Shanthie Mariet D’Souza is the founder and president of Mantraya, an independent research forum. She is also a member of the Research and Advisory Committee at Naval War College, Goa; a teacher in defense and strategic studies; board director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo; editorial board member of Small Wars & Insurgencies; and an expert and contributor for the Middle East-Asia project at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC. She has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Africa, Jammu and Kashmir, and northeastern India. D’Souza has edited books titled “Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia” and “Afghanistan in Transition: Beyond 2014?” She also coedited “Perspectives on South Asian Security” and “Saving Afghanistan.”