Professor Lee Jones, BA (Warwick), MPhil, DPhil (Oxford)

Profile

Lee Jones has worked at QMUL since 2009, when he moved from the University of Oxford. Lee specialises in political economy and international relations, focusing on the politics of intervention, security, and governance, with a particular interest in social conflict and the transformation of states. Much of his work focuses on Southeast Asia and China. Lee regularly advises the British and other governments and civil society organisations and has often appeared in the national and international media. A fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he also sits on the board of Palgrave’s series Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy, and the ESRC’s peer review college. For further information see www.leejones.tk.

Office hour joining link 

Teaching

Currently, I teach the second-year IR theory core course, and two final-year elective modules (see below). My past teaching has covered Introduction to International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Political Analysis (all Year 1), and the final-year Dissertation module, as well as Political Analysis at MA level. Details of these courses can be found on the School of Politics and International Relations webpage.

At Oxford, I taught courses on Post-Cold War International Relations, IR in the Cold War, IR in the Era of Two World Wars, and the IR of Southeast Asia, among others. While at Oxford I was heavily involved in  developing better support for graduate student teachers and produced a webpage of resources for their benefit,  which is archived here. Following the completion of my teaching portfolio - ‘Mind the Gap: Using Formative Assessment to Narrow  Perception Gaps in Tutorial Teaching’ - I was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2008.

Undergraduate Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

POL251 International Relations Theory

POL381 The Politics of Southeast Asia

POL307 Politics at the End of the “End of History”

Research

Research Interests:

My research approaches core questions in politics and international relations from a “social conflict” perspective, rooted in Gramscian traditions of critical political economy. This approach explains political outcomes with reference to struggles over power and resources between socio-political forces. I have used it to answer a wide array of questions, including:

• Why and when do states practice non-interference or intervention?
• Why do international interventions, like state-building and economic sanctions, so often fail?
• Why does political life change so little, even when a country democratises?
• Why does regional governance look and operate the way it does?
• How are states managing transboundary problems, like security threats, and with what results?
• What is the impact of new “rising powers” in international relations?

Through long-term collaboration with Shahar Hameiri, I have developed a novel theoretical framework for addressing many of these questions, usually referred to as the “state transformation approach”. This draws analytical attention to the way social forces struggle to reconfigure states to advance their interests and obstruct their enemies. This can involve the fragmentation, decentralisation and internationalisation of state apparatuses, the networking of domestic institutions across state borders, and the relocation of political decision-making to spaces beyond the state.

Empirically, my work focuses predominantly on Southeast Asia and China, though my work on sanctions has also involved studies of Iraq, South Africa and Israel/ Palestine. More recently, in the context of Brexit, I have become increasingly interested in how state transformation and its contestation operate in Europe. I am also interested more generally in the breakdown of the neoliberal order and the return of strong political contestation in the West, after many years of sclerosis.

My first book, ASEAN, Sovereignty and Intervention in Southeast Asia, based on ESRC-funded research, investigated the interventions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia, East Timor and Burma from the 1960s onwards. Attacking the overwhelming scholarly and journalistic consensus on ASEAN as a group of states that never interferes in any other states' internal affairs, I argue that ASEAN has indeed intervened, both within ASEAN and without, often very seriously and with sometimes devastating consequences.

My second book, Governing Borderless Threats, co-authored with my long-term collaborator Shahar Hameiri, investigates how non-traditional security issues are governed. Drawing on state theory, political economy and political geography, it builds a new analytical framework – the State Transformation Approach – that draws attention to efforts to transform domestic state apparatuses managing particular security issues, networking them across state borders and encouraging them to impose international discipline on other parts of their state and society. This state transformation process is, we show, profoundly shaped by social conflict rooted in the political economy of specific issue areas. We present case studies of environmental degradation, pandemic disease and transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific. Many scholarly articles also arose from this Australian Research Council-funded project.

My third book, Societies Under Siege: Exploring How International Economic Sanctions (Do Not) Work, does exactly what the title suggests. Moving past the debate on whether sanctions work, it explores how they work, or fail to work. Via a new framework, Social Conflict Analysis, it suggests that sanctions condition the power, resources and strategies of societal groups in target states, thereby conditioning processes of socio-political conflict and the transformation (or otherwise) of states and regimes. Tracing this societal “transmission belt” helps reveal the reasons why most sanctions regimes fail. Case studies include South Africa, Iraq and Myanmar. This research was funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council. For more details click here.

In 2019, I co-edited the fourth edition of The Political Economy of Southeast Asia: Politics and Markets under Hyperglobalisation, which uses the Murdoch School of political economy to explain and explore matters like economic and political development, democracy and populism, state transformation and regional governance, gender and migration, and environmental degradation.

