Alonso’s work focuses on the history of international legal politics, with a particular emphasis on the role of the Global South in the regulation of war and political violence.

His latest book, Conflicto Armado en el Perú: La Época del Terrorismo bajo el Derecho Internacional (University of the Pacific Press, 2019) addresses the role of international humanitarian law in post-conflict political discourses in Peru.

Alonso received his Ph.D. from University College London and holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University. He has previously worked as a Departmental Lecturer in International Relations at Oxford University and Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan.

He frequently comments on the laws of war and use of force as well as on issues of Latin American international politics and security. He is a contributing editor for the international law blog Opinio Juris and a member of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force.

Research interests

• Laws of War
• History of International Legal Politics
• Latin American Security and International Politics
• Postcolonial Approaches to International Relations
• International Law

Publications

Books

Conflicto Armado en el Perú: La Época del Terrorismo bajo el Derecho Internacional, (University of the Pacific, 2019)

Book Chapters

'The Inter-American System,’ in Kai Ambos & José Martínez (eds), Göttingen Handbook for Latin American Law (Nomos, forthcoming 2022)

Research Articles

‘Des-Encanto: Latin America and International Humanitarian Law’, Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 24 (2022), pp. 3-31

‘It’s a Trap! Re-Thinking Samuel Moyn’s Humane Beyond the North Atlantic’, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies 12:2 (2021)

‘A Legal History of Consent and Intervention in Civil Wars in Latin America’ (2020) 7 Journal on the Use of Force and International Law 7 (2020), pp. 102-121

‘There and Back Again: The Inter-American Human Rights System’s Approach to International Humanitarian Law’ The Military Law and the Law of War Review 56:2 (2018), pp. 1-24

'Si Vis Pacem: La Aplicación del Derecho Internacional Humanitario en el Ordenamiento Jurídico Peruano' (2018) 7 Latin American Journal of International Law 7 (2018), pp. 99-130

'Forewarned War: The Targeting of Civilian Aircraft in South America and the Inter-American Human Rights System', University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 48:2 (2016)

'Their Way of Punishing: Corporal Punishment by Indigenous Peoples and the Prohibition of Torture', Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights 33:4 (2015)

Media Articles

 

Peru Riots: Unrest in Southern Andes lays bare an Urgent Need to Decolonise (2023) The Conversation

What Just Happened in Peru? Understanding Vizcarra’s Sudden Impeachment (2020) Americas Quarterly

 

Media Appearances

Famílias de Brasileiros Mortos na Ucrânia têm Direito a R$ 2 mi, diz lei (2023) UOL, Brazil

Putin Allies Must Decide Whether to Host a Wanted Man (2023) New York Times

What is Fuelling Public Anger in Peru? (2023) Inside Story, Al Jazeera

Peru’s Embattled President Could Have Eased the Crisis. What Happened? (2023) CNN

Crise No Peru Aumenta Pressão por Nova Constituinte (2020) Estadão, Brazil

 

Peru Ouster Throws Nation’s Anti-Corruption Drive into Doubt (2020) Associated Press

Teaching

Alonso provides lectures and/or seminar teaching in the following modules:

• Theories, Concepts and Methods in International Relations
• The Global Governance of Conflict and Security: Theories and Methods
• Foreign Policy Analysis in the Age of Great Power Politics
• International Relations and Contemporary War
• The Long View: Understanding International Relations through History
• Security and International Relations in Latin America