HSS - School of Law and Government header
School of Law and Government

Dr. Moign Khawaja | School of Law and Government

Moinuddin (Moign) Khawaja holds a PhD in Counterterrorism and Media Communication Studies from Dublin City University (DCU) and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Lincoln. Working as a Lecturer at DCU since September 2020, he specialises in International Relations and Security Studies and has been nominated three times for the DCU President's Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was awarded a prestigious Government of Ireland Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2023-2024 and has secured multiple research grants, including funding for projects commissioned by the UK Home Office. 

Dr. Khawaja is the author of the book Islamic State, Media and Propaganda: Performances of the ‘Visual Caliphate’, several peer-reviewed articles, and a book chapter – with a significant citation impact. Furthermore, he actively engages with the media as an expert commentator, frequently writing for websites such as TheConversation and RTÉ Brainstorm, as well as quoted in The Sunday Times and other publications on matters of terrorism and security.   

Education

PhD – Dublin City University (2023)

MA Journalism – University of Lincoln (2008)

Supervisor: Prof. Maura Conway

PhD Thesis Title: ACTING LIKE A STATE: VISUAL ANALYSIS OF IS’S (STAGED) ‘PERFORMANCES OF MODERN STATENESS’ 

Areas of Research: Counterterrorism, Foreign Policy, Visual propaganda, Online Extremism, Conflict Studies, Middle Eastern politics, Migration, Radicalisation, and Security Studies.

Teaching

  • Lecturing modules related to IR and Security Studies including Conflict, Peace & Security; Foreign Policy & Diplomacy; Intelligence & National Security; Contemporary Politics of the Middle East & North Africa; Political Ideologies; Political Terrorism; Politics of Migration in Europe; and Issues in European Integration.
  • Nominated three-times for DCU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching since 2020-21.
  • Adjunct Lecturer at Maynooth University: Lecturing Irish Naval Service and Irish Defence Forces cadets on emerging issues related to peace and security around the world with focus on issues related to international maritime security and the Middle East.

Publications

Google Scholar citations: 162 [h-index = 4; i10-index = 2]

Scopus citations: 41 [h-index = 2]

Media Engagement

Television

  • Appeared on RTÉ SixOne News on 5 January 2020, to comment on the US assassination of Iranian Gen. Soleimani and its impact on the Middle East.
  • Featured in RTÉ Syria Civil War explainer video published on 25 June 2019, to describe the twists and turns of 21st century’s most bloodiest conflict and its implications on Middle East, Europe and beyond.
  • Appeared on RTÉ SixOne News on 7 January 2019, to comment on wider issues arising from the arrest of an IS fighter with an Irish passport captured in Syria.

Print 

Online

Podcast

  • Featured as guest on ‘The Dark State’ podcast, hosted by renowned Sunday Times journalist John Mooney, in which I spoke at length about the current state of ISIS and their possible future strategies. The podcast addresses issues related to crime, terrorism and national security.

Conferences

27-31 Aug 2024, 17th EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Université Catholique de Lille – Lille, France.
Presented two papers entitled “IS’s Foreign Policy Towards Other States & Non-State Actors” and “Performances of the Cubs and Pearls of the Visual Caliphate”.

3-5 Jul 2024, 11th European Workshops in International Studies, Kadir Has University – Istanbul, Türkiye.
Presented paper entitled “IS’s Foreign Policy Towards Other States & Non-State Actors”.

17-19 Jun 2024, Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference, University of Swansea – Swansea, Wales.
Presented paper entitled “IS’s Foreign Policy Towards Other States & Non-State Actors”.

31 May 2024, Society of Terrorism Research (STR) Ireland Annual Conference, Dublin City University –  Dublin, Ireland.
Presented paper entitled “Performances of the Cubs and Pearls of the Visual Caliphate”.

27 Feb – 1 Mar 2024, MAXQDA International Conference, Berlin, Germany.
Presented methodology of my PhD research project entitled “Acting Like a State – Visual Analysis of IS’s (Staged) ‘Performances of Modern Stateness using MAXQDA software.

19-20 Jun 2023, Conference of the Jean Monnet Network on EU Counter-Terrorism, University of Augsburg – Augsburg, Germany.
Presented paper entitled “Longitudinal Visual Analysis of IS’s Visual Caliphate”

28-29 Jun 2022, Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference, University of Swansea – Swansea, Wales.
Presented paper entitled “Acting Like a State – Visual Analysis of IS’s (Staged) ‘Performances of Modern Stateness”.

22-23 Nov 2019, New Perspectives on Non-State Political Violence, Queen’s University Belfast, N. Ireland
Presented paper entitled “Like No Other State – Determining the ‘Stateness’ of IS via their Video Propaganda – Theories, Methodology & Case Studies”.

25-26 Jun 2019, Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) Conference, University of Swansea – Swansea, Wales.
Presented paper entitled “Like No Other State – Determining the ‘Stateness’ of IS via their Video Propaganda – The Methodology Behind the Assessment”.

9-10 Apr 2019, EUROPOL-European Counter-Terrorism Centre (ECTC) Advisory Network Conference, The Hague, Netherlands.
Co-presented with Prof. Maura Conway paper entitled “Extremist Twitter Fans’ Visual Narratives: Contextualising #ISIS Supporters’ Profile Pictures”.

20-21 Aug 2018, VOX-Pol Conference – Violent Extremism, Terrorism, and the Internet: Present and Future Trends, University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Co-presented with Prof. Maura Conway (DCU) and Dr. Suraj Lakhani (Uni. of Sussex) paper entitled “Mapping the Contemporary Jihadi Online Ecology: Differential Disruption, Community Strength, Out-linking Practices, and Preferred Online Platforms”.

27-28 Jun 2017, Terrorism & Social Media (TASM) Conference, University of Swansea – Swansea, Wales
Co-presented paper with Dr. Suraj Lakhani (Uni. of Sussex) and Prof. Maura Conway (DCU), entitled “Disrupting Daesh: Measuring the Impact of Disrupting Online Terrorist Material”.

17-21 Jul 2016, Method52 Text Analytics Software Training Programme, Dept. of Computing at the University of Sussex, Brighton, England.

4-8 Jul 2016, VOX-Pol Summer School 2016: Topics in Violent Online Political Extremism, Central European University (CEU) – Budapest, Hungary.

27-28 Jun 2016, NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Terrorist Use of the Internet, Dublin City University – Dublin, Ireland.

23-25 Jun 2016, VOX-Pol Mid-Project Conference - Taking Stock of Research on Violent Online Political Extremism, Dublin City University – Dublin, Ireland. 
Co-presented paper with my supervisor, Prof. Maura Conway, entitled “#ISIS Twitter Fans’ Visual Narratives – Contextualising Profile Pictures”.

Prizes

Won the runners-up prize at DCU Tell it Straight 2019 competition held on 27 March, 2019, for the video I produced showcasing my PhD research.

Contact

Twitter: @MoignKhawaja

LinkedIn: Dr. Moign Khawaja

Email address: moign.khawaja@dcu.ie