My current research, with Shahar Hameiri, explores how state transformation – the fragmentation, decentralisation and internationalisation of state apparatuses – are shaping China’s rise in its near abroad. Against mainstream IR approaches that depict China as a classically “Westphalian” state pursuing a coherent “grand strategy”, our ARC-funded research has involved investigating how state transformation is generating fragmented, incoherent and sometimes contradictory policy outputs, with serious consequences for China’s foreign and security policies and their effects overseas. A “prospectus” article appeared in the European Journal of International Relations in 2016, followed by several other articles. We are now completing a book manuscript.

Examples of research funding:

Total of £880,708 in external research income since 2009, comprising:

£101,743 from the British Academy for an Innovation Fellowship at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (March 2022)

€195,454 (c.£171,570) from the European Commission for a Marie Curie Skłodowska Fellowship on the Security-Religion-Nationalism Nexus in Southeast Asia, with Dr Michael Magcamit

AU$284,000 (c.£177,740) from the Australian Research Council for a project on Rising Powers and State Transformation, with Dr Shahar Hameiri (January 2017)

£4,998 from the Independent Social Research Foundation plus £4,000 from the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR), QMUL, for a project on The Political Economy of State Transformation and Transnational Governance in Asia (November 2016)

£70,500 from the British Academy Newton Fund for a project on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with Dr Cheng-Chwee Kuik (February 2016)

£6,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to provide a training course on Myanmar and Bangladesh (January 2016)

US$26,000 (c.£17,600) from the National University of Singapore/ Stanford University for the Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Fellowship on Southeast Asia (Spring 2015)

£3,000 from the Association of Southeast Asian Studies UK for The Governance of Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific (4/2011)

£127,557 from the ESRC for a project on international economic sanctions (12/2010)

AU$305,000 (c.£192,000; with Shahar Hameiri) from the Australian Research Council for The Governance of Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific (11/2010)

£4,000 from the Westfield Trust for The Governance of Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific (4/2010)

Publications

Monographs

Fractured China: How State Transformation is shaping China's Rise, with Shahar Hameiri (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, in press, 2021)

Debunking the Myth of “Debt Trap Diplomacy”: How Recipient Countries Shape China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with Shahar Hameiri (London: Chatham House, 2020)

Societies Under Siege: Exploring How International Economic Sanctions (Do Not) Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015; paperback edition, 2017)

Governing Borderless Threats: Non-Traditional Security and the Politics of State Transformation, with Shahar Hameiri (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015; paperback edition 2017)

ASEAN, Sovereignty and Intervention in Southeast Asia (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; paperback edition 2016) 

Edited Volumes

The Political Economy of Southeast Asia: Politics and Uneven Development under Hyperglobalisation, 4th edition, co-edited with Toby Carroll and Shahar Hameiri (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)

2. Rising Powers and State Transformation, Third World Quarterly 40:8 (2019), 1397-1589: special issue, co-edited with Shahar Hameiri and John Heathershaw

Reprinted as Hameiri, S. et al. (eds.) Rising Powers and State Transformation (Abingdon: Routledge, 2020)

3. Political Economy, State Transformation and the New Security Agenda, International Politics 57:4 (2015), 371-501: special issue, co-edited with Shahar Hameiri

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

‘COVID-19 and the Failure of the Neoliberal Regulatory State’ (with Shahar Hameiri), Review of International Political Economy, early online 1 March 2021; https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2021.1892798

‘Explaining Myanmar’s Response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative: From Disengagement to Embrace’ (with Khin Ma Ma Myo), Asian Perspective 45:2 (2021), 301-324

‘Evaluating the Success of International Sanctions: A New Research Agenda’ (with Clara Portela), Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals 125 (2020): 39-60

‘Does China’s Belt and Road Initiative Challenge the Liberal, Rules-Based International Order?’, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences 13:1 (2020), 113-133

‘China’s Responses to Threats to its Overseas Economic Interests: Softening Non-Interference and Cultivating Hegemony’ (with Yizheng Zou), Journal of Contemporary China 29:121 (2019): 92-108

‘Reframing the Rising Powers Debate: State Transformation and Foreign Policy’ (with Shahar Hameiri and John Heathershaw), Third World Quarterly 40:8 (2019): 1397-1414

‘Understanding China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”: Beyond “Grand Strategy” to a State Transformation Analysis’ (with Jinghan Zeng), Third World Quarterly 40:8 (2019): 1415-1439

‘Theorizing Foreign and Security Policy in an Era of State Transformation: A New Framework and Case Study of China’, Journal of Global Security Studies 4:4 (2019): 579-97

‘The Development-Insecurity Nexus in China’s Near-Abroad: Rethinking Cross-border Economic Integration in an Era of State Transformation’ (with Shahar Hameiri and Yizheng Zou), Journal of Contemporary Asia 49:3 (2019): 473-499

