Gatty Lecture Series

*Please note this Gatty Lecture takes place on Wednesday, not Thursday*

Join us for a talk by Amitav Acharya, Distinguished Professor at the School of International Service, American University.

This Gatty Lecture will take place at the Kahin Center, 640 Stewart Ave. Lunch will be served. For questions, contact seap@cornell.edu.

Abstract

Southeast Asia is a “regional world” in a “world of regions,” a “poros region” that both shapes and is shaped by the changing world order. Drawing on his 30 plus years of research, Amitav Acharya reflects on how Southeast Asian studies has informed his perspectives on wider issues of global affairs and world order, and in return, how his scholarship on international relations theory and policy has informed his understanding of Southeast Asia. His theoretical work on constructivism and world order was deeply influenced by the scholarship of Cornell scholars, especially George McTurnan Kahin (Bandung Conference), O.W. Wolters (culture and localization), and Benedict Anderson (nationalism), while his contribution to the literature on Southeast Asia and ASEAN was shaped by Peter J. Katzenstein’s constructivist work on norms, culture and identity. Studying Southeast Asia, he argues, can help bridge the artificial divide between area studies and disciplinary (e.g. political science, history, and international relations) knowledge, and enrich both Southeast Asian Studies as well as social sciences and humanities.

About the Speaker

Amitav Acharya is Distinguished Professor and the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC. His books on international relations and world order include The Once and Future World Order: Why Global Civilization will Survive the Decline of the West (Basic Books, 2025); Divergent Worlds: What the Ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Can Tell Us About the Future of International Order, co-author with Manjeet S. Pardesi (Yale, 2025, winner of T.V Paul Book Prize from the International Studies Association); and The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR st Its Centenary (Cambridge, 2019, co-author with Barry Buzan). His articles have been published in journals including International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, World Politics, and Journal of Asian Studies. His books on Southeast Asia include The Making of Southeast Asia (Cornell, 2013); and Whose Ideas Matter: Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism (Cornell 2009); Tragic Nation Burma: Why and How Democracy Failed (Penguin Random House 2023); Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problems of Regional Order (Routledge 2001, 2002, 2014).