Biography
Dr Walter C Ladwig III is a political scientist specialising in US foreign policy, South Asian security, irregular warfare, and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific. His teaching primarily concentrates on the conduct of statecraft and Cold War history. His first book, The Forgotten Front: Patron-Client Relationships in Counter Insurgency (Cambridge 2017), examines the often-difficult relations between the US and local governments it is supporting in counterinsurgency. He is currently writing a book on Indian defence policy.
Walter’s scholarly works have been published in a number of academic journals including International Security, the Journal of Strategic Studies, and Asian Survey, among others. He has commented on international affairs for the Economist, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, and the BBC and his opinion pieces have appeared in a number of newspapers including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
In September 2013, Walter joined King’s from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford where he was a Departmental Lecturer, teaching courses on insurgency, terrorism, Cold War history, and research methods.
Walter is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London.
Qualifications:
- PhD International Relations, University of Oxford
- Masters in Public Affairs (MPA), Princeton University
- BA Economics and International Relations (dual degrees), the University of Southern California.
Visit his personal website
Research Interests
- US foreign policy and defence politics
- South Asian security
- Irregular warfare and counterinsurgency
- The geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific
- Military strategy
- Legislative behavior in developing democracies
Walter has two main research programs, one exploring intra-state conflict, and the other focusing on the political and military implications of India’s emergence as great power. In addition, he has a minor line of research exploring legislative behavior in developing democracies.
Teaching
Module Convener:
- 5SSW2062 Statecraft, War, and Diplomacy
- 5SSW209 Research Methods
- 7SSWN116 Dissertation Module
Dr Ladwig is not currently taking on any new PhD students.
Publications
Books
Edited Volumes
Research Articles
- “Non-Resident Prime Ministers? Measuring India’s Foreign Policy Orientation via Leadership Travel,” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (March 2025). (with Sumitha Narayan Kutty).
- “Parliamentary Interest in Foreign Security Policy: Insight from the Indian Lok Sabha,” Foreign Policy Analysis, Vol. 21, No. 1 (January 2025).
- “Executive Particularism and Ministerial Selection in India,” Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 3 (July 2020).
- “India and the United States: The Contours of an Asian Partnership,” Asia Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1 (January 2019). (with Anit Mukherjee).
- “Influencing Clients in Counterinsurgency: U.S. Involvement in El Salvador’s Civil War, 1979–92,” International Security, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Summer 2016).
- “Indian Military Modernization and Conventional Deterrence in South Asia,” Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 38, No. 4 (2015).
- “A Cold Start for Hot Wars? The Indian Army’s New Limited War Doctrine,” International Security, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Winter 2007/08).
Book Chapters
- “Nuclear Coercion: Evaluating Insights from Academic Scholarship” in Prakash Menon and Aditya Ramanathan, eds., The Sheathed Sword: From Nuclear Brink to No First Use (Oxford: Bloomsbury, 2022).
- “Strengthening Partners to Keep the Peace: A Neo-Nixon Doctrine for the Indian Ocean” in Peter Dombrowski and Andrew C. Winner, eds., The Indian Ocean and US Grand Strategy Ensuring Access and Promoting Security (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2014).
- “When the Police are the Problem: The Philippine Constabulary and the Huk Rebellion” in C. Christine Fair and Sumit Ganguly, eds., Policing Insurgencies: Cops as Counterinsurgents (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
- “The Military Geography of Diego Garcia: Future Implications for U.S. Power Projection in the Indian Ocean,” in Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, eds., U.S. Basing and Presence in the Asia-Pacific (Newport, RI: Naval Institute Press, 2014).(with Andrew S. Erickson and Justin D. Mikolay)
- “Drivers of Indian Naval Expansion,” in Harsh Pant, ed., The Rise of the Indian Navy: Internal Vulnerabilities, External Challenges (Ashgate, 2012).
- “Looking East 2 (East Asia/Australasia)” in David Scott, ed., A Handbook of India’s International Relations (London: Routledge, 2011).
- “Insights from the Northeast: Counterinsurgency in Nagaland and Mizoram,” in David P. Fidler and Sumit Ganguly, eds., India and Counterinsurgency: Lessons Learned (London: Routledge, 2009).
For a full list of publications please see Dr Ladwig's Research Profile