‘Security Governance and the Politics of State Transformation: Moving from Description to Explanation’ (with Shahar Hameiri and Adam Sandor), Journal of Global Security Studies 3:4 (2018): 463-482

‘China Challenges Global Governance? The Case of Chinese International Development Finance and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’ (with Shahar Hameiri), International Affairs 94:3 (2018): 573-93

‘Rethinking the Role of State-owned Enterprises in China’s Rise’ (with Yizheng Zou), New Political Economy 22:6 (2017): 743-760

‘Beyond Hybridity to the Politics of Scale: International Intervention and “Local” Politics’ (with Shahar Hameiri), Development and Change 48:1 (2017): 54-77

‘Global Governance as State Transformation’ (with Shahar Hameiri), Political Studies 64:4 (2016): 793-810

‘Explaining the Failure of the ASEAN Economic Community: The Primacy of Domestic Political Economy’, Pacific Review 29:5 (2016): 647-70

‘Rising Powers and State Transformation: The Case of China’ (with Shahar Hameiri), European Journal of International Relations 22:1 (2016): 72-98.

‘Probing the Links Between Political Economy and Non-Traditional Security: Themes, Approaches and Instruments’ (with Shahar Hameiri), International Politics 57:4 (2015), 371-388

‘Non-Traditional Security, Political Economy and State Transformation: The Case of Avian Influenza in Indonesia’ (with Shahar Hameiri), International Politics 57:4 (2015), 445-465

‘Regulatory Regionalism and Anti-Money Laundering Governance in Asia’ (with Shahar Hameiri), Australian Journal of International Affairs 69:2 (2015), 144-163

‘Explaining Myanmar’s Regime Transition: The Periphery is Central’, Democratization 21:5 (2014), 780-802

‘The Political Economy of Myanmar’s Transition’, Journal of Contemporary Asia 44:1 (2014), 144-170

‘Sovereignty, Intervention, and Social Order in Revolutionary Times’, Review of International Studies 39:5 (2013), 1149-1167

‘The Politics and Governance of Non-Traditional Security’ (with Shahar Hameiri), International Studies Quarterly 57:3 (2013), 462-473

‘Beyond Securitisation: Explaining the Scope of Security Policy in Southeast Asia’, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 11:3 (2011), 403-432

‘ASEAN’s Unchanged Melody? The Theory and Practice of Non-Interference in Southeast Asia’, Pacific Review 23:3 (2010), 479-502

‘(Post-)Colonial Statebuilding and State Failure in East Timor: Bringing Social Conflict Back In’, Conflict, Security and Development 10:4 (2010), 547-575

‘Still in the “Driver’s Seat”, But for How Long? ASEAN’s Capacity for Leadership in East-Asian International Relations’, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 29:3 (2010), 95-113

‘International Relations Scholarship and the Tyranny of Policy Relevance’, Journal of Critical Globalization Studies 1:1 (2009), 125-131

‘Democratisation and Foreign Policy: The Case of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs 27:3 (2009), 387-406

‘“The Others”: Gender and Conscientious Objection in the First World War’, Nordic Review of Masculinity Studies 3:2 (2008), 99-113

‘ASEAN’s Albatross: ASEAN’s Burma Policy, from Constructive Engagement to Critical Disengagement’, Asian Security 4:3 (2008), 271-93

‘ASEAN Intervention in Cambodia: From Cold War to Conditionality’, Pacific Review 20:4 (2007), 523-50

Book Chapters

‘Globalisation, State Transformation and Global Governance’ (with Shahar Hameiri), in Wil Hout and Jane Hutchison (eds.) Elgar Handbook on Globalisation and Governance (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2021).

‘Security Order and State Transformation in Asia: Beyond Geopolitics and Grand Strategy’, in Felix Heiduk (ed.) Asian Geopolitics and the US-China Rivalry (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022), 65-80

‘Understanding Chinese Corporations: Beyond “China Inc.”’, in Nick Buxton (ed.) State of Power 2020: The Corporation (Amsterdam: TNI, 2020), 21-32

‘非传统安全的政治与治理’ [The Politics and Governance of Non-Traditional Security] (with Shahar Hameiri), in Yu Xiaofeng (ed.) Theoretical Frontiers of Non-traditional Security Studies (Zhejiang University Press, 2020), 125-152 [translation of 2013 International Studies Quarterly article]

‘Theorising Political Economy in Southeast Asia’ (with Shahar Hameiri), in Toby Carroll, Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones (eds.) The Political Economy of Southeast Asia: Politics and Uneven Development under Hyperglobalisation, 4th edition (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2020)

