Legal Consulting & Expert Evidence
I work with legal teams on cases involving individuals accused of terrorism-related offences, particularly where the charges relate to association with militant Islamist groups, training camps, or armed organisations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the wider region. Much of this work involves people whose cases require someone who understands the actual structures, allegiances, and histories on the ground — not just the headlines.
This ranges from initial consultations to help legal teams understand the landscape they are dealing with, through to identifying and connecting with relevant sources, to formal written expert reports designed to meet court standards. Reports draw on deep local knowledge, long-standing source networks, and where possible direct engagement with primary sources and original documentation.
I also provide broader country conditions assessments, cultural and credibility assessments, and contextual analysis for immigration and asylum proceedings.
Jurisdictions have included UK asylum tribunals, US federal courts, and European proceedings. For expert witness instructions, please include case jurisdiction, relevant questions, and timeline.
Research & Analysis
I design, manage, and deliver research across a range of countries and contexts — including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Jordan, and Somalia. The focus is typically on political dynamics, armed groups, governance, and security, but the underlying skill set — structured inquiry in volatile, low-information environments — applies more broadly.
I am available to consult on research projects at any stage: scoping and design, methodology, team management, fieldwork logistics, and implementation. I have particular experience designing research for conflict zones and other high-risk settings where standard approaches do not work and where getting the method wrong carries real consequences.
Previous clients include European foreign ministries, the UN, international NGOs, and academic institutions.
Advisory & Briefings
I advise on a wide range of problems where understanding complex, opaque, or unfamiliar environments matters — whether that involves armed group behaviour, political dynamics in fragile states, cross-cultural negotiation, organisational decision-making under uncertainty, or operational planning in difficult settings. The value I add comes from years of working at the intersection of these issues, not from narrow specialism in any one of them.
Previous engagements include advising the German government, briefing the US Senate and the UN Sanctions Committee, and presentations at Harvard, Princeton, Chatham House, Brookings, the US War College, and the British Defence Academy.
Speaking & Seminars
Available for keynotes, seminars, workshops, and panel discussions. Topics include armed group governance, militant Islamist movements, conflict research methodology, cross-cultural fieldwork, Afghanistan and regional security, and lessons from long-term engagement in high-risk environments. Academic, policy, corporate, and military audiences.
I am not available for media appearances or for quotes in news articles.
To discuss a project or engagement: kuehn_contact [at] mm.st