Dr Alan Craig

Dr Alan Craig is the Pears Lecturer in Israel and Middle East Studies

He is  interested in the relationship between International Relations and International Law and the mechanisms by which differing understandings of international law impact on state legitimacy in the Middle East.

His research focuses on the dynamic relationship between Israel’s construction of international humanitarian law (IHL), the conduct of its military operations and Israel’s state legitimacy. Case studies include targeted assassinations, the Second Lebanon War, Cast Lead in Gaza and the Gaza flotillas. He also researches the prosecution of war crimes through the International Criminal Court and under the Universal Jurisdiction whereby domestic courts prosecute war crimes of foreign nationals committed abroad.

His teaching includes courses on Israeli politics and the politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Key Publications

Book

• Craig, A. International Legitimacy and the Politics of Security The Strategic Deployment of Lawyers in the Israeli Military (Lanham, MD.: Lexington Books, 2013)

Papers

• Craig, A. and Jones, C, ‘Discovery of Israel’s Gas Fields and their geopolitical Implications’, Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, July 2013.

Journal Articles

• Craig, A. ‘Lebanon 2006 and the Front of Legitimacy’, Israel affairs, Volume 15, Issue 4, 2009, pp. 427-444.

• Craig, A. ‘The UN Vote on Statehood: What it means for Israel and Palestine’, Near East Quarterly. August 2011.

Chapters in Books

• Craig, A. ‘Lebanon 2006 and the Front of Legitimacy’, in Efraim Karsh, Rory Miller and Michael Kerr, Conflict, Diplomacy and Society in Israel-Lebanese Relations, (London: Routledge, 2010), pp. 109-127.
• Craig, A. ‘Israel’s Arab Spring’, in Larbi Sadiki, Routledge Handbook of Middle East Democratisation (London: Routledge, 2015), pp.538-546.