‘Southeast Asian Regional Governance: Political Economy, Regulatory Regionalism and ASEAN Integration’ (with Shahar Hameiri), in Toby Carroll, Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones (eds.) The Political Economy of Southeast Asia: Politics and Uneven Development under Hyperglobalisation, 4th edition (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2020)

‘Sanctioning Apartheid: Comparing the South African and Palestinian Campaigns for Boycotts, Disinvestment, and Sanctions’, in David Feldman (ed.) Boycotts Past and Present: From the American Revolution to the Campaign to Boycott Israel (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 197-217

‘Against Hybridity in the Study of Peacebuilding and Statebuilding’ (with Shahar Hameiri), in Joanne Wallis et al. (eds.) Hybridity on the Ground in Peacebuilding and Development: Critical Conversations (Canberra: ANU Press, 2018), 99-112

‘Political Economy’, in Adam Simpson, Nicholas Farrelly and Ian Holliday (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar (London: Routledge, 2018), 181-191

‘ASEAN Norms and Practices’, in Mari Elka Pangestu and Rastam Mohd Isa (ed.) ASEAN FutureForward: Anticipating the Next 50 Years (Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, 2017), 89-98

‘Understanding Myanmar’s Ceasefires: Geopolitics, Political Economy and Statebuilding’, in Mandy Sadan (ed.) War and Peace in the Borderlands of Myanmar: The Kachin Ceasefire, 1994-2011 (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2016), 95-113

‘State Theory and State Building: Towards a Gramscian Analysis’, in Robert Egnell and Peter Haldén (eds.) New Agendas in State Building: Hybridity, Contingency and History (London: Routledge, 2013), 70-91

‘State-building versus State Formation in East Timor’, in Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (ed.) Statebuilding and State-Formation: The Political Sociology of Intervention (London: Routledge, 2012), 95-113

‘State Power, Social Conflicts and Security Policy in Southeast Asia’, in Richard Robison (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Southeast Asian Politics (Routledge: London, 2011), 346-360

Book Reviews

Review of Renaud Egreteau, Caretaking Democratization: The Military and Political Change in Myanmar, in SOJOURN 32:3 (2017): 748-750

Review of Garry Rodan and Caroline Hughes, The Politics of Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Dominance of Moral Ideologies, in SOJOURN 30:1 (2015): 271-273

Review of Andrew MacGregor Marshall, A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand’s Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, New Mandala, 12 November 2014

Review of Jeni Whalan, How Peace Operations Work: Power, Legitimacy and Effectiveness, in Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 8:2-3 (2014), 268-271

Review of Michael D. Barr, The Ruling Elite of Singapore, in ASEASUK News 55 (2014), 17-19

‘Critical Interventions on Statebuilding’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 5:2 (2011), 235-239

Reviews of D.K. Emmerson (ed.), Hard Choices: Security, Democracy and Regionalism in Southeast Asia and H.E.S. Nesadurai and J.S. Djiwandono (eds.), Southeast Asia in the Global Economy: Security, Competitiveness and Social Protection in ASEASUK News 46 (2009), 40-42, 45-46

‘Liberalism and Democratization in East Asia’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 3:2 (2009), 277-283

‘World Systems Theory for the Twenty-First Century’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 3:1 (2009), 130-132

‘The Dragon and the Elephant’, China Review 44 (2008), 14

‘Absent Sovereigns?’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 1:3 (2007), 383-88

Other Scholarly Publications

Saving Britain’s Universities: Academic Freedom, Democracy and Renewal (with Philip Cunliffe) (Canterbury: Cieo, 2020), https://www.cieo.org.uk/research/saving-universities

‘Beyond “Land Grabs”: A Better Political Economy of the Rohingya Crisis’, global-e 10(80), http://www.21global.ucsb.edu/global-e/november-2017/beyond-%E2%80%9Cland-grabs%E2%80%9D-better-political-economy-rohingya-crisis

‘Open Access Publishing’ in Kyle Grayson and Alasdair R. Young (eds.) PSA Guide to Publishing (London: Political Studies Association, 2015), 47-53

‘Murdoch International: The “Murdoch School” in International Relations’ (with Shahar Hameiri), Asia Research Centre Working Paper 177, December 2014

‘Evaluating the “Success” of International Economic Sanctions: Multiple Goals, Interpretive Methods and Critique’ (with Clara Portela), Centre for the Study of Global Security and Development working paper 3, 2014

‘ASEAN and the Norm of Non-Interference in Southeast Asia: A Quest for Social Order’, Nuffield College Politics Group Working Paper 2009-02 (2009)

 

Supervision

I would be delighted to supervise doctoral theses in the following areas:

• Chinese foreign and security policy
• Southeast Asian domestic/ international politics
• the politics of sovereignty and intervention
• international economic sanctions
• global or regional governance
• non-traditional security
• historical sociology, historical materialism, political economy and international relations
• state-society relations and international politics
• state theory

Please note that I am not qualified to supervise theses in the area of South Asian politics. For that, please contact my colleague Dr Liz Chatterjee.

