AIAS Seminar: 'From a Hot Spot to a Hope Spot: Science Diplomacy and Bhutan’s Survival Between India and China'

Abstract

Caught between the geopolitical rivalry of India and China and the disproportionate impacts of climate change, Bhutan faces intertwined geostrategic and geoclimatic vulnerabilities. Science diplomacy offers Bhutan a means to transcend asymmetric power relations and establish a collaborative climate framework with its two neighbours. Drawing on comparative regional experiences and climate governance mechanisms, Bhutan has the potential for trilateral cooperation on shared environmental challenges. Science diplomacy can enhance Bhutan’s agency and serve as a catalyst for broader Himalayan cooperation.

Short Bio

Sonam Kinga, a member of the teaching faculty at Bhutan’s Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies, is also a 2025 World Fellow at Yale University. During Bhutan’s historic transition to democracy in 2008, he served as a member of the parliament for 10 years. His research focuses on Bhutan’s history, politics and foreign relations. His major publications are Democratic Transition in Bhutan, Routledge 2019, White Dragon and Red Dragon: Bhutan’s historical and geopolitical encounters with China, and The Contractual Monarchy: Modern Buddhist Kingship in Bhutan, RIGSS 2025 and 2026.

What is an AIAS Seminar?

The AIAS Seminar Series is a session of seminars held by the AIAS fellows, AIAS Visiting or Tandem Fellows or by other speakers proposed by the fellows. In each seminar, a fellow will present and discuss her/his current research and work-in-progress to an interdisciplinary audience for 30 minutes, closing off with 30 minutes for questions, comments and discussion.

All seminars are in-person and held in English. To attend online, please contact us at info@aias.au.dk by 9:00am on the day of the seminar as the latest to request a link.