Broderick McDonald is a Research Fellow at Kings College London’s XCEPT Research Programme and a doctoral researcher in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford where he researches political violence. armed conflict and terrorism.
Outside of this, he is a Visiting Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute’s Centre for Emerging Technologies and Security (CETaS) and a Research Affiliate with the Rothermere American Institute. Broderick was previously an Associate Fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) and the Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET) at Kings College London, as well as Assistant Editor of the Perspectives on Terrorism Academic Journal published by the University of St Andrews' Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism & Political Violence and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) in the Hague.
Prior to this, Broderick served in various government roles and lived in the Middle East. Broderick's research and commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest.
He holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where he was an Executive Editor of the Cambridge International Law Journal. He was previously a researcher with the Mapping Militants Project, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention, and a Fellow with the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC).
He currently serves on the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) Independent Advisory Committee and the Board of Advisors for American University's Repository for Open-Source Research & Analysis in Washington DC. He has been named as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, and as a Rising Leaders Fellow by The Aspen Institute (UK).
Research Interests
- Political Violence & Armed Conflict
- Non-State Actors & Rebel Groups
- Rebel Consolidation & Fragmentation
- Insurgencies & Small Wars
- Online Harms & AI Security
- Salafi-Jihadism /Jihadism
- Critical Security Studies
- Inter-Rebel Competition
- Rebel Governance
- Hybrid Warfare
- Extremism / Terrorism
- Foreign Terrorist Fighters
Teaching Experience
- Academic Tutor for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Undergraduate Students
- Academic Tutor for International Security and Innovation 301
- Academic Tutor for Comparative Government 201
- Academic Tutor for Politics in the Middle East 211
- Instructor for OSINT/SOCINT Methods Training (KCL)
- Instructor for Red Teaming Methods (OxDEL CSO)
- Undergraduate Admissions Reviewer at HMC
- Academic Tutor for Balliol (BC), Corpus Christi (CCC), Harris Manchester (HMC), New (NC), St Catherine's (SCC)
- Academic Tutor and Assistant Dean at HM College, Oxford; Research Fellow at Kings College London
- Visiting Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute's Centre for Emerging Technology & Security (CETaS)
Teaching Interests
- Peace & Conflict Studies
- International Security
- Politics in the Middle East
- Politics in the Sahel
- Critical Security Studies
- National Security Risks
- OSINT Methodologies
- Technology & Politics
- Fieldwork Safety
- Public Policy
Publications
The Right Way to Engage With Syria’s New Rulers
Foreign Affairs
Nafees Hamid, Nils Mallock, Broderick McDonald, Rahaf Aldoughli
The Long Road to Damascus: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Assad, and the Future of Syria
Just Security (New York University, Reiss Center on Law and Security)
Broderick McDonald
The Drones of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): The Development and Use of UAS in Syria
Global Network on Extremism and Technology, Kings College London
Broderick McDonald
A New Far-Right Threat to Democratic Elections
Al Jazeera
Broderick McDonald
Counter-Terrorism in the Sahel: The Wagner Group's Growing Shadow
United States Military Academy at West Point (MWI)
Broderick McDonald, Guy Fiennes
Algorithmic Detection and Evasion Tactics on Social Media Platforms
Global Network on Extremism & Technology, Kings College London
Broderick McDonald
Book Chapters
Broderick McDonald, et al. "Emerging Technologies & Terrorist Misuse" in
the Routledge Handbook on Online Extremism, edited by Suraj Lakhani.
New York: Routledge, forthcoming.
Lara Nonninger, Broderick McDonald, "AI-Enabled Terrorism: CBRN Threats" in
the Encyclopedia of Terrorism and Counterterrorism Law, edited by Stuart MacDonald.
Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming
