Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD)
Lecturer in Diplomacy and Public Policy
- Name:
- Dr Avinash Paliwal
- Email address:
- ap88@soas.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- 020 7898 4454
- Address:
- SOAS University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG - Building:
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Office No:
- 4405
- Academic Support Hours:
- Wednesday, 10 AM - 12 PM
Biography
Avinash is Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute and Lecturer in Diplomacy and Public Policy at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD). Previous to this he taught Defence Studies at King’s College London and was the Defence Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Regional Security Research Centre (RSRC) at the same university. An International Relations scholar, Avinash specialises in foreign policy analysis (FPA) with regional focus on South Asia, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.
His book, My Enemy’s Enemy - India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal, details India’s role in Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to the US withdrawal. His current research is focused on India’s foreign policymaking processes towards Myanmar since Independence (1947). Avinash won the UK-India Education Research Initiative – Trilateral Research in Partnership (UKIERI-TRIP) in 2013 to conduct research on India and Pakistan’s engagement in Afghanistan, and was awarded the prestigious Defence Studies Research Studentship and the King’s Continuation Scholarship for his doctoral research.
Avinash chaired the Afghanistan Studies Group (2013-15) at KCL, and managed the King’s-Chevening Parliamentary Leadership Programme wherein Indian parliamentarians were hosted at King’s and exposed to the expertise offered by the university.
Avinash holds an MA and PhD in International Relations from King’s College London, and a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Delhi. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, Avinash worked as a foreign affairs journalist before entering academia.