Dr Peter Lehr
Senior Lecturer in Terrorism Studies
Research areas
I am a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, which I joined in September 2004, initially as a Research Fellow tasked with exploring the nexus between piracy and maritime terrorism. Prior to that, I taught Political Science of South/Southeast Asia at the South Asia Institute (SAI), University of Heidelberg, where I also received my Magister Artium (September 1996) and my Dr. rer pol in Political Science (PhD, February 2004).
I am a regional expert on the Indo-Pacific, with a special research interest in violent ?grey area phenomena? such as terrorism, political violence, and organized crime ? in particular, in maritime terrorism and piracy (as sea-borne organized crime); and in religious violence (with a focus on militant Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism). My current research is on militant (Therav?da) Buddhism, Buddhist Nationalism and Buddhist Vigilantism ? manifestations of Buddhism that I like to call ?Enraged Buddhism? as opposed to the better-known ?Engaged Buddhism? in the shape of Buddhist environmentalism or social activism.
My research philosophy follows Max Weber?s ?Verstehen?, that is seeing and understanding the meaning of an action from the actors? perspective ? not necessarily to sympathize, but to empathize with the actors and their actual beliefs, cultural values and motivations. In the case of organized crime, this led me to interview a wide range of actors (for example, Chinese Triads, Southeast Asian smugglers and pirates); while in the case of militant Buddhism, I frequently embark on participant observation: staying at (Thai) Buddhist temples as a lay follower and travelling with a group of ascetic monks, to watch, ask, and listen. My research output thus often comes in the shape of a ?thick description? according to Clifford Geertz that describes the behaviour of the actors in question along with the context in which they are situated. My recent monographs Militant Buddhism on the one hand, and Pirates ? A New History on the other, are examples for this approach.
PhD supervision
- Jefferey Fiorito
- Nicholas Bradley
- Erika Brady
- Maurizio Carmini
- Felipe Fulcher Cruvinel
- Scott Ward
- Thomas Hinkel
Selected publications
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Counter-terrorism technologies: a critical assessment
Lehr, P., 2019, Cham: Springer International Publishing. 217 p. (Advanced sciences and technologies for security applications)Research output: Book/Report ? Book
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Militant Buddhism: the rise of militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand
Lehr, F. P., Feb 2019, Cham: PalgraveMacMillan. 306 p.Research output: Book/Report ? Book
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Pirates: a new history, from vikings to Somali raiders
Lehr, F. P., 11 Jun 2019, New Haven: Yale University Press. 261 p.Research output: Book/Report ? Book
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Holy Wars along the Maritime Silk Road: Extremist Islamism, Hinduism, and Buddhism
Lehr, F. P., 2016, ASEAN Looks West: ASEAN and the Gulf Region. Herrmann, W. A. & Lehr, P. (eds.). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, p. 115-140 25 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter
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Maritime Grey Area Phenomena in the Persian Gulf Region and Beyond: Implications for ASEAN
Lehr, F. P., 2016, ASEAN Looks West: ASEAN and the Gulf Region. Herrmann, W. A. & Lehr, P. (eds.). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, p. 69-92 23 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter
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Political resilience and EU responses to aviation terrorism
Argomaniz, J. & Lehr, P., 2016, In : Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 39, 4, p. 363-379 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal ? Article
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(No) princes of the sea: reflections on maritime terrorism
Lehr, F. P., 2015, Routledge Handbook of Naval Strategy and Security. Krause, J. & Bruns, S. (eds.). Abingdon: Routledge, p. 202-214 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter
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Security council resolutions on somali piracy
Lehr, P., 1 Jan 2014, The Security Council as Global Legislator. Taylor and Francis, p. 143-159 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter
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An Age of Asymmetric Challenges: 4th Generation Warfare at Sea
Lehr, F. P., Jan 2013, Strategic Intelligence Management: National Security Imperatives and Information and Communications Technologies. Akhgar, B. & Yates, S. (eds.). Amsterdam: Elsevier, p. 36-48 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter
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Maritimer Terrorismus
Lehr, F. P., 2013, Maritime Sicherheit. Bruns, S., Petretto, K. & Petrovic, D. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, p. 115-127 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding ? Chapter