I am happy to discuss ideas with prospective students - please email me with a short (c.2,000 word) research proposal and your CV. However, for procedural information on how to apply for doctoral studies at Queen Mary, please see the School’s webpage.

My current PhD students:

• Mr Sanju Gurung: On a razor’s edge: the troubled neutrality behind the geopolitical dilemma facing Nepal amid the global rise of India and China
• Ms Faye Wang: The EU’s Reaction to China’s Overseas Strategies Represented by the Belt and Road Initiative

My previous PhD students:

• Dr Boonwara Sumano: Explaining the Liberalisation of Professional Migration in ASEAN - passed Dec 2013
• Dr Tong Zhang: The Profession of Chinese Bureaucrats: A Biographical Case Study of Members in State Council Executive Meeting (visiting from Renmin University) - passed Dec 2016
• Dr Lan Katarina Schippers: Aid for Trade as Contested State-Building Intervention: The Cases of Laos and Vietnam - passed Dec 2017

 

Public Engagement

Civil Society and Wider Public Engagement

• Contributing co-editor, TheDisorderofThings.com, a critical IR blog with 13,000+ subscribers and 15-35,000 hits per month
• Contributing co-editor, The Current Moment, a critical blog on Western politics, with 2,500+ subscribers and 1,000-9,000 hits per month
• The Transnational Institute, Smoke and Minerals: How the mining industry plans to profit from the energy transition, 15 June 2022 – research cited in major think tank report
• Briefing for Board of Omnia Holdings, 21 March 2022 – advised major South African corporation on current geopolitical and economic outlook
• Briefing on China’s BRI, 21 September 2021 – advised BRI Monitor, a transnational civil society initiative of six NGOs in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
• Seminar on EU-China Investment Agreement, 1 December 2020 – presented research on China’s Belt and Road Initiative to civil society researchers and activists from the Transnational Institute, Corporate Europe Observatory, PowerShift, Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung, Seattle to Brussels Network, European Federation of Public Service Unions, AK Europa, ÖGB Europabüro, Stiftung Asienhaus, and the Asia-Europe People’s Forum
• Rethinking the Role of Foreign Investment and the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America, Buenos Aires, 2-3 March 2020 – presented research to forum between academics and civil society activists
• Selling the Silk Road Spirit: China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Myanmar, Transnational Institute, November 2019, https://www.tni.org/en/selling-the-silk-road-spirit - cited 12 times in this NGO report
• The Belt and Road Initiative: An Asia-Europe People’s Forum Framing Paper, Transnational Institute, 29 October 2019, https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-belt-and-road-initiative-bri - cited 18 times in this NGO report
• Asia-Europe People’s Forum, Amsterdam, 9 June 2019: participation in meeting to strategically map China’s Belt and Road Initiative and propose NGO responses
• Changing Landscapes: Transnational Politics Ten Years Down the Line, Transnational Institute Strategy Seminar, Soesterberg, 7-9 June 2019: participation in strategy meeting to inform a major international NGO’s future work
• People’s Tribunal on Myanmar, March 2017: edited volume, War and Peace in the Borderlands of Myanmar, used as evidence in the ‘International Tribunal on Myanmar’s Crimes Against Rohingya and Kachin Peoples’ (see http://tribunalonmyanmar.org/2017/03/02/war-and-peace-in-the-borderlands-of-myanmar-the-kachin-ceasefire-1994-2011-edited-by-mandy-sadan-nias-press-copenhagen-2016-540-pages)
• The EU Referendum, summer 2016: public engagement including: curating a forum at theDisorderofThings.com; blogs for The Current Moment, LSE Brexit and The Naked Scientist; an award-winning Higher Education Policy Institute essay in the THE; an appearance on Radio 4’s The Human Zoo; participation in a study tour for Myanmar electoral officials and NGO activists during the referendum; and speaking at public events organised by Invoke Democracy Now campaign.
• Co-editor, TheDisorderofThings.com, a critical IR blog with 13,000+ subscribers and 15-35,000 hits per month.
• In Defence of Public Higher Education: Knowledge for a Successful Society, alternative HE White Paper published by the Convention for HE; contributor on the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework.
• Myanmar’s Transition to ‘Disciplined’ Democracy: What Hope for the New Government?, London, 29 March 2016. Invited talk for the Britain-Burma Society.
• Higher Education Convention, London, 27 February 2016. Invited keynote presentation in national conference on the future of UK universities.
• The Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions Campaign, presentation to Independent Jewish Voices, London, 31 January 2016.
• ‘Myanmar's Transition Amid International Economic Sanctions’, public lecture, University of Melbourne, 15 September 2015.
• Public Debate on Israel Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions, Queen Mary, University of London, 1 December 2014: chaired and helped organise.
• The Coup and After: Thailand’s Political Crisis, SOAS, 3 June 2014: co-organised and chaired public panel discussion.
• Regime Transitions in Southeast Asia: Lessons for Myanmar? Oxford, 22 March 2014: convened and chaired roundtable for audience of policymakers, diplomats, businesspeople, scholars and students.
• Ceasefire: Reflections on Community, Politics and Social Change in the Kachin Region of Burma (Myanmar), 1994 to the Present, SOAS, 12 October 2013: Public conference with ethnic-minority activists on Myanmar’s internal conflicts and development.
• Sanctioning Apartheid: Comparing the South African and Palestinian BDS Campaigns, Perth, Australia, 10 July 2013: Presented and discussed research findings with Palestinian BDS activists and their implications for activist strategies.
• The Future of Myanmar, Oxford, 9 March 2013: Co-organised and chaired a roundtable discussion on Myanmar’s transition, with politicians, businesspeople, NGOs, diplomats, academics and students.
• Rethinking Economic Sanctions, British Council, Yangon, 25 July 2012: Disseminated research and facilitated discussion on international economic sanctions among Myanmar civil society activists and NGOs.
• Is BDS Working? Exploring the Impact of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, SOAS, London, 30 January 2012: Participant in public panel discussion.
• Thailand’s Crisis and the Fight for Democracy, LSE, 2 July 2010: Convenor and chair, public book launch and debate.
• Understanding Thailand’s Political Turmoil, UCL, 27 May 2010: Participant in public panel discussion.
• RCUK Global Uncertainties Programme, Bristol, 10 March 2010: Participated in programme of seminars and debates which brought academics into schools to engage pupils on contemporary political and security issues.
• UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, May 2009: Presented expert testimony to an asylum hearing for a Thai political activist.
• Debating Matters National Sixth-Form Debating Competition, 2007-: Judged this competition at every level including the national final.
• The Battle of Ideas, London, 2006-2009: Speaker and chair at the Institute of Ideas’ annual festival of ideas and public debates.

