SOAS in the Media: September 2026

Geopolitics led SOAS media coverage this week, with Professor Steve Tsang’s commentary appearing across international outlets, Dr Nick Westcott speaking to ABC Radio National about the changing role of the UN, and Avinash Paliwal writing in the Hindustan Times about BRICS+ and the West’s decline. 

Geopolitics and the changing global order 

• In its coverage of the 2026 BRICS summit, The Indian Express cited research by Professor Ha-Joon Chang and José Miguel Ahumada on how patent regimes, sanctions and trade policies affect developing countries. 

• Avinash Paliwal wrote an opinion piece for the Hindustan Times, arguing that Western concerns about BRICS+ say as much about the West’s own decline as they do about the growing influence of the bloc. 

• Dr Ali Alavi told Al Jazeera that US President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was prolonging the war to influence the midterm elections was aimed at a domestic audience. Dr Alavi said it offered Trump a way to explain why his Iran policy appeared to be failing before the vote. 

• Dr Nick Westcott, Professor of Practice, joined ABC Radio National’s The Radio National Hour to discuss why geopolitics has ‘gone freelance’, how the UN’s role has changed and why international diplomacy has become harder. 

Hong Kong and Taiwan 

• Professor Steve Tsang told the Financial Times that Hong Kong’s economic dynamism had historically depended on the entrepreneurial spirit of its people and limited government interference, as the territory prepares its first five-year plan. 

• Speaking to AFP about Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis technology hub, Professor Tsang said the national security law had effectively ended the ‘one country, two systems’ framework and that greater integration with mainland China would logically follow. His comments were carried by AGI, CNA, Le Media+, Newswav, CNN Business Arabic and other outlets. 

• Professor Tsang was also quoted by The Western Journal on the circumstances in which China might use force against Taiwan and the allies the US would need if it intervened. 

Politics and energy in South Asia 

• Visiting scholar Vignesh Rajahmani wrote for the East Asia Forum about how the Bharatiya Janata Party is reorganising Indian politics. 

• Professor Mushtaq Khan was quoted in a report carried by LexisNexis on Bangladesh’s energy crisis. He said the crisis should be understood through two connected issues: short-term problems with energy supply and longer-term structural and production problems. 

The Crusades and their political legacy 

• Mohamad El-Merheb speaks to Deutsche Welle Arts and Culture about the enduring legacy of the Crusades and how crusading imagery and symbolism continue to be appropriated in contemporary politics, including recently by far-right movements and politicians in Europe and North America. In the interview, he discusses how memories of the Crusades have been repeatedly reinterpreted for modern political and ideological purposes, from secular Arab nationalism and Islamist movements to contemporary Western politics. 

European responses to Israel and Palestine 

• Yair Wallach told Stockholm News that Europe’s sharply different responses to Ukraine and Palestine suggest clear double standards. 

• Professor Nimer Sultany was quoted in the Palestine Chronicle, News.Az, Anadolu Agency and other outlets after more than 130 legal experts said UK sanctions on Israeli settlements fell far short of the UK’s obligations under international law. Professor Sultany said the occupation was not a flaw in the system but an essential feature of it. 

Institutional news 

• China Education Online reported that the Beijing Foreign Studies University-SOAS Joint Institute has been approved by China’s Ministry of Education. It will offer an undergraduate programme in Regional Studies and master’s programmes in Regional Studies and Asian and African Studies. Total enrolment will be 480 students, with the first intake planned for 2027.