Dr Mauro Bonavita is a Sessional Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, where he delivers lectures, seminars, and guest talks in security studies to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as to military officers attending the United Kingdom Defence Academy in Shrivenham. He is also a Lecturer in War and Diplomacy on King’s Summer Programmes.

His research focuses on maritime security and naval diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region, the evolution of the global order at sea, and India’s foreign and security policies. Mauro obtained his PhD in War Studies from King’s College London in 2025, with a doctoral thesis examining the role of the Indian Navy’s naval exercises in the Indian Ocean Region as instruments of Indian foreign policy. He has published on the emerging role of AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific and is currently developing a research project assessing the impact of IndoPacific maritime dynamics on the South Atlantic.

In 2021, Mauro founded the first Indo-Pacific research group at King’s College London, and in 2023 he was appointed International Visiting Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi, India. He has taught in the Department of War Studies and the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London, at the United Kingdom Defence Academy, and at the Naval Academy of the Colombian Navy, as well as at other military and civilian academic institutions.

Mauro holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Genoa (Italy) and an MSc in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain).

Research Interests

• Maritime security
• Naval diplomacy
• Global order at sea
• India’s foreign policy

Mauro’s research examines maritime strategy and naval diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, with particular attention to the role of the Indian Navy as an instrument of foreign policy. His work also analyses the evolving maritime security architecture of the Indian Ocean Region, including the role of minilateral arrangements and regional forums in shaping emerging forms of maritime order.

He has published commentary in The Hindu and The Wire, and regularly contributes to public debate through interviews with Radio Radicale and specialist podcasts and online platforms focused on international affairs.

Publications

• 2024 - Cooperative or Clubbish? AUKUS Order-Engenirring and EU Normative power in the Indo-Pacific.
  Peer-review article, included in: A. Gerstl, J. Panda, “Europe, Asia and the Liberal International Order in the Indo-Pacific”, Special
  issue of Asia Europe Journal, November 2024. (co-authored with Dr Zeno Leoni, Dr Sarah Tzinieris)
• 2024 - Alla riscoperta del Mare.
  Magazine article – Limes “Bharat, la Strategia dell’India”, n.8/2024
• 2024 - India's Naval Diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific - A strategic driver in a post-Western regional order.
  Conference paper – British International Studies Association (BISA) Conference 20245(Birmingham, United Kingdom).
• 2023 - Oltre il Golfo di Aden: Nuove convergenze e potenziali limiti nel rapporto Italia-India nell’Indo-Pacifico.
  Book chapter included in Alice Dell’Era, Lorenzo Termine (editors), Strategie di collegamento dell’Indo-Pacifico al Mediterraneo
  Allargato. La prospettiva dell’Italia oltre il corridoio IMEC, Centro Studi Geopolitica, Roma 2024
• 2023 - Asia: La sfida internazionale del XXI secolo. Geopolitica dell’Asia Orientale.
  Book Chapter included in: Matteo Dian, Emilio Diodato (editors), Geopolitica dell’Asia Orientale Carocci 2024. (co-authored
  with Dr Zeno Leoni)
• 2023 - Brazil and India take center stage in shaping dynamics of the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean Region.
  Online resource. King’s College London – Forward Thinking Series
• 2023 - Are the Indo-Pacific countries more against Russia since its Invasion of Ukraine?
  Report Chapter, “War in Ukraine: One Year On”, Centre for Grand Strategy, Department of War Studies, King’s College London
  (London, United Kingdom)

Teaching

• UK Defence Academy - IOD A
• UK Defence Academy - IOD B
• UK Defence Academy - IOD C
• UK Defence Academy - ACSC Maritime
• BA War Studies - Art of War Studies
• BA War Studies - War and Strategy in East Asia
• King’s Summer Programme - War and Diplomacy