Aaron Anfinson
MEd, PhD
Co-Founder
Aaron Anfinson develops and assesses individual and collaborative research projects that respond to issues of counterterrorism, post-conflict humanitarian assistance, and US foreign policy. He evaluates research methodologies and facilitates the publication of findings in peer-reviewed journals and policy briefs.
He is the Primary Investigator of a project analyzing the manufacture and emplacement of explosives in Iraq and Syria, highlighting the challenges of reconstruction. Additionally, he is both Primary and Co-Investigator of projects related to migration, enslavement and insecurity.
He received his doctorate from the University of Hong Kong and has over a decade of international experience working in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Anfinson is also an award winning photographer, documenting issues ranging from Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement to the January 6th siege on the US Capitol Building.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
Nadia Al-Dayel, Aaron Anfinson and Graeme Anfinson
Captivity, Migration, and Power in Libya
Journal of Human Trafficking (2021)
Aaron Anfinson and Nadia Al-Dayel
Landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices: the lingering terror of the Islamic State
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (2020)
Aaron Anfinson
visualising “statehood” as a tactic
for the legitimisation of non-state actors
Terrorism and Political Violence (2019)
Nadia Al-Dayel and Aaron Anfinson
the Islamic State's reflexive projection of statehood
Critical Studies on Terrorism (2018, 11(1))
Book Chapters
Aaron Anfinson
Hong Kong's Paper Cities: Heterotopia and the Semiotic Landscape of Civil Disobedience
in Malinowski and Tufi (Eds.)
Reterritorializing Linguistic Landscapes (2020).
New York: Bloomsbury
Essays and Invited Commentary
Aaron Anfinson and Nadia Al-Dayel
The threat of the Islamic State's extensive use of improvised explosives
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism--The Hague
Aaron Anfinson
The "China Virus" and the Dialectics of China-US relations
Dossier China After COVID-19: Great Challenges Under Heaven
ISPI (Institudo per gli studi di politica internazionale)
Recent Conferences and
Invited Speaking Engagements
Global Rights Defenders Podcast
Episode 9, July 30, 2022
International Studies Association
Panel on Migration and Security, April 7, 2021
Technology and Governance: Exploring law and innovation in the absence of state governance
University of Oxford (Virtual), January 28-29, 2021
International Studies Association (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
Honolulu, Hawaii, March 26, 2020
Society for Terrorism Research International Conference
Oslo, Norway, June 20, 2019
Movements: Protest, Politics and Activism
Nottingham Contemporary Art Museum,
United Kingdom. July 6, 2018
British International Studies Association Conference
Bath, United Kingdom. June 13, 2018
Terrorism and Social Media Conference (TASMconf)
University of Swansea, United Kingdom, June 27, 2017
Departmental Seminar Series
School of English, University of Hong Kong, April 27, 2017
InCoLAs PhD Seminar Series
University of Copenhagen, Denmark. August 8-10, 2016
Sociolinguistics Today and Tomorrow
University of Hong Kong. October 2-3, 2015
Linguistic Landscapes (LL7)
University of California Berkeley. May 7-9, 2015