Marie Kwon

Please tell us about your research project.

I am a PhD student in International Relations (IR) at the Chair in Geopolitics of Risk (UMR 8241 République des savoirs, ED 540, ENS-PSL) and the Centre for the Study of War and Violence (ULiège), under the joint supervision of Professor J. Peter Burgess and Dr Julien Pomarède. I am also an Associate at Harvard University’s Asia Center. Supported by a FRESH scholarship from the F.R.S.-FNRS, my doctoral research sits at the intersection of Historical Sociology, Political Geography and Critical Security Studies.

My dissertation examines the emergence of the 'Indo-Pacific' as both a strategic, geographical and an epistemic formation (2014-2022). It asks how 'regional space' is imagined, institutionalised and contested, with particular attention to representations of time, space, infrastructure and nature in the Asian context. Drawing on 6 months of fieldwork conducted in Indonesia and South Korea in 2024, I centre the perspectives of Asian communities of practice and epistemic communities in an effort to investigate how imperial legacies, Cold War security practices, infrastructural politics and competing knowledge systems shape regional practices in Asia. My wider research engages with questions of ASEAN regionalism, Europe-Asia relations and critical approaches to International Relations scholarship. 

Could you please tell us a bit more about your scholarship/exchange programme?

I chose to stay at the Maison Française for my research stay in Oxford during Trinity Term 2026. During this time, I am a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Politics and International Relations, working under the supervision of Dr Meera Sabaratnam (New College).

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

Oxford lends itself beautifully to the final stages of the PhD. There is something in the rhythm of the place, its historic setting and its rich scholarly life that makes sustained immersion in one's writing possible.