Associate Professor Sarah Percy
Associate Professor

Sarah Percy

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+61 7 344 31323

Background

Sarah Percy arrived at UQ from the University of Western Australia in 2016. Prior to her appointment at UWA, Sarah was University Lecturer and Tutorial Fellow in International Relations at the University of Oxford (Merton College). At Oxford, Sarah was on the steering committee of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War. Sarah did her M.Phil and D.Phil as a Commonwealth Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford.

Sarah has three main research areas. She has had a long-standing interest in unconventional combatants, and has published widely on mercenaries, private military companies, and pirates. Sarah is interested in issues of maritime security generally, including piracy and counter-piracy, maritime crime, and the role of navies as security actors. She also conducts research at the nexus between international relations and international law, and is interested in how and why the use of force is regulated, and the relationship between norms and international law.

Availability

Associate Professor Sarah Percy is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Human Society International relations Political science

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oxford

Research interests

  • Piracy

  • Maritime security

  • International security

  • Mercenaries

  • Private military and security companies

Research impacts

Sarah's research projects have had considerable impact outside academia. Sarah has presented her research on mercenaries and private military companies at the United Nations; at policy-oriented events at Princeton University and New York University; and at the Royal United Services Institute (London) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London).

Sarah's research on piracy was featured in the production notes for the film "Captain Phillips", directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks. She has presented this research to the Royal Navy and at DFAT's Counter-Piracy Conference. Sarah has also presented on maritime security and strategy to the Royal Australian Navy, and at the RAN's Sea Power Conference in 2014, and to the Federal Court of Australia's Maritime and Admiralty Law group in 2015. Sarah is a non-resident fellow of the Royal Australian Navy's Sea Power Centre.

Sarah is an experienced media commentator. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, USA Today, The Conversation, and The Lowy Interpreter. She has appeared on radio in the United States (National Public Radio) and in Australia (Radio National, multiple programs including Rear Vision and The World Today) and on Sky News.

Search Professor Sarah Percy’s works on UQ eSpace

52 works between 2003 and 2023
All (52) Journal Article (19) Book Chapter (9) Book (5) Other Outputs (19)

21 - 40 of 52 works

2019

Book Chapter

A world transformed: the need for new defence approaches?

Percy, Sarah (2019). A world transformed: the need for new defence approaches?. After American primacy. (pp. 211-217) edited by Peter J. Dean, Stephan Frühling and Brendan Taylor. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Melbourne University Publishing. doi: 10.2307/jj.1744972.19

A world transformed: the need for new defence approaches?

2019

Journal Article

What makes a norm robust: the norm against female combat

Percy, Sarah (2019). What makes a norm robust: the norm against female combat. Journal of Global Security Studies, 4 (1), 123-138. doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogy044

What makes a norm robust: the norm against female combat

2019

Journal Article

Illegal fishing and Australian security

Lindley, Jade, Percy, Sarah and Techera, Erika (2019). Illegal fishing and Australian security. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 73 (1), 82-99. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2018.1548561

Illegal fishing and Australian security

2018

Book Chapter

Maritime security

Percy, Sarah (2018). Maritime security. The Oxford handbook of international security. (pp. 607-621) edited by Alexandra Gheciu and William C. Wohlforth. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198777854.013.40

Maritime security

2017

Book Chapter

International law

Percy, Sarah (2017). International law. An introduction to international relations. (pp. 266-279) Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781316855188.020

International law

2017

Book

An introduction to international relations

Richard Devetak, Jim George and Sarah Percy eds. (2017). An introduction to international relations. 3rd ed. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781316855188

An introduction to international relations

2016

Journal Article

Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: A new form of military cooperation

Percy, Sarah (2016). Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: A new form of military cooperation. Journal of Global Security Studies, 1 (4), 270-284. doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogw018

Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: A new form of military cooperation

2016

Journal Article

Maritime crime and naval response

Percy, Sarah (2016). Maritime crime and naval response. Survival, 58 (3), 155-189. doi: 10.1080/00396338.2016.1186986

