Inter-Asian Dynamics Research Network
Promoting policy and public discussion on the effect of the pandemic in Afghanistan.
The Sussex Asia Centre has been collaborating with the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies in Herat and Kabul in promoting policy and public discussion on the effect of the pandemic in Afghanistan.
Links:
- https://www.aiss.af/ (Kabul)
- https://m.facebook.com/HeratAssembly/ (Herat)
Covid-19, International Trade and Global China: Reflections from Yiwu
Magnus Marsden has posted a blog exploring the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for the TRODITIES and exploring the ways in which fieldwork might remain possible in the context of public health measures that are being introduced globally.
Read the blog: Covid-19, International Trade and Global China: Reflections from Yiwu
Economics and Development of Afghanistan
In collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation and Chatham House, the Sussex Asia Centre hosted Dr Mustafa Mastoor, Minister of Economy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the Aga Khan Centre in London on 14th October 2019. Participants in the roundtable discussed Afghanistan's economy, the country's Presidential elections and ongoing peace negotiations with the Taliban.
Workshop on Qualitative Research Methods
Magnus Marsden delivered a day long workshop on Qualitative Research Methods to students and lectures in Herat, Western Afghanistan. The event was organised by the Herat Office of the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies and held on August 1st, 2019.
Asia Dynamics Initiative Annual Conference
Scholars from NUS' Middle East Institute (Serkan Yolacan and Nisha Matthew) joined Sussex Asia Centre researchers (Magnus Marsden and Marina Marouda) at a jointly organised panel at the University of Copenhagen's annual Asia Dynamics Initiative conference on June 19th 2019. The panel was entitled "In Motion: Discovering and Analysing Inter-Asian Millieu".
Further details:
https://asiandynamics.ku.dk/english/adi-conference-2019/
Common Ground? Inter-Asian Approaches to Aid
In April 2019, Meike Fechter travelled to Singapore to set up a possible research collaboration with Elaine Ho (ARI/FASS) with a focus on ‘Common Ground? Inter-Asian Approaches to Aid’. The aim of this initiative is to establish a research network in the first instance, to shed light on forms of Inter-Asian collaboration which have remained under the radar of current research in aid and development. The image on the right is an example of such private aid, in this case aimed at Shan refugees in Northern Thailand. The image shows a visit by a Thai citizen donating school uniforms and shoes to young people living in a long-term informal Shan refugee camp on the Thai border. While in Singapore, Meike also gave a talk on her recent work, on ‘Transnationalising the ‘Moral Neoliberal’: Private Aid Initiatives in Cambodia’, as part of the Migration Research Cluster (poster, below left). Links between Sussex and ARI are also strengthened by Sussex Migration PhD graduate, Wen-Ching Ting, who currently holds a post-doc position at ARI (image below right, showing Meike, our collaborator, Elaine Ho, at ARI, and Wen-Ching Ting, a former Sussex PhD student who now works on a research project on Ageing, Migration and Care with Elaine Ho.)
Afghan Trading Networks, Geopolitics and Everyday Diplomacy
The Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore published in its Insights series an article by Magnus Marsden entitled 'Afghan Trading Networks, Geopolitics and Everyday Diplomacy: Transcending West Asia’s Northern and Southern Tiers'
Further details:
The article was also published in English and in Farsi by the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies:
The Night of Herat - Celebrating the Pearl of Khorasan
Sussex Asia Centre in collaboration with its partner the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies and the SOAS South Asia Institute held the Night of Heart event at SOAS on Sunday 17th March. The Night of Herat event followed on from the Sussex Afghanistan Forum – an event involving policy makers and academics specialising in Afghanistan. It sought to bring attention to Afghanistan historic and cultural diversity through focused attention on one of the country’s historic cities - Herat. Herat has for long been of regional and global importance in commercial, cultural, intellectual and political dynamics. Herat was a critically important commercial node in the trade between Asia and Europe, commonly referred to as constituting ‘the Silk Roads’. Over the course of the evening, speakers addressed the history of Herat in relationship to Asian history, the role played by the city in influencing the development of globally significant artistic forms - including poetry, painting, music and viniculture. Renowned ethnomusicologists – John Bailey and Veronica Doubleday – capped off the event with a performance of Herati music. The gathering – attended by over 150 members of the public – also enjoyed a taste of Afghan and Herati cuisine.
