Department of Politics and International Studies

Dr Avinash Paliwal

Key information

Roles
Department of Politics and International Studies Reader in International Relations
Qualifications
BA (Hons)(Delhi); MA, PhD (KCL)
Building
Russell Square: College Buildings
Office
C405
Email address
ap88@soas.ac.uk
Telephone number
+44 (0) 20 7898 4454
Support hours
Term 2: Wednesdays 1-3pm

Biography

Avinash is Reader in International Relations. Previous to this he was the deputy director of the SOAS South Asia Institute, taught Defence Studies at King’s College London, and was the Defence Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, also at King’s.

He specialises in the International Relations of South Asia. His first book, My Enemy’s Enemy – India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press (2017). It details India’s role in Afghanistan during and after the Cold War. His forthcoming book, India’s Near East – A New History (Hurst, 2024) unpacks India’s faltering attempts to exert control over its eastern hinterland and the neighbouring states of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Avinash holds an MA and PhD in International Relations from King’s College London, and a BA (Hons) in Economic from the University of Delhi. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, he briefly worked as a foreign affairs journalist before entering academia.

PhD Supervision

Name Title
Stephen Crowther Japan and China’s political and economic interests in the Pacific Islands
Shreya Mishra The Rise of India and China in the international order: Comparing their approaches to multilateralism and global governance.

Publications

Contact Avinash