Charles T. Hunt

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Dr Charles T. Hunt is Professor of Global Security in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University.

He has a background in political science with specialisation in international relations, peace and conflict, and critical security studies. Based in the Social Equity Research Centre, his research focuses on peace operations, security and justice in conflict-affected societies, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding programming, the protection of civilians and human rights in armed conflict, and the prevention of mass atrocity crimes.

Professor Hunt is also Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research in New York/Geneva and and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (University of Queensland) where he was the leader for the protection of civilians program from 2009 to 2015. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly journal, Global Responsibility to Protect (since 2020) and a member of the editorial boards for International Peacekeeping and the Journal of International Peacekeeping.

Charles bridges academic rigor and practical engagement to improve policy on peace and security issues. He has extensive knowledge and experience of the UN policy community and regularly consults to the United Nations and selected member states and has been commissioned to write numerous policy papers, practical handbooks and guidance on issues of peace and security. Professor Hunt has worked extensively in Africa - including as Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa - conducting field research in many locations (e.g. South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe). He has performed consultancy roles with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and several international NGOs. Professor Hunt has also 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.

Charles’ previous and on-going work for international organisations, government agencies, think tanks, civil society organisations, and academic institutions across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific has provided him with a global perspective on issues of peace, security and justice.

Professor Hunt has won a number of prestigious awards including an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2017-2021), Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellowship (2015-2017), the RMIT Award for Research Excellence Early Career Researcher (2017), RMIT Vice Chancellor's Award for Research Impact (2020), and has been listed by The Australian Research Magazine in Australia’s top 250 researchers on multiple occasions (2021, 2022, 2023).

In addition to traditional academic publications, Charles regularly writes editorials and commentaries for widely-read outlets, including the Washington Post, The Conversation, Global Observatory (International Peace Institute, New York), Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Canberra Times, The Interpreter (Lowy Institute, Sydney), and Australian Outlook (Australian Institute for International Affairs, Canberra). His analysis and expertise have also featured on international and national television and radio stations including appearances on flagship programs on the BBC, ABC, and SBS.

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)

Contact Charles for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision