Investigating the power norms, international institutions and governance
This program brings together a group of scholars working on aspects of international politics. We produce innovative, cutting-edge research on foreign policy, peace and security, international institutions, international political economy and International Relations theory that advances theoretical and practical knowledge on some of the key regional and global challenges of our time. Our recent work has addressed issues such as:
- Indo-Pacific security
- Citizenship at domestic, regional and global levels
- The political economy of the international monetary system
- Gendered impact of global health policies
- Peacebuilding in conflict zones
We promote the exchange of ideas and collaborative research through seminars and workshops. Our program scholars represent our centre at international and national venues, actively presenting policy relevant research with high impact. Our HDR students coming from diverse background, bring new questions and experience to our research group as emerging young scholars.
Program Leaders: Dr Outi Donovan and Associate Professor Huiyun Feng
OUR TEAM
Beatrice Alupo
Gender, Refugees, Intersectionality, Human Rights, Regional Integration, Public Relations, Public and Social Policies, International Trade
Professor Kai He
International relations theory and international security; foreign policy analysis and international political economy; public opinion; foreign policy crisis behaviour; Chinese politics and Sino-US relations.
Professor Sara Davies
Dr Outi Donovan
Peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies, gender and conflict, humanitarian interventions, international norms
Nadia Farabi
Peacebuilding, intractable conflict, internal displacement, Islam in Indonesia
Dr Hui Feng
International political economy, post-communist transitions, international finance and Chinese politics.
Professor Huiyun Feng
Foreign policy analysis, Asia security studies, Chinese politics, female leadership
Professor Kai He
International relations theory, international security and China’s international relations.
Thu Nguyen
Norm operationalization in International relations, International refugee law, Responsibility to protect ( R2P), ASEAN diplomacy
Professor Emeritus Patrick Weller
Executive government, politics and policymaking in central governments in Westminster systems, Australian politics, international civil servants
Sovinda Po
Foreign policy of small authoritarian states, minilateralism, Chinese foreign policy towards Southeast Asia
Professor Xu Yi-chong
Energy security, international organisations, China, regional studies
OUR HIGHLIGHTS
Partners in Deterrence
In 2019 Professor Andrew O’Neil was awarded an Australian Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grant for the project, ‘Nuclear Deterrence in US Alliances: Implications for Australia’ with Associate Professor Stephan Fruehling from The Australian National University.
The project examined the current approaches and thinking about the nuclear umbrella among America’s NATO and North East Asian allies. It investigated how key players use conventional and nuclear capabilities to deter and manage escalation of a conflict with China, and seek to understand the difficult questions for both the United States and Australia, and their relationship as allies. It aimed to outline how both countries are approaching their nuclear weapons defence thinking, and it addressed the challenging question of how nuclear weapons might relate to their alliance cooperation.
Decoding Revisionist Challenges
Professor Kai He and Professor Huiyun Feng have been awarded an ARC Discovery Grant. Their project is titled Decoding Revisionist Challenges to the International Institutional Order.
This project aims to systematically examine the policy strategies that great powers can employ to challenge international institutions during a period of international order transition. This project expects to develop a new theoretical framework to shed light on how the United States and China compete and cooperate in the different issue areas of global governance. The outcomes of this project will be an in-depth understanding of revisionism in world politics and practical policy recommendations to cope with the dynamics of international order transition. This knowledge should provide significant benefits to Australia’s policy community for making sensible policies against the background of US-China competition in the 21st century.
COVID-19 Gendered Risks, Impact and Response
Professor Sara Davies and her colleague Associate Professor Robin Roberts, from the Griffith Asia Institute are undertaking a study on COVID-19 gendered risks, impact and response in the Indo-Pacific: Rapid research and policy guidance. This project is funded through the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research and aims to develop an evidence-based approach that identifies the specific risk of economic hardship and food insecurity that women have experienced during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.This pilot study encompasses a mixed-method research design through surveys and 'deep dive' studies. The research approach will produce information essential for developing reliable estimates of food insecurity and economic impacts on women in three countries due to the pandemic. Expected project outcomes include identifying and understanding the specific gendered impacts of COVID-19 response on food security and socio-economic outcomes for women across three countries. They will also utilise the insights developed to outline opportunities and design approaches that will begin to mitigate the harm caused by the COVID-19 disruption at the individual, household and community level.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Beatrice Alupo | Societal perceptions of counterterrorism in Cameroon: The voices of those far from the battlefield | Journal of Human Rights | February 2020.
Luis Caberera and Brooke Ackerly | Introduction: symposium on Brooke Ackerly’s Just Responsibility: A Human Rights Theory of Global Justice | Journal of Global Ethics | March 2020.
Luis Cabrera and Caitlin Byrne| Comparing organisational and alternative regional citizenships: the case of ‘Entrepreneurial regional citizenship’ in ASEAN | Australian Journal of International Affairs | January 2021.
Sara Davies and JM Arraiza | Enduring Peace: A Case Study of the Opportunities and the Challenges for Engaging in Myanmar's Peace Process | Global Responsibility to Protect | February 2020.
Sara Davies (with D Lui, N Vandin, S Harman, R Morgan, J Smith, C Wenham, KA Grepin | We also deserve help during the pandemic": The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong | Journal of Migration and Health | 2021.
Simone Datzberger and Outi Donovan | Silencing the past in Ugandan schools. The role of education in reconciliation processes | Peacebuilding | October 2018.
Outi Donovan | Trading Freedoms for Protection: Gender and Localised Protection in Libya | Global Responsibility to Protect | August 2021.
Outi Donovan | Norm Contestation and Pragmatic Ethics: Evaluating the Rebuilding Norm in Libya. | Journal of Global Security Studies | June 2021.
Kai He(ed) | Contested Multilateralism 2.0 and Asian Security Dynamics | Routledge Press | May 2020.
Kai He and Huiyun Feng | The institutionalization of the Indo-Pacific: problems and prospects | International Affairs | January 2020.
Kai He | The Balance of Infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific: BRI Institutional Balancing and Quad’s Policy Choices | Global Policy | August 2021.
Kai He and Huiyun Feng (with Stephen Walker) | Binary Role Theory and the Evolution of Cooperation in World Politics | Operational Code Analysis and Foreign Policy Roles | March 2021.
Huiyun Feng and Kai He | The study of Chinese scholars in foreign policy analysis: an emerging research program | Special Issue of the Pacific Review: China Debates its Global Role | March 2020.
Kai He, Huiyun Feng (Steve Chan and Weixing Hu) | Rethinking Revisionism in World Politics | The Chinese Journal of International Politics | March 2021.
Andrew O’Neil | The future of Australia—US strategic and defence cooperation: An Australian Perspective (chapter) | The Future of the United States-Australia Alliance Evolving Security Strategy in the Indo-Pacific | December 2020.
Sovinda Po & Christopher Primiano | Explaining China’s Lancang-Mekong cooperation as an institutional balancing strategy: dragon guarding the water | Australian Journal of International Affairs | February 2021.
Sovinda Po and Kearrin Sims | The Myth of Non-Interference: Chinese Foreign Policy in Cambodia | Asian Studies Review | February 2021.
Jack Corbett, Melodie Ruwet, Yi-chong Xu, Patrick Weller | Climate governance, policy entrepreneurs and small states: explaining policy change at the International Maritime Organisation | Environmental Politics | January 2020.