Journal Article
Adhikari M (2025) Statebuilding Beyond Western Interventions: Rising Powers, Emerging Modes of Institution-Building, and the Implications for Peace Studies. Journal of Global Security Studies, 10 (2).
I am a Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling. I am a leading researcher on the engagement of non-Western powers in the global governance of peace and security agenda, and the political transitions in conflict-affected contexts in South and Southeast Asia. I have conducted field work in India, China, Japan, Myanmar and Nepal. I am currently working on: i) Troop Contributing Countries and their domestic engagement with UN peacekeeping norms; ii) citizen perceptions on the peace and political transition in Myanmar and Nepal; iii) localised peace agreements and their adoption of liberal norms; and iv) international infrastructure financing as a new arena of global competition.
Currently, I am a Co-Investigator of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceREP) project based at the University of Edinburgh where I lead the work on Myanmar. Additionally, I lead a separate FCDO-funded policy initiative called the Study Group on Myanmar which brings together domestic parties and international supporters/ friends of Myanmar to review, assess, and coordinate comparative learning on key issues facing Myanmar.
Prior to coming to Stirling, I worked at the University of Keele and Edinburgh. I also bring several years of experience of working in International Development, including for organisations like the Asia Foundation, the FIA Foundation, London, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, India, and Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council.
My book manuscript-Post Liberal Conflict Management: Indian and Chinese engagement in peacebuilding- is forthcoming (with Cornell University Press, 2026). I was a Fellow at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Japan in 2022. Following my research in Japan, I am currently co-authoring a book manuscript on Japan's peacebuilding engagement. I was also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Myanmar Studies, Sichuan University, China in 2017/2018. In 2025/26, I am a Visiting Faculty at Kathmandu University, Nepal
I serve as the Associate Editor for Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding.
Civil Society Scholars Award
Awarded by the Open Society Foundation to pursue research in Myanmar
Visiting Fellow- Waseda University
Daiwa Foundation- Small grant, Principle Investigator
A small grant to research on Japan's peacebuilding role in Asian conflict-affected states with partners from Waseda University, Tokyo.
Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceREP), Co-Investigator
Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, Principle Investigator
Journal Article
Adhikari M (2025) Statebuilding Beyond Western Interventions: Rising Powers, Emerging Modes of Institution-Building, and the Implications for Peace Studies. Journal of Global Security Studies, 10 (2).
Journal Article
Disaggregated mediation: the localisation of peace processes amid global and domestic fragmentation
Hodge J & Adhikari M (2025) Disaggregated mediation: the localisation of peace processes amid global and domestic fragmentation. European Journal of International Relations. https://journals.sagepub.com/home/EJT; https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661251331519
Article
Disaggregated mediation: the localisation of peace processes amid global and domestic fragmentation
Adhikari M (2025) Disaggregated mediation: the localisation of peace processes amid global and domestic fragmentation. European Journal of International Relations.
Policy Document
Pathways ahead for Myanmar: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities
Adhikari M (2024) Pathways ahead for Myanmar: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Pathways-ahead-for-Myanmar-Assessing-the-Challenges-DIGITAL.pdf
Book Chapter
Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in Asia
Adhikari M (2023) Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in Asia. In: Oxford: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies.
Book Chapter
Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in Asia
Adhikari M (2023) Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in Asia. In: United Kingdom: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies.
Article
Adhikari M (2023) Non-Western engagement in peace processes and the rise of ‘hedging’ by elites in conflict-affected states. Cambridge Review of International Affairs.
Article
Adhikari M (2023) Non-Western engagement in peace processes and the rise of ‘hedging’ by elites in conflict-affected states. Cambridge Review of International Affairs.
Working Paper
Leveraging Cooperation With India and China To Support ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus on Myanmar
Adhikari M (2023) Leveraging Cooperation With India and China To Support ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus on Myanmar. China-India Brief, 233. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/cag/publications/center-publications/publication-article/detail/leveraging-cooperation-with-india-and-china-to-support-asean-s-five-point-consensus-on-myanmar
Research Report
The role of ASEAN in the Myanmar’s post-coup crisis: Breaking the stalemate?
Adhikari M & Alexandra L (2023) The role of ASEAN in the Myanmar’s post-coup crisis: Breaking the stalemate?. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Myanmar-Policy-Brief-ASEAN-post-coup-crisis.pdf
Article
Framing ASEAN's Cooperation with India and China on the Myanmar Post-coup Crisis
Adhikari M (2023) Framing ASEAN's Cooperation with India and China on the Myanmar Post-coup Crisis. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 45 (2). https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/7863
Article
Adhikari M (2023) The BRI as an Iterative Project: Influencing the Politics of Conflict-Affected States and Being Shaped by the Risks of Fragile Settings. Journal of Contemporary China. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2023.2238630
Project Report
Community Research Network: Bridging Research Needs and Ethics
Adhikari M (2023) Community Research Network: Bridging Research Needs and Ethics. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. Edinburgh. https://peacerep.org/2023/06/09/community-research-network-needs-and-ethics/
Project Report
Community Research Network: Bridging Research Needs and Ethics
Adhikari M (2023) Community Research Network: Bridging Research Needs and Ethics. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. https://peacerep.org/2023/06/09/community-research-network-needs-and-ethics/
Research Report
The Role of Domestic Actors in China’s International Conflict Management
Adhikari M (2023) The Role of Domestic Actors in China’s International Conflict Management. Mariani B (Researcher), Adhikari M (Researcher) & Zhou Y (Researcher) Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. Edinburgh.
Article
'Formal Adoption - Informal Subversion': Limits of International Constitutional Assistance
Adhikari M (2023) ‘Formal Adoption – Informal Subversion’: Limits of International Constitutional Assistance. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2023.2202490
Policy Document
The Role of Domestic Actors in China’s International Conflict Management
Adhikari M (2023) The Role of Domestic Actors in China’s International Conflict Management. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. Edibburgh. https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Mariani-Adhikari-Zhou-2023-PeaceRep-Report-The-Role-of-Domestic-Actors-in-Chinas-International-Relations-compr.pdf
Book Review
All roads lead north: China, Nepal and the contest for the Himalayas
Adhikari M (2022) All roads lead north: China, Nepal and the contest for the Himalayas. Review of: All roads lead north: China, Nepal and the contest for the Himalayas. By Amish Raj Mulmi. London: Hurst. 2021. 328pp. ISBN: 9781787385399. International Affairs, 98 (6), pp. 2187-2189. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiac238
Article
"Negotiated Coexistence": Indian and Chinese Engagement in the Global Governance of Peacebuilding
Adhikari M (2022) "Negotiated Coexistence": Indian and Chinese Engagement in the Global Governance of Peacebuilding. International Studies Review, 24 (1), Art. No.: viac012. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viac012
Book Review
Operationalisation of Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia: From Theory to Practice
Adhikari M (2022) Operationalisation of Hybrid Peacebuilding in Asia: From Theory to Practice. Journal of Inter-Regional Studies: Regional and Global Perspectives, 5, pp. 17-22.
Research Report
Promises and Perils of Regional Response to Covid-19 in Asia
Adhikari M (2022) Promises and Perils of Regional Response to Covid-19 in Asia. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/17528?show=full
Research Report
Adhikari M (2022) Asian” Approaches to Peacebuilding?: Modalities, Convergences, and Differences in India, Japan and China’s Approach to Supporting Peace Processes. Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. Edinburgh, Scotland.
Article
Adhikari M (2021) Peacebuilding with ‘Chinese Characteristics’? Insights from China's engagement in Myanmar's peace process. International Studies Review, 23 (4), pp. 1699-1726. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viab039
Research Report
China in Transitionary Myanmar: Challenging paths to democratization and peace
Adhikari M (2021) China in Transitionary Myanmar: Challenging paths to democratization and peace. Peace Research Institute Frankfurt.
Article
Breaking the Balance? The Impact of Peacekeeping Deployments on Civil–Military Relations
Adhikari M (2020) Breaking the Balance? The Impact of Peacekeeping Deployments on Civil–Military Relations. International Peacekeeping, 27 (3), pp. 369-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2020.1733422
Other
Responding to Covid-19: The coming of age of regionalism in Asia?
Adhikari M (2020) Responding to Covid-19: The coming of age of regionalism in Asia?. [Blog] Political Settlements Research Programme.
Dataset
PA-X Local Peace Agreements Database and Dataset
Article
India in South Asia: Interaction with liberal peacebuilding projects
Adhikari M (2018) India in South Asia: Interaction with liberal peacebuilding projects. India Quarterly, 74 (2), pp. 160-178. https://doi.org/10.1177/09749284187667
Other
Ending the Political Transition? Analysing the Nepal elections from an inclusion perspective
Adhikari M (2018) Ending the Political Transition? Analysing the Nepal elections from an inclusion perspective. Political Settlements Research Programme. https://peacerep.org/2018/01/18/ending-the-political-transition-analysing-the-nepal-elections-from-an-inclusion-perspective/
Other
Myanmar’s Twin Transitions: Challenges and Choices
Adhikari M (2017) Myanmar’s Twin Transitions: Challenges and Choices. Political Settlements Research Programme. University of Edinburgh. https://peacerep.org/2017/08/31/myanmars-twin-transitions-challenges-and-choices/
Article
Politics and Perception of Indian aid to Nepal
Adhikari M (2014) Politics and Perception of Indian aid to Nepal. Strategic Analysis, 38 (3), pp. 325-340.