Maritime crime and naval response

2016

Book Chapter

Norms and regulation

Percy, Sarah (2016). Norms and regulation. Routledge handbook of private security studies. (pp. 219-227) edited by Rita Abrahamsen and Anna Leander. London, United Kingom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315850986-27

Norms and regulation

2016

Book Chapter

Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: Networks and Military Cooperation

Percy, Sarah (2016). Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: Networks and Military Cooperation. The new power politics: networks and transnational security governance. (pp. 245-267) edited by Deborah Avant and Oliver Westerwinter. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Counter-piracy in the Indian Ocean: Networks and Military Cooperation

2015

Journal Article

Foreign fighters aren’t a new problem, so heed history’s lessons

Percy, Sarah (2015, 06 23). Foreign fighters aren’t a new problem, so heed history’s lessons

Foreign fighters aren’t a new problem, so heed history’s lessons

2015

Journal Article

Illegal fishing: much more than a conservation problem

Percy, Sarah (2015). Illegal fishing: much more than a conservation problem. Lowy Interpreter

Illegal fishing: much more than a conservation problem

2015

Journal Article

Smooth sailing ahead? What counter-piracy can teach multinational military operations about co-operation

Percy, Sarah (2015). Smooth sailing ahead? What counter-piracy can teach multinational military operations about co-operation. Policy Forum

Smooth sailing ahead? What counter-piracy can teach multinational military operations about co-operation

2015

Book

Reordering security: crossing the criminology/IR divide

Ian Loader and Sarah Percy eds. (2015). Reordering security: crossing the criminology/IR divide. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Reordering security: crossing the criminology/IR divide

2014

Book Chapter

The unimplemented norm: anti-mercenary law and the problems of institutionalization

Percy, Sarah (2014). The unimplemented norm: anti-mercenary law and the problems of institutionalization. Implementation and world politics : how international norms change practice. (pp. 68-84) edited by Alexander Betts and Phil Orchard. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

The unimplemented norm: anti-mercenary law and the problems of institutionalization

2013

Journal Article

The business of piracy in Somalia

Percy, Sarah and Shotland, Anja (2013). The business of piracy in Somalia. Journal of Strategic Studies, 36 (4), 541-578. doi: 10.1080/01402390.2012.750242

The business of piracy in Somalia

2013

Journal Article

Counter-piracy in Somalia: help or hindrance

Percy, Sarah and Shortland, Anja (2013). Counter-piracy in Somalia: help or hindrance. Journal of Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 19 (2), 275-283. doi: 10.1515/peps-2013-0005

Counter-piracy in Somalia: help or hindrance

2013

Journal Article

Contemporary maritime piracy: five obstacles to ending Somali piracy

Percy, Sarah and Shortland, Anja (2013). Contemporary maritime piracy: five obstacles to ending Somali piracy. Global Policy, 4 (1), 65-72. doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12043

Contemporary maritime piracy: five obstacles to ending Somali piracy

2013

Journal Article

Mercenaries

Percy, Sarah (2013). Mercenaries. Oxford Bibliographies Online: Military History doi: 10.1093/OBO/9780199791279-0105

Mercenaries

2012

Journal Article

Bringing the ‘outside’ in and the ‘inside’ out: crossing the criminology/IR divide

Percy, Sarah and Loader, Ian (2012). Bringing the ‘outside’ in and the ‘inside’ out: crossing the criminology/IR divide. Global Crime, 13 (4), 213-218. doi: 10.1080/17440572.2012.715402

Bringing the ‘outside’ in and the ‘inside’ out: crossing the criminology/IR divide

Current funding

  • 2021 - 2026
    Women in Combat: The Australian Story
    Army History Research Grants
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Sarah Percy is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Sarah Percy directly for media enquiries about:

  • Maritime security
  • mercenaries
  • Piracy
  • pirates
  • private military companies
  • private security companies
  • Royal Australian Navy
  • women in combat

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au