Download the booklet: The Night of Herat - Celebrating the Pearl of Khorasan [PDF 973.10KB]
Sussex Afghanistan Forum
Sussex Asia Centre in collaboration with its partner the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies held theinaugural Sussex Afghanistan Forum on 13th March at the University of Sussex. The Forum brought together policy makers and academics specialising in Afghanistan, and engaged with some of the pressing concerns facing the country today. After initial opening remarks by Professor Adam Tickell and Professor Magnus Marsden, a keynote address was given by Dr Dadfar Rangin Spanta Afghanistan’s former Foreign Minister and National Security Advisor. Dr Spanta underscored the serious issues facing Afghan politics and society at the current moment, but expressed hope that its medium-term future had the potential of being considerably brighter. Thereafter panels focused on a variety of themes – including state-building and education, UK-Afghanistan relations past and present, the economy, science and regional connectivity, and the implications of the peace process, especially for Afghan women. Speakers included diplomats and government officials, the directors of leading Think Tanks in Afghanistan, and leading academics focusing on Afghanistan Studies.
TV interviews with some of the panellists
Whither West Asia
The Inter- Asian Research Dynamics network has published a Special Issue of the Journal of Eurasian Studies entitled "Whither West Asia". The issue includes publications from Sussex Asia Centre scholars and our research partners in Cambridge, Switzerland, Ukraine, Turkey, and Singapore. The Special Issue is open access and available to all:
A visit to the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore
As part of the Inter-Asian Dynamics Research Network, Dr Alice Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex, visited the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, in January 2019. Alice’s research examines the social legacies of defeated revolution in Dhufar, southern Oman, in the context of ethnic diversity and national projects for social change.
Sussex Afghanistan Forum
Upcoming event
University of Sussex, UK
13 March 2019
Further details: Sussex Afghanistan Forum [PDF 303.08KB]
Afghanistan's Ambassador visits the University of Sussex
Afghanistan's Ambassador to the UK and Northern Ireland addressed the Sussex Asia Centre in the School of Global Studies on 26th November 2018.
Kabul to Kolkata
The inter-Asia dynamics network is delighted to announce its role in supporting a photographic exhibition curated by Moska Najib and Nazes Afroz entitled "Kabul to Kolkata". The exhibition relates to one of the network's key themes: the role played by commercial actors in connecting multiple Asian settings. The photographs will be on display at SOAS' Brunei Gallery between 15th 0ctober and 15th December. A number of panels relating to the ideas underpinning the exhibition will also be staged throughout the duration of the exhibition.
For more information see: https://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/kabul-to-kolkata/
Afghanistan, Asia and the new Silk Road
On Monday 17 September 2018 the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held a round table jointly organised with the Sussex Asia entitled: “Afghanistan, Asia and the new Silk Road: Perspectives from the Ground”. Academics, economic experts, civil society members and media representatives attended the event. The event explored the ways in which traders from Afghanistan have played a critical role in connecting the country to other parts of Asia over the past decades, often in the most difficult of circumstances. By focusing on the activities of traders, speakers developed the idea that infrastructures are not only built structures but also often human, and that trading networks are an especially clear example of a human infrastructure than channels the movement of people, ideas, and commodities. The speakers included H.E Dr. Mustafa Mastoor, Minister of Economy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Professor Magnus Marsden the Chief Academic Adviser at the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) and Director of the Sussex Asia Centre, University of Sussex, and Mr. Azrakhsh Hafizi, president of ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industries and economic affairs analyst.
