Aishwarya Verma

Looking to speak to experts on counterinsurgency movements + the militancy in the Af-Pak region + the TTP and the Afghan Taliban for primary research purposes. Pls reach out if you know someone or are someone who works on these areas. Pls amplify. Thank you!

The ad for our junior line is MENA politics is (finally) out. See: apply.interfolio.com/152474

Please share widely #polisky #PSJMInfo

Not academia related but do cats adjust well to moving cities and homes? I moved and my cat is back home and I’m really missing him :( Any notes will help.

I guess I’m back after a bit of a hiatus.

Ofc Pak supports the Taliban enterprise (if I may) - the TTP problem is one of their own making. And there is enough evidence that shows the intertwined and interdependent relationship b/w the TTP and the Afghan Taliban. It’s interesting to see Pak’s double standards.

If you've taught undergraduate courses on IOs or global governance, and are open to sharing a syllabus, I would be very much incredibly thankful 😃 [polisky]

Beautiful Delhi is made for the winter season

Couldn’t agree more!

Does anybody ever have researcher’s block? How do you overcome it? Asking for a friend (read: I’m that friend duh)

Feedback is so useful! I think it really helps give direction to students who often (will not admit it but) feel like they’re floating.

V Woolf puts into words what I sometimes fail to.

Joyland is finally out on Mubi. Pls watch it. Such a good movie!

Thanks for responding. Appreciate it!

I’m thinking about next year but I was looking at the UK. Although, I’m not closed off to the idea of doing one in the US. This is an idea that doesn’t seem to go away (of taking on the PhD) but I do want to understand more about how it would work

If you want to apply for a PhD, how soon should you start applying if you also need a proper hefty scholarship to get in?

Polisky Southasiasky

Afghan Taliban Takeover*

I’m writing the final draft of my paper that focuses on the ‘Rise and Resurgence of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in the context of the Afghan Taliban of Kabul in 2021’ and I’d be grateful if you connect me to field experts in Pak/ Afg to carry out my primary research. Thanks!

Polisky Southasiasky

International Theory Barkawi, Murray and Zarakol abstract graphic

#OpenAccess from our Symposium on Global IR -

The United Nations of IR: power, knowledge, and empire in Global IR debates - cup.org/3MHMNtV

- Tarak Barkawi, Christopher Murray & Ayse Zarakol

Two books on a dark blue background. One is "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi. The other is "Hamas Contained" by Tareq Baconi

Between the holiday break and coping with Shingles, I was able to get a lot of reading done. I highly recommend these two excellent books on Palestine and Palestinian politics. A lot of food for thought in these books, and helpful for understanding what we're seeing today

Overarching labels and generalisations are dangerous and ignorant. As is misinformation. Misinformation and manipulation of knowledge isn’t just coming out of the Tik Toks of the world. A lot of it is state funded.

Being the “bearer and sole protector of democracy” when it suits oneself and using R2P when convenient for one’s own ulterior motives isn’t “humanitarian” by any means. 4/4

First it was the USSR, then Islam and now China. The latter two continue to change places. But the otherness helps condition people on what the US is not. Thereby, writing security into existence. 3/4

“Accordingly, an array of individuals, groups, beliefs, or behaviours have occupied the position of the Antichrist, and been inscribed w/ one or more terms from the panoply of tropes of otherness to be found in the American experience.” - David Campbell 2/4

“While an evangelism of fear has been cardinal to the constitution of many states’ the apocalyptic mode – in which a discourse of danger functions as providence and foretells a threat that prompts renewal – has been conspicuous in the catalog of American statecraft.” 1/4

The cost of academic/ intellectual authenticity is that when your views start feeling inconvenient to your peers/ community, they’re quick to shun you. Stand up for things you believe in anyway. I remind myself of this everyday.

Is empire-esque thinking dead or is it just coming up in new mutations and combinations? I think it’s the latter. They can look like democrats and still be colonising pricks.

PSA

Got the opportunity to present my research on the Rise and Resurgence of the TTP in the context of the Afghan Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021 under the mentorship of Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa. Defended my findings and engaged with academic and diplomatic experts on the same.

Polisky Southasiasky

I’m sure it will. Thank you so much! :)