Rate My Professor Andrew Maher

For over five years, Maher has served as a postgraduate course convenor at UNSW Canberra, leading subjects on Irregular Warfare (GRIM Threats) and the Theory of Special Operations. He co-leads the Future Operations Research Group with Professor David Kilcullen, focusing on military challenges from 2030 to 2050, including future urban warfare, unconventional warfare, emerging flashpoints, and technological advancements. His research centers on irregular warfare, the conduct of competition leveraging non-state actors, proxy warfare—as explored in his PhD thesis 'The Strategic Logic of Proxy Warfare'—and developing concepts of unconventional deterrence. Notable publications include the book chapter ‘Special Operations Developments in the Pacific: Back to the Future?’ in 'Into the Void: Special Operations Beyond the Global War on Terror' (Hurst, 2024), peer-reviewed articles such as ‘Proxy War in Yemen: An Enduring Strategic Challenge’ (Australian Army Journal, 2025), ‘A Plan B: An Australian Support to Resistance Operating Concept’ (Australian Army Journal, 2024), ‘Resistance Strategy: Lessons from the Russo-Ukraine conflict’ (Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies, 2023), and reports like ‘Unconventional Deterrence in Australian Strategy’ (ASPI, 2025) and ‘A Framework for Irregular Warfare’ (2021). Maher holds fellowships with the Modern War Institute at West Point, the Joint Special Operations University, and Charles Sturt University’s Terrorism Studies program, contributing to strategic discourse through policy reports, journal articles, and expert commentary.