Nathan Paul Southern is an investigative journalist, a PhD Candidate at the University of St. Andrews, and a senior investigator at TePonui, an independent research consultancy. As a non-traditional security specialist, he focuses on the links between organised crime, governance and armed groups. His work explores Chinese organised crime and the BRI, human trafficking, the global war on drugs, environmental crime, and the transnational trade in small arms. His geographical interest stretches through Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Europe, and the dynamic between organised crime and militancy in the Sahel. He has consulted for various think tanks and political risk organisations including GI-TOC, the Brookings Institution and the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). Nathan’s work has appeared in Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, The Diplomat, HuffPost UK, South China Morning Post, the Sydney Morning Herald and many other publications. He has also briefed various government, diplomatic officials and international policing bodies and has acted as a security and organised crime expert for numerous television and documentary series including Vice World News, TRT and PBS.