Policy Engagement

• International Economic Sanctions, Ministry of Defence, 26 July 2017: lecture for MoD personnel as part of the Defence Economics series.
• What Does China Want in Southeast Asia?, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), 7 December 2016: one of two experts invited to brief policymakers from the FCO, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development.
• Briefing for Global Affairs Canada Director Marc-Yves Bertin, 1 December 2016: provided briefing to senior Canadian policymaker on economic sanctions.
• Aung San Suu Kyi, FCO, 22 November 2016: contributed to research on Myanmar’s political leader to aid UK diplomatic engagement with her.
• Evidence to Canadian Parliament, 31 October 2016: Societies Under Siege quoted in evidence submitted to Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development inquiry into sanctions: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=8559771
• Thailand Round Table, FCO, 30 September 2016: consultation on UK/ EU policy on Thailand.
• Southeast Asia Practitioner Day, FCO Diplomatic Academy, 15 September 2016: provided half-day training for FCO officials on the region’s domestic and international politics.
• Will the Higher Education and Research Bill Increase Student Choice?, 13 September 2016 (with Sean Wallis): written evidence to the Higher Education and Research Bill Scrutiny Committee.
• Fractured China, London, 26 July 2016: meeting with stakeholders from media, business, think tanks and government to discuss findings from research on Chinese state transformation and foreign and security policy.
• China’s Engagement in Myanmar: From Malacca Dilemma to Transition Dilemma, Transnational Institute Policy Briefing, 18 July 2016: cites my research on Chinese state transformation and Sino-Myanmar relations.
• Thailand: Targeted Sanctions, FCO, 29 March 2016: advice to FCO research analyst on proposals to impose targeted sanctions on Thai elites to encourage democratisation.
• Briefing for International Rescue Committee, London, 24 March 2016. Briefing for Myanmar project manager prior to him taking up his post.
• Rakhine and the Rohingya, FCO, 23 March 2016. Participant in day-long policy planning conference on Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis.
• ASEAN, Royal College of Defence Studies, 1 March 2016. Keynote lecture on training course for senior military officers from 53 countries.
• ASEAN’s Regional Role and Relations with Japan, Chatham House, 22 February 2016. Participant in think-tank conference.
• Myanmar and Bangladesh: Politics, Priorities and Regional Relations, FCO, 11-12 February 2016. Organised, designed and delivered training for UK Diplomatic Academy with team of international experts.
• Burma After the 2015 Elections: Where To From Here?, Chatham House, 4 December 2015. Roundtable discussions with officials from FCO and DFID on political situation in Myanmar and Western policy options.
• Thailand Update, FCO, 25 November 2015. Briefed FCO research analyst and embassy official on developments in Thailand.
• International Economic Sanctions, Royal College of Defence Studies, 25 November 2015. Keynote lecture on training course for 100+ senior military officers.
• How Do International Economic Sanctions (Not) Work?, Foreign Policy Centre briefing, 9 November 2015.
• China’s One Belt, One Road Strategy, London, 3 June 2015: participant in cross-government meeting to assess Chinese policy.
• Governing Non-Traditional Security Threats by Transforming States: Trends and Challenges, Foreign Policy Centre Policy Brief (co-authored with Shahar Hameiri), London, May: http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/1693.pdf
• ASEAN and Security in Southeast Asia, Royal College of Defence Studies, London, 19 May 2015: keynote lecture on training course for 100+ senior military officers.
• Training Sessions for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s Centre for Education and Training, Jakarta, 1 and 16 April 2015: training for senior diplomats on Chinese foreign policy and non-traditional security governance.
• Research Advice on Myanmar to Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Research Analyst, 16 March 2015: advised on the production of a five-year assessment of Myanmar’s post-2010 reforms to inform policymaking.
• The Impact of Western Sanctions on Myanmar: Delaying Democratisation, 7 January 2015: evidence submitted to the UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
