Abdul Ahad Mohammadi is a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID). His research explores entanglements between militarisation and humanitarianism, the politics of aid, and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) in war-torn countries, with a concentration on the case of Afghanistan. His research on militarised aid seeks to assess the long-term repercussions of militarised development for host societies. Mohammadi’s study of the SDGs considers incompatibility between the technical nature of the SDG’s agenda and the weak nature of public institutions in settings such as Afghanistan.  

Before joining ODID, Mohammadi served in various capacities in national and international organisations and policy-oriented research agencies in Kabul, Afghanistan. Between 2009 and 2011, he was a research assistant at the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) in Kabul. Upon finishing his Master’s degree, he was appointed to lead the Peace Studies Department at the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS). In this capacity, Mohammadi managed a set of research projects aimed towards examining trends of religious radicalisation across various sectors in Afghanistan. During his tenure with AISS, he also oversaw studies on the peace process, constitutional amendments, social policies, and the political system in general.

From 2016 to late 2021, Mohammadi worked as an independent researcher with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), Seefar Enterprise, UNDP, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the Civil Society and Human Rights Organization (CSHRN), among others.

During his more than 12 years of research experience, Mohammadi has published research papers on diverse themes including peace, security, governance, religious radicalism, development, constitutional building, gender, and human rights. He was also a regular contributor to Etilaatroz, a prominent Afghan newspaper.

Abdul Ahad Mohammadi comes from Afghanistan. He holds a BA in Sociology & Philosophy from Kabul University in 2008, and an MA in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India in 2013.