Malcolm Hugh Patterson graduated from the University of New South Wales with degrees in history, international relations and two law degrees. He holds an inter-disciplinary PhD  from the University of Cambridge and is admitted to practice law in the NSW courts. He is the author of Privatising Peace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009); and joint editor of Contractors and War (Stanford University Press, 2012). Dr Patterson teaches public international law on a sessional basis at Macquarie University Law School in Sydney.