A northern Tier in West Asia?
A delegation of scholars from Sussex Asia Centre and the Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies attended a conference entitled 'A northern Tier in West Asia?' organised by the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore on 5th July, 2018. The delegation included Magnus Marsden, Junlong Jia, Tang Man (all from Sussex Asia Centre) and Davood Moradian (Director General, Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies). Magnus Marsden's talk was entitled 'Muslim Networks and Circulations in West Asia'. Junlong Jia addressed the conference on the theme of 'Networks and Conviviality amongst Iranians in Istanbul'. Davood Moradian spoke to conference delagates about 'Shattering myths of Afghanistan'.
Conference webpage:
A Northern Tier in West Asia? – States, Networks, and Informal Diplomacy
Welcome to Ezgi Turhaner, Hesna Aksoy and Enes Sari
Sussex Asia Centre is delighted to welcome Ezgi Turhaner, Hesna Aksoy, and Enes Sari from our partner institution, Koç University Asia Centre (KUASIA). Joining Sussex Asia as part of the International Junior Research Associate (IJRA) scheme, Ezgi, Hesna and Enes will be based at Sussex for the next eight weeks. In addition to working on projects relating to the ERC funded "Trust, Traders and Commodities in a Chinese International City research project", they'll also be attending a series of research training events, and visit team members from the project at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies/Al Waleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge.
Religion in the Age of Development
Filippo Osella delivered a paper entitled "From Religious Giving to Corporate Social Responsibility: Charity, Philanthropy and Development in South Asia" on 7th June at the "Religion in the Age of Development" conference organized by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, with support from the Henry Luce Foundation for the project on "Religion and NGOs in Asia''.
Conference webpage: Religion in the Age of Development
Wellbeing and Migration
The Inter-Asian Dynamics network held its launch event at the Koc University Asia Centre (KUASIA) in Istanbul on May7th and 8th 2018. Representatives from all the network's institutional partners attended the event. Additionally, scholars from Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Jordan presented the findings of their research. The theme of the conference was Migration and Well-Being: Inter-Asian Perspectives. In addition to academics, the Director of the International Relations Department of Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health, Dr Wahid Majrooh, also addressed conference delegates.
Wellbeing and Migration: Inter-Asian Perspectives
Launch Conference: Inter-Asian Dynamics Research Network
May 7-8 2018
More information
Download the poster:
Wellbeing and Migration: Inter-Asian Perspectives. Poster [PDF 396.17KB]
Conference programme:
Wellbeing and Migration: Inter-Asian Perspectives. Conference programme [PDF 273.69KB]
Researchers Release Chabahar Port Analysis
Network partner launches major report on the Iranian port of Chabahar as a site of trade between Central, South and West Asia.
Read more: Researchers Release Chabahar Port Analysis
Koç University post-doctoral fellowship
Koç University Center for Asian Studies (KUASIA) : post-doctoral fellowship available in Asian Studies.
Further details: KUASIA post-doctoral fellowship [PDF 349.46KB]
Preparations for a forthcoming joint Sussex-Koc workshop
Dr Diana Ibaňez Tirado visited Koç University Asia Centre (KUASIA) in the week of 23rd October. During her stay Diana liaised with KUASIA Director, Prof Akçapar. Along with Umut Kuruuzum (LSE/ Koç) they began making preparations for the forthcoming joint Sussex-Koc workshop, Migration and Well Being: Inter-Asian Perspectives. The workshop will take place at Koç University on May 7th and 8th, 2018, and will be attended by participating scholars in the Inter-Asia research network.
Magnus Marsden addresses the Herat Security Dialogue 6
Professor Magnus Marsden addressed the Herat Security Dialogue 6. The dialogue is organised by a partner institution of the Inter-Asia network: Afghanistan Institute of Strategic Studies, and held each year in the historic city of Herat. The theme of this year's conference was the nation-state.
Further details: Security Dialogue website