CURRENT PROJECTS
Project | 01
Political Dimensions of China's Debt Trap Policies - Effects and Implications
China's audacious 'One Belt, One Road' initiative has hugely divided the international community with regards to its benign/ malignent intentions. For detractors of the new Chinese foreign policy trajectory, Beijing's usage of debt trap policies have often been cited as a worrisome and a direct challenge to the debtor country's sovereignty. Acknowledging such implications, this project aims to uncover the ramifications and nuances of rising Chinese influence in supranational institutions
Project 02
The Functionality of Joint Military Exercises
Joint military exercises (JMEXs) have often been regarded as a mere tool to increase military operability and bolster interstate relations. During the cold war era, JMEXs were integral in strengthening alliances as well as for posturing and signaling effects. However, the end of the cold war scaled down the need for such exercises and soon JMEXs were regarded as an afterthought and subsumed within the literature pertaining to 'Alliance Formation'. Despite these developments, JMEXs remains highly relevant, if not more, in today's contemporary era. Why is that so? This project aims to answer this question and argues that there is much more beyond this simple facade of conventional JMEXs utility.
Indo-Pacific Region: South Korea and ASEAN's interpretation - Meaning and Implications
The Indo-Pacific region has been recently conceptualised and coined. Similar to divisive task of defining regional geographical demarcations, the international community is at odds with the definition of this new region, given how interests are closely aligned to regions. Given that South Korean President Moon's declaration of a 'Southern Policy' towards the ASEAN bloc - enhancing interactions with the regional entity - how would this new partnership define the Indo-Pacific region and what strategic implications would it bring about?