Summer Term 2023

MYANMAR @ 75 

Saturday 24 June | 10.30am UK onwards | Alumni Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku (New Academic) Building, LSE

A day-long conference to mark the 75th anniversary of Burma/Myanmar's independence. 

10:30am: PANEL 1: 'Looking Ahead' 

Speakers: Minn Tent Bo, Michael Charney, Thet Ko Ko, Theingi Lynn 

Moderator: Dominique Dillabough-Lefebvre

Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar

12 noon: LUNCH/TEA-COFFEE BREAK

1.30pm: PANEL 2: 'Humanitarian Aid' 

Speakers: Nyan San Lwin, Zoya Phan, Kota Watanabe, Kyaw Win Tun.        

Moderator: Stephen Huard 

Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar 

4pm: KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Professor James Scott, Sterling Professor in Political Science, Yale University (online): 'Federalism crafted from below in Burma's war on the Junta', followed by Q&A. (This lecture was cancelled.)

Image © The ‘Myanmar @ 75’ logo is copyrighted by the LSE South Asia Centre, and may not be used by anyone for any purpose. It shows the national flower of Myanmar, Padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), framed in a design combination adapted from Burmese textile weaves and sacral architectural motifs. The logo has been designed by Oroon Das.

This event was not recorded.

AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN, GOVERNMENT & THE WAY FORWARD 

Monday 19 June | 2.30pm UK 

[THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED.]

Roundtable to discuss how global powers may be able to engage, and engage with, the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, and how it may determine the lives of Afghans in the country, and across the world.  

Speaker: Obaidullah Baheer (@ObaidullaBaheer) is Lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul (currently pursuing his Doctoral Studies at The New School, New York), and a regular commentator on Afghanistan.

Panelists: Dr Antonio Giustozzi (@AntonioGiustoz2) is Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism & Conflict at the Royal United Services Institute in London, and authornof several books on Afghanistan including The Islamic State in Khorasan (2018) and The Taliban at War: 2001-2021 (2022); Dr Orzala Nemat (@Orzala) is an Afghan academic, civil society activist and currently Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London; Mirwais Wardak is a development worker and researcher & has worked extensively with the aid community in Afghanistan, and is currently Managing Director at Peace Training and Research Organization (PTRO) in Kabul. 

Chair: Dr Martin Bayly (@mjbayly) is Assistant Professor in International Relations Theory at LSE, and author of Taming the Imperial Imagination: Colonial Knowledge, International Relations, and the Anglo-Afghan Encounter, 1808-1878 (2016).  

This is an in-person event, open to everyone but seats are limited. Please e-mail southasiacentre@lse.ac.uk if you would like to attend the event, and await confirmation. Places will be offered/confirmed strictly on a first-come first-served basis.   

This event is in collaboration with the Royal United Services Institute, London.

Image © Farid Ershad, Dasht-i Barchi, Kabul, 2020, Unsplash.

NEPAL-UK: 100 YEARS ON

Wednesday 14 June | 5.30pm UK | Embassy of Nepal, London 

A special event to commemorate & celebrate the centenary of the Nepal-Britain Treaty of 1923.

Speakers: David Gellner (@DavidGellner) is Professor of Social Anthropology & Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford, and an expert on Nepal; Barrister Surya P. Subedi (@Law_Leeds) is Professor of International Law, University of Leeds; Dr Katie Oven (@KatieOven) is Associate Professor in the Northumbria University in Newcastle, and is engaged in research on Nepal. 

Chairs: H.E. Gyan Chandra Acharya (@NepalEmbassyUK) is Hon'ble Ambassador of Nepal to the United Kingdom; Alnoor Bhimani (@AlnoorBhimani), Director, LSE South Asia Centre & Professor of Management Accounting at LSE.         

This event is in collaboration with the Embassy of Nepal in the United Kingdom. 

Image © Sachin Khadka, Unsplash.

This event was not recorded. 

FACT & FICTION

ADVANCES IN PUBLIC HEALTH IN EMERGING BANGLADESH

Thursday | 8 June | 5.30pm UK | Bangabandhu Lounge, High Commission of Bangladesh, London

Roundtable on advances in public health in Bangladesh, as the country's economic development and growth improves steadily. The discussion will be focused on the recently published 50 Years of Bangladesh: Advances in Health (2023).

Panelists: Dr Nikita Arora (@nikitaarora01) is Research Fellow in Health System Economics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and is currently engaged in research on Bangladesh; Dina Balabanova (@DinaBalabanova) is Professor of Health Systems & Policy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Mushtaq Khan (@mushtaqkhan100) is Professor in Economics at the School of Oriental & African Studies, London; and Dr Mushtaque Chowdhury, co-editor of the volume, is an LSE alumnus & an expert on public health in Bangladesh. 

Chairs: H.E. Saida Muna Tasneem (@MunaTasneem) is Hon'ble High Commissioner of Bangladesh in the United Kingdom; David Lewis (@lewisd100) is Professor of Anthropology & Development at LSE, with research expertise on Bangladesh where he undertakes regular fieldwork on governance, policy & civil society.   

This event is part of our 'Fact & Fiction' series, in collaboration with the High Commission of Bangladesh in the United Kingdom.

This event was not recorded. 

The LSE South Asia Centre is delighted to be part of the newly-launched UK-South Asia Network (@UKSAsia_Network).

The first event in the Network's calendar is a day-long workshop on 'Food & Identity in South Asia since Independence', hosted by The Brunel South Asia Research (@BrunelSouthAsia).

Friday | 19 May | 9am UK onwards

Please click here for Panels 1 & 2, and here for Panels 3 & 4.

GEOPOLITICS BEYOND BORDERS #7

Energy & Geopolitcs in South Asia

Wednesday 10 May | 3pm UK | 5pm Russia | 7pm Pakistan | 7.30pm India

Russia is now exporting more gas to countries in South Asia than ever before. Is Energy changing geopolitics in South Asia?

SPEAKERS: Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) is Director, South & Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C.; Dr C Raja Mohan (@MohanCRaja) is Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi; Dr Vladimir Sotnikov is Associate Professor at the Higher School of Economics, National Research University, Moscow. 

DISCUSSANT: Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) is Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu in India.

CHAIR: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).

Banner image: Kwon Junho, 'The Old Gas Stove on Fire', 2020, Unsplash.

Please click here to watch a video-recording of the event.

This event is part of our Geopolitcs Beyond Borders series.