• Consultant, UK Department for International Development’s Legal Assistance for Economic Reform Programme, 4-23 December 2014: provided political economy analysis and policy recommendations for Myanmar.
• Research Advice on Thailand to FCO Research Analyst, London, 12 December 2014: advised on the political role of the Thai monarchy.
• Burma Roundtable, FCO, London, 25 November 2014: half-day expert input to scenario scoping and policy planning meeting on Myanmar’s 2015 elections, with staff from the Whitehall Burma Unit (FCO, DFID, MoD).
• Research Advice on Myanmar to FCO Research Analyst, London, 11 and 15 September 2014: guidance on peace process and religious nationalism.
• Overview of Southeast Asia for FCO Research Analyst, London, 29 July 2014: briefed incoming Asia-Pacific Division Research Analyst on contemporary issues in the region.
• Think Tank Event on Thailand, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, 25 June 2014: provided advice to FCO on the coup in Thailand and UK/EU policy, including economic sanctions.
• Briefing on Thailand for FCO Research Analyst, London, 28 May 2014: consultation on the crisis in Thailand, UK/EU policy and Myanmar; submitted two analysis papers.
• Briefing on Israel/Palestine and BDS for Fateh, 26 May 2014: submitted two briefing papers on the prospects of Boycotts, Disinvestment and Sanctions in Israel/Palestine to Fateh’s Commission for International Relations.
• Briefing on Israel/Palestine and BDS for FCO Research Analyst, London, 26 May 2014: submitted two briefing papers on the prospects of Boycotts, Disinvestment and Sanctions in Israel/Palestine.
• Consultation with British Ambassador to Myanmar, London, 12 May 2014: consulted by HMA Yangon on recent developments in Myanmar.
• Training on Southeast Asia, Royal College of Defence Studies, London, 1 May 2014: Provided half day of training Southeast Asian security and politics to c.100 senior military officers and civilian officials from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia.
• Policy Development Workshop on International Economic Sanctions, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), 4 April 2014: Organised and led training and policy development session on the use and evaluation of targeted sanctions, for policymakers and analysts from the FCO and HM Treasury.
• Myanmar Sanctions Impact Assessment, London, 29 January 2014: Presented analysis to an audience including FCO research analyst. Submitted three research papers to the Whitehall Burma Unit.
• Briefing on Thailand for FCO Research Analyst, London, 20 January 2014: Briefing/ policy consultation on the crisis in Thailand.
• Briefing on Myanmar for Deputy Head of FCO ASEAN Department, London, 13 January 2014: Briefing/ policy consultation on UK/EU approach to Myanmar to 2015.
• ASEAN Reinforcement and Regional Governance, Dili, Timor Leste, 11 December 2013: International seminar provided for Timor-Leste government officials and civil society groups, EU and World Bank officials, and foreign diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on security governance and Timor’s bid to join ASEAN.
• Consultation on UK/EU Myanmar Policy, London, 15 October 2013: Consulted by UK FCO on British and EU policy towards Myanmar in the run-up to its elections in 2015.
• Roundtable on the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Architecture, FCO, 13 September 2013: Participant in discussions on regional security institutions with officials from the FCO, Ministry of Defence, other UK government departments and the EU.
• Briefing for Malaysian High Commission, London, 2 August 2013: Briefing on Myanmar’s transition and Cambodian elections.
• Briefing for British Ambassador to Myanmar, FCO, 24 July 2013: Briefed the new British ambassador-designate prior to him taking up his posting.
• Seminar on Regional Security Architecture in Southeast Asia and Beyond, Paris, 15 May 2013: Presented research findings and policy recommendations on regional security cooperation and governance to senior officials of the French Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs.
• Myanmar: A New Future Through Higher Education? A Myanmar-UK Policy Dialogue, London, 9 May 2013: Provided political and economic analysis and policy advice to a delegation of senior Myanmar politicians and officials on the reform of higher education as part of a British Council-led study tour and dialogue.
• Briefing to Norwegian Refugee Council, January 2013: briefed NRC senior official on developments in Myanmar.
