Alex Wilner

Dr. Alex Wilner is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Switzerland. He joined the CSS as part of the Trans-Atlantic Post-Doc Fellowship for International Relations and Security (TAPIR). Born in Montreal, Alex completed his doctorate in 2008 at Dalhousie University and holds a Master’s degree, also from Dalhousie, and a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University. Alex’s dissertation, Deterring the Undeterrable: The Theory and Practice of Coercing Terrorists, and doctoral research were awarded scholarships from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Department of National Defence. Alex is also a research fellow with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax.

Alex has published on a variety of subjects, including environmental security, failed and fragile states, Israeli-Iranian relations, deterrence theory, targeted killings, Canadian foreign and defence policy, political radicalization, and countering homegrown and international terrorism. His work has appeared in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Journal of Strategic Studies, Global Change, Peace & Security, The Canadian Naval Review, The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, International Journal, CIC Strategic Datalink, The Halifax Herald, and The Globe and Mail. Over the coming year, he will be co-editing a volume and writing a book on the subject of deterring terrorism.