Regional Security and Peacebuilding: Lessons from South Asia’s Conflicts
Dates: May 5-7, 2025
Location: Sundar Singh Institute of South Asian Studies, Prayagraj
The Sundar Singh Institute of South Asian Studies announces an international interdisciplinary academic conference, Regional Security and Peacebuilding: Lessons from South Asia’s Conflicts, to be held from May 5-7, 2025. This is an important investigation into security and peacebuilding efforts in South Asia and beyond and provides opportunities for scholars, diplomats, policy analysts, and peace practitioners to contribute.
Conflicts characterize the South Asia region—Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Myanmar—all in need of peace. This proposed conference attempts to analyze the precarious position of these areas through case studies presented via archival/field research and theoretical engagement. As such, we will pay attention to the nature of international mediation, regional agencies and efforts, intranational forces, and peace efforts to determine what has worked and failed thus far in the peace process. At the same time, we seek to question complicating factors that work against successful peace efforts—state fragility, increasing sectarianism and geopolitical tensions, and expanding webs of transnational terrorism.
Dr. Rajiv K. Menon’s keynote address seeks to answer whether regional agencies can engage in active conflict prevention once the wheels are set in motion through proactive cooperatives as seen with SAARC and BIMSTEC. Dr. Andrew Hyunwoo Kim’s featured presentation attempts to explore whether metaverse realities via digital governance may render effective security sector reform in impermanent and vulnerable states.
Workshops will train students and professionals in conflict resolution via simulation over three days, culminating in a morning roundtable on day three to attempt solutions toward normative frameworks and policy recommendations for sustainable peace in this volatile region.
Registration: Open until April 30, 2025; limited space makes early registration encouraged.