Research

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Vietnam’s Position in the Global Textile and Apparel Industry: Implications for Regional Investments, Trade, and Labour

Focusing on the case of Asian trans-national producers, this project will address the main investment and trade shifts that will take place locally and regionally as part of Vietnam's accession to the TPP and the implications of these shifts for Vietnam in regard to labour rights.

Principal Investigator: Dr Shamel Azmeh, Fellow at the Department of International Development, LSE

From Alternative Development to Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Myanmar

The Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia has been a major opium-producing area in the world since WWII, making drug policy a significant issue in the region. This project aims to establish Sustainable Development as the key framework for drug policy reform in Myanmar above current policy recommendations that focus on the symptomatic issues surrounding problematic drug use.

Principal Investigator: Dr John Collins, Executive Director of the LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project

Perceptions of Politics in Southeast Asian Financial Markets

When most Western studies of international political economy focus on “market perceptions” of various phenomena of interest, they implicitly refer to Western market reactions. Investigating non-Western investor perceptions of country risk and reputations, this project aims to establish the determinants and differences in Southeast Asian finance and to draw conclusions about the future of multipolar investment.

Principal Investigator: Dr Julia Gray, Assistant Professor of International Relations at LSE

Explaining Shifts in U.S. Burma Policy: The Role of Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs

Myanmar’s democratic reforms have followed a prior major change in U.S. Burma policy, namely the Obama administration’s decision to re-engage the military regime in 2009. This project will examine the major shifts in US policy toward Myanmar and explain these as instances of successful foreign policy entrepreneurship. 

Principal investigator: Dr Jurgen Haacke, Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE and Centre Associate at LSE SEAC

Developing a General Equilibrium Model for Vietnam to Capture the Economic Impact of Social Protection Programmes

Vietnam’s national social protection strategy has been more comprehensive and effective than that of many countries in Southeast Asia. This project will develop a new social accounting matrix and a General Equilibrium Model to represent Vietnam’s economy and to offer a comparison point with Cambodia, where the social protection strategy struggles to materialise.

Principal Investigator: Dr Stephanie Levy, Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of International Development, LSE

Communal Violence, Mujahedin and Child Fighters: A History of the Ambon Conflict 1999-2003

The objective of this project is to analyse the causes and the dynamics of the Ambon conflict, an understudied communal conflict which saw large scale violence between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia. Part of the project will also focus on the not insignificant number of child fighters involved in the conflict.

Principal Investigator: Dr Kirsten Schulze, Associate Professor of International History at LSE and Deputy Director of LSE SEAC

Property before People: Real Estate Assets, Inequalities and Contestation of Property Rights in Southeast Asia

This project aims to understand inequalities associated with real estate asset accumulation, and people’s contestation of property rights in Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore and Vietnam. By examining the changing perception of these issues would provide insight into how housing inequalities are closely related to the broader structural issues of state legitimacy and social stability.

Principal Investigator: Dr Hyun Bang Shin, Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at LSE and Centre Associate at LSE SEAC