Anjana Basu is the author of six novels. She has had a book of short stories published by Orient Longman; the BBC has broadcast one of her short stories, and her poems have featured in an anthology brought out by Penguin India. She has appeared in The Antigonish Review. The Edinburgh Review and The Salzburg Review have also featured her work. In 2003, Harper Collins India brought out her novel Curses in Ivory. In 2004, she was awarded a Hawthornden Castle Fellowship in Scotland where she worked on her second novel, Black Tongue, published by Roli in 2007. She has worked on the dialogues for the film, The Last Lear, directed by Rituparno Ghosh.
Hao Junyi (éƒä¿Šé€¸) is a Masters’ degree student of Law at the Department of International Politics, School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University, China. Her current research focuses on the role of non-governmental organisations in global governance. This book review represents an effort by Hao Junyi to specialise in broader research and critique of scholarly work on International Relations and China. Her forthcoming research article is on the location of the concept of leadership in Chinese academic discourse.
Koushik Goswami is a PhD Research Fellow at the Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The title of his PhD research project is: “Nation and Diaspora in Select Works in English by Contemporary Diasporic Authors from Tibet and Nepal.” He completed his MPhil at the Department of English and Culture Studies of the University of Burdwan. The title of his MPhil dissertation was: “Gazing at Tibet: A Study of Kaushik Barua’s Windhorse and Jamyang Norbu’s The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes.” He has presented research papers at international and national level seminars. He has published articles in journals, and in an edited book. Two of his recent articles are: “The Politics of Fencing and Exchanges of Enclaves: A Study of the Indo-Bangladesh Border” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), and “Nation and Diaspora in Manjushree Thapa’s Select Stories” (University of Burdwan). His areas of interest are South Asian Literature, Diaspora Studies, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Literature.
Shubhrajeet Konwer is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Gauhati University. He completed his MA and MPhil programmes at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. In 2010, he was awarded a PhD at Gauhati University in Guwahati, Assam for his work on international borders in Northeast India. His areas of interest are foreign policy, security and border studies. His most recent article is “Hallmarks of Current Indian Foreign Policy,” Indian Foreign Affairs Journal 13, no.3, July-September 2018. He has edited the book, Frontier States: Essays on Democracy, Society and Security in North East India (DVS Publishers, 2015). He has completed several research projects sponsored by the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, government of Assam, and the Axom Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, Guwahati. He keenly follows issues of electoral politics in India and has been involved with the activities of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi.
Leng Sochea holds a PhD (2018) in Business Administration from Asia Europe University, Phnom Penh, Cambodia; as well as an MBA (2005) from the National University of Management; a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (2002) from the National Institute of Management; and a Bachelor of Law degree (1999) from the Royal University of Law and Economy, all located in Phnom Penh. His varied career began as a worker making fishing nets at a Khmer Rouge factory from 1975 to 1979. Currently, he is an Adviser to the Chairman of the Cambodian National Election Committee since 2016, a rank equal to the Secretary General of the NEC. Concurrently, he is the Permanent Vice-Chairman of the Governing Council of the Cambodia Mine Action Centre, since 2013, ranking equal to a minister. He was the Vice Chairman of the Governing Council of the Cambodia Mine Action Centre in2011-2012, and Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodia Mine Action Authority during2000-2011. He attended the Senior Mine Action Management course at Cranefield Army University in the UK in 2002, a Law and Economics Awareness course at L’Ecole Royale Administration, as well as training courses at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Earlier, he was the Head of the Public Information Office and the Spokesperson of the National Election Committee from 1998 to 2006, and a Deputy Director General at the Information Ministry from 1994 to 2000. He began a career in government working as a Department Director at the Media Centre of the Information Ministry in1992-1994. Earlier, he was a journalist for the Japanese newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun, in 1991-92, reporting on the United Nations’ Transitional Authority in Cambodia.
Jayanta Kumar Ray is National Research Professor, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, and Honorary Professor, Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, University of Calcutta. His previous assignments include Chairman, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata; National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi; Centenary Professor of International Relations, and Founder-Director, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Calcutta; Senior Research Associate, Institute for Defense Studies & Analyses, New Delhi; Senior Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; and Reader, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University. A brief sample of his publications may be noted: Cross-Border Terrorism: Focus on Pakistan (2016); India’s Foreign Relations, 1947-2007 (2011); India: In Search of Good Governance (2001); To Chase a Miracle: A Study of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh (1987); Administrators in a Mixed Polity (1981); Public Policy and Global Reality (1977); Portraits of Thai Politics (1972); Democracy and Nationalism on Trial: A Study of East Pakistan (1968); Security in the Missile Age (1967); and Transfer of Power in Indonesia 1942-49 (1967). He has co-authored and edited several books and has published important articles in national and international journals.