Dr Martin Horton-Eddison

BScEcon(Hons), MA (Dist), PhD, FHEA

Overview

Martin has a PhD in International Relations (Swans), an MA (Distinction) in Strategic Studies (Hull), and a BScEcon (Hons) in Strategy & International Politics (Aberystwyth).

Martin has two distinct research areas:
i) international drug control responses to the strategic challenges posed by illegal drug markets on the so-called 'darknet', ii) military strategy with a particular focus on the development of armoured warfare doctrine and the combined arms approach.

His current research projects reflect these interests. 

Drug Control and the Dark Net:

Martin's work on drug control intersect with theoretical lifecycles of international prohibition regimes (formation, performance, and survival), with considerations for global governance, drug policy, and international institutions. In this capacity, Martin has presented research at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (United Nations), to the UK Home Office, for Public Health Cymru, and leads the Drug Crypto-Market project at the Global Drug Policy Observatory, as well as collaborating with international harm reduction practitioners, INGOs, and a number research projects. He has also authored a number of articles in this areas for Jane's Intelligence Review, and presented at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. 

Military Strategy:

Martin's work on military strategy includes forthcoming articles on the role of armour in the Hundred Days offensive of 1918, a review of the continued salience of the Main Battle Tank in positionally static warfare, and a forensic research monograph (book) that presents new research on combined arms in the Great War. He is also currently external examiner for the MA Defence Studies at King's College London. 

His teaching at Cardiff is research-led, and currently includes final year Undergraduate modules:

1. 'Governing Global Public Health: Pandemics and Epidemics'. This module critically compares international regimes, institutions, theories and responses to disease pandemics with normatively constructed 'epidemics'.
2.  'Strategy in Theory and Practice'.  This module teaches strategic theory from Clausewitz and others to comprehend geostrategic and military strategy at the theoretical level, illuminated by more than a century of case studies in practice. 
3. Undergraduate, Master's dissertation supervision in areas related to above. 
4. PhD Supervision

Research Outputs: 

Horton-Eddison, M, Shortis, P., Aldridge, J., &. Caudevilla, P., Drug Cryptomarkets in the 2020s: Policy, Enforcement, Harm, and Resilience, Global Drug Policy Observatory Policy Brief 16, June 2021

Horton-Eddison, M., Seoul Searching: South Korea’s AI Counter-CryptoMarket Capability and Associated Privacy Dilemmas, Working Paper No.6, April 2020

Horton-Eddison, M, Takedowns Highlight Co-operation in Darkweb Counter-Drug Operations, Janes Intelligence Review, Vol.37, August 2019

Horton-Eddison, M., Market Forces: Responses to Fentanyl Crises Reflects Evolution in Dark Web Policing, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 31. No. 2, February, 2019

Horton-Eddison, M., US Stop Law Aims to Tackle Postal Deliveries from the Dark Web, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 30. No. 12, December, 2018

Crypto-Drug Markets Section, Principle Author (DarkNet), Taking stock: A decade of drug policy – A UN civil society shadow report, International Drug Policy Consortium, October, 2018 

Horton-Eddison, M. & Di Cristofaro, M., Hard Interventions and Innovation in Crypto-Drug Markets: The escrow example, GDPO Policy Brief 11, GDPO, Swansea. August, 2017

Horton-Eddison, M., Updating Escrow: Demystifying the CDM multisig process, GDPO Situation Analysis, GDPO, Swansea. June, 2017

Di Cristofaro, M. & Horton-Eddison, M., Corpus Linguistics Methodology on the Silk Road(s): The Escrow Example, GDPO Situation Analysis, GDPO, Swansea. June, 2017

Horton-Eddison, M. & Whittaker, J., UK General Election 2017: Where do the parties stand on drug policy?, GDPO Situation Analysis, GDPO, Swansea. June, 2017

Presentations and Engagement:

Podcast Guest, TotallyTanked, Ep.61, 10th August, 2024

Expert Speaker, Thematic Intersessional on The Criminal Misuse of Information and Communications Technologies for Illicit Drug-related Activities, Commission for Narcotic Drugs, October 2021

Lead speaker and organiser Drug Crypto Markets Beyond 2020: Policy, Enforcement, Harm, and Resilience, Sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, March 2020

Civil Society Task Force selected expert speaker at the 62nd Commission on Narcotic Drugs fourth intersessional meeting at the UN in Vienna, October 2018.  Statement entitled: Evolving Reality: The Strategic Shift in Crypto-Drug Market Enforcement

Presentation of research to Home Office delegation (SOC Law Enforcement, Prevent and Partnerships Unit), December, 2017

Horton-Eddison, M., Crypto-Drug Markets 2.0: What closing Alphabay & Hansa Market might mean for the evolution of dark net drug markets, Conference paper presentation, Cyber Network Conference 2017. September, 2017

Horton-Eddison, M., Trust in Crypto Markets: Hard Interventions and Innovations. Paper presented at Roundtable on Cyber-Trust in Crypto-Drug Markets: Implications for Policy and Policing, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (iiss.org), London. February, 2017 (Audience of policy makers, practitioners, and academics)