• Briefings to Medecins sans Frontières official, January 2013: two briefings for MSF project manager, ahead of their deployment to Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
• Oxford Analytica Briefings, December 2012 to June 2013: produced and edited briefs on Myanmar for global analysis and advisory firm, supplied to clients worldwide, including many businesses, over 50 governments, and major international agencies.
• FCO Brainstorming Session on EU-ASEAN Relations, London, 14 August 2012: Briefed UK diplomats in London and Jakarta and participated in an internal planning session.
• EU Sanctions Against Myanmar: Proposals for Change, 7 March 2012: Briefing paper submitted to the UK FCO.
• Burma: Long-Term Challenges and International Responses, Wilton Park, 5-6 March 2012: Participation in discussions with UK FCO, Department for International Development and British Council officials on future UK and EU policy towards Myanmar.
• Diplomatic Excellence and Knowledge Enhancement, FCO, 19 January 2012: Lectured to the FCO multilateral team on ASEAN, to improve knowledge base used to inform and execute British foreign policy in East Asia.
• Southeast Asia: A Political and Economic Introduction, December 2011: Academic consultant for this UK Parliament research report used to inform debate and legislation in the House of Commons.
• Avoid Austerity Arguments, 21 November 2011: Briefing paper submitted to the Republic campaign.
• ESRC Seminar Series on Intervention in the Modern World, House of Lords, London, 12 and 18 January 2011: Engaged with UK policymakers via the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Global Security and Non-Proliferation.
• The Elephant in the Room: Development Policy and the Problem of Politics, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia, 13-14 December 2010: Participated in a workshop of policymakers, NGO leaders and academics to discuss and finalise the outputs of an AusAID-funded research project on ‘Sustainable Demand for Governance – Political Dimensions of Change’.·        
• Expert Seminar on ASEAN’s Potential as a Stabilising Factor in Great Power Relations with Asia, The Hague, 18 June 2010: Presented research on ‘ASEAN’s Capacity to Play a Regional Role’ to EU policymakers; academic consultant on final report, ASEAN, China’s Rise and Geopolitical Stability in Asia (April 2011).
• The Southeast Asia Observatory, Paris, 4 May 2010: Presented research on ASEAN and Myanmar to officials from the French ministry of foreign affairs.
• International Expert Workshop on ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Multilateralism and the Evolving Regional Security Architecture, Singapore, 15-16 October 2009: Presented on ASEAN’s Security Role to Southeast Asian policymakers, journalists and scholars.·        
• Expert Seminar on ASEAN’s Potential as a Stabilising Factor in Great Power Relations with Asia, The Hague, 18 June 2010: Presented research on ‘ASEAN’s Capacity to Play a Regional Role’ to EU policymakers; academic consultant on final report, ASEAN, China’s Rise and Geopolitical Stability in Asia (April 2011).
• The Southeast Asia Observatory, Paris, 4 May 2010: Presented research on ASEAN and Myanmar to officials from the French ministry of foreign affairs.
• International Expert Workshop on ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Multilateralism and the Evolving Regional Security Architecture, Singapore, 15-16 October 2009: Presented on ASEAN’s Security Role to Southeast Asian policymakers, journalists and scholars.

Using concepts from Gramscian state theory, political economy and political geography, and methods from historical sociology, my research essentially explores how domestic socio-political conflict, states and regimes interact with international dynamics. From an ‘inside out’ perspective, I have explored how domestic conflicts and power relations have given rise to particular regimes and state forms, and how this in turn shapes the regional governance of sovereignty, intervention, security and economies. From an ‘outside in’ perspective, I have studied how international economic sanctions have shaped patterns of social conflict in target states, leading to changes in local regimes. Most recently, I have explored how non-traditional security is governed through socio-politically contested processes of state transformation. In my new research project, I explore how these processes are shaping the rise of China. The empirical focus of most of my work is Southeast and East Asia. I have also published on Iraq, South Africa, and Israel/Palestine.