • 2013
    (with Bryn Hughes and Jodie Curth-Bibb) Forging new conventional wisdom beyond international policing : learning from complex, political realities, Martinus Nijhof Publishers
  • 2011
    Mainstreaming the Responsibility to Protect in Peace Operations, Civil Wars
  • 2010
    Making sense of peace and capacity-building operations: Rethinking policing and beyond, Edited by Bryn Hughes, Charles Hunt and Boris Kondoch Boston, United States: Brill

Grants and Contracts

  • 2017
    International Policing and Civilian Protection
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    ARC DECRA
  • 2016
    Civilian Protection and the Use of Force
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    ARC Discovery Project
  • 2013
    Understanding and working with local sources of peace, security and justice in west Africa
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian government, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade

Research Areas

  • Defence Studies (160604)
  • International Relations (160607)
  • Government And Politics Of Asia And The Pacific (160606)