Ajit Maan, Ph.D., is an internationally-recognized security and defense analyst and narrative strategist. In the 1990s she developed the groundbreaking theory of internarrative identity, a road map for resilient identity created out of personal and cultural conflict. Her work has had far-reaching implications for conflict resolution and community engagement in hostile environments. Dr. Maan’s work is frequently referenced in academic literature and it has been the subject of international as well as multi-disciplinary scholarship including the multi-authored scholarly monograph, Representations of Internarrative Identity. Her work is also used as instructional material within defense and security institutions worldwide.
Dr. Maan’s research and her books, such as Counter-Terrorism: Narrative Strategies, Soft Power on Hard Problems (edited with Amar Cheema), and Narrative Warfare, focus on deconstructing dominant and coercive narratives. Her work demonstrates how certain narrative structures lend themselves to manipulation and how the weaknesses of those structures can be exploited. Her articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, Real Clear Defense, Small Wars Journal, The Strategy Bridge, Intelligence and Defense Norway, Indian Military Review, Indian Defense Review, Homeland Security Today as well as other intelligence and security publications.
As founder and CEO of Narrative Strategies, Dr. Maan leads a coalition of scholars and military professionals who are working to end extremism through narrative analysis and international dialogue. In addition to her work with Narrative Strategies, Dr. Maan shares her research with others through her various roles in academia. She is affiliate faculty with the Center for Narrative Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, which, in collaboration with the U.S. Army’s Irregular Warfare Group, is developing a project designed to amplify the voices of Iraqi and Syrian refugees. She is also a professor of global security at Arizona State University.
