On 12 May 2017, Asia Centre launched the International Faculty Club (IFC) with some 40 academics, researchers and graduate students in attendance.   The event filled a gap in the Bangkok social landscape that brought together people across different tertiary institutions allowing those from diverse academic disciplines to dialogue, share innovative ideas and forge friendships in a convivial setting.     The evening turned out to be an engrossing academic networking event as the inaugural gathering saw a series of speakers taking to the floor to share their ongoing research and interests.   These included: Evgeniia Sidorova, Thammasat University,…

A rare public articulation of Russia’s grand strategy in the Asia-Pacific was expounded at Asia Centre by H.E. Kirill Barsky, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Thailand on 30 March 2017. Entitled “Russian Grand Strategy in the Asia Pacific: What Role for ASEAN?”, Asia Centre convened the roundtable to discuss Russia’s dramatic resurgence in international politics and explore its foreign policy goals in the region.   Asia Centre’s moderator, Ms. Alexandria Demetrianova posed a key question to kick start the roundtable - Does Russia, a great power of the past few centuries, have a clear strategy for…

Asia Centre promoted its internship opportunities at Webster University's Career Fair held on 29th March 2017. Asia Centre’s internships, which have been popular, attracted a flow of interested students from International Relations as well as from communication and business studies.    Dr Robin Ramcharan and research intern Francesco Franzoi from Switzerland represented Asia Center at the Fair to introduce Asia Centre’s work, projects and activities. For example, our current interns assist with the preparation, research and marketing of the Centre's upcoming International Conference on National Human Rights Institutions in Southeast Asia: Challenges of Protection in July 2017.   Asia Centre’s had…

A discussion on access to justice in Southeast Asia was undertaken by a panel of women lawyers on 29 March 2017 at the Asia Centre. The session, jointly organised by Asia Centre and Akin Asia, offered the opportunity to understand some of the systemic problems with regards to rule of law and access to justice that affect women in the region. It was also an opportunity to better understand the roles that different players in the legal process play. The event was attended by over 30 participants, many with a legal background, keen to engage with the panel of top…