Ashok Swain
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ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain
@ashoswai.bsky.social
2.4K followers 96 following 560 posts

Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden
UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation
Editor-in-Chief, 'Environment and Security' Journal (Sage)
https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/staff?query=AA64 .. more

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Ashok Swain is a Swedish academic and public intellectual. He is a professor of peace and conflict research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. In 2017, he was appointed as the UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation and became the first UNESCO Chair of Uppsala University. .. more

Political science 53%
Sociology 30%
Posts Replies Media Videos

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 2d
“The Indus Waters Treaty operates in a relationship defined by deep mistrust, where technical legality rarely settles political fears” - My Two cents in this 'Foreign Policy' piece on India and Pakistan's Water Politics. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/16/i...
India and Pakistan's Water Politics Is Starting to Boil
Climate stress is rewriting the region’s rules of water sharing.
foreignpolicy.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 4d
Rebuilding occupied Gaza, after the war is not just a diplomatic or security challenge. It is an environmental one. Without safe water, clean land, and managed debris, reconstruction will only reproduce crisis. #MyPiece National Herald, 15 February 2026.

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 9d
Bangladesh votes on Feb 12 in a post-Hasina moment. For India, clinging to old loyalties is a strategic mistake. With Jamaat’s rise fueled by anti-India sentiment, Delhi’s safest bet is pragmatic engagement the BNP under Tarique Rahman. #MyPiece www.hardnewsmedia.com/2026/02/indi...
India and Bangladesh’s Ballot - Hard News
India and Bangladesh’s Ballot - Hard News - Election
www.hardnewsmedia.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 9d
Excited to Moderate This Important Conversation!

I’ll be moderating the “Environmental Peacebuilding in Transboundary River Catchments” webinar — part of the Path to Ottawa series on 10 Feb 2026 at 14:00 GMT.

www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/events/show/...
Events
www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 12d
The US–Iran standoff is no longer theoretical. Drones shot down, ships harassed, airstrikes already tested. Regime change by force will not contain Iran - it will ignite the region. Diplomacy is not weakness. It is necessity. #MyPiece

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 14d
Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead
The speakers:

Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute
Geoff Dabelko (Moderator), Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Service
Ashok Swain, Uppsala University a
Sarah Njeri, University of London

www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Wp...
Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead
YouTube video by Environmental Peacebuilding
www.youtube.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 14d
"Have you heard the saying: when you meet an Indian and a snake, kill the Indian first."

Terje Rod-Larsen to Jeffery Epstein on the Christmas Day, 2015.

This Racist Rod-Larsen is now a minister in Norway, and he wrote it as the President of International Peace Institute (2004-2020).

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 17d
We are recruiting 2 fully funded PhD positions in Peace & Conflict Research (Uppsala University, Sweden).
1 General PhD position (open topic within peace & conflict research)
1 PhD position focused on Nuclear Disarmament
Apply here: uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
2 Doctoral candidates in peace and conflict research
2 Doctoral candidates in peace and conflict research The Department of Peace and Conflict Research was established in 1971 to conduct peace research and offer courses in peace and conflict studies. Th
uu.varbi.com

Reposted by Carl Henrik Knutsen, Mark J. Brandt, Victor Asal , and 2 more

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 23d
We are hiring a Professor!
The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, the world’s leading research environments in the field, is now recruiting a Professor. We welcome applications from internationally recognized scholars. uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Professor of Peace and Conflict Research
Uppsala University announces a vacancy for a permanent position as  Professor of Peace and Conflict Research   At the Department of Peace and Conflict Research  The Department is one of the
uu.varbi.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 26d
Chabahar in Iran was India’s strategic gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia, and a quiet counter to Gwadar. Now, under renewed US pressure and tariff threats, New Delhi is winding down in all but name. The real winners? Beijing and Islamabad. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/chab...

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · 28d
My podcast with Newsweek — we break down what Trump is really up to with Greenland and what it might mean for NATO, Arctic security, and global power dynamics.
👉 Watch and listen here ▶️ youtu.be/YXdFYEHw2kM
What Trump Is Really Up to With His Greenland Conquest
YouTube video by Newsweek
youtu.be

Reposted by Ashok Swain

uupeace.bsky.social
UppsalaPeaceConflict @uupeace.bsky.social · 28d
In an interview for Newsweek, Professor Ashok Swain discusses Trump's plans for Greenland: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXdF...

@ashoswai.bsky.social
What Trump Is Really Up to With His Greenland Conquest
YouTube video by Newsweek
www.youtube.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 17
A Nobel Peace Prize cannot be given away. But it can be dishonored. Machado handing her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump has done precisely that, trading peace for proximity, law for leverage and principle for power. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1090...
By giving Trump her Nobel medal, Venezuelan Opposition leader has rewarded lawlessness
María Corina Machado has demonstrated that she does not care for the ethical foundations that make leadership legitimate.
scroll.in

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 17
Iranians deserve freedom from theocracy, not a return to dynastic rule or foreign military “liberation”. Replacing clerical authoritarianism with exiled monarchy backed by bombs would be a second betrayal, not a revolution. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/iran...

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 16
Condemning Iran’s brutal repression of protesters is necessary, but turning to military threats risks worsening the suffering of ordinary Iranians rather than holding the regime accountable. My comments to DW News. www.dw.com/en/us-donald...
Iran protest crackdown: What are the US's military options?
Since the start of the latest wave of protests in Iran, Donald Trump has been back and forth on US intervention. With the situation changing constantly, what do experts think are the options for the U...
www.dw.com

Reposted by Prakash Kashwan

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 15
“When the US shows it is willing to use force unilaterally in its own neighborhood, countries like China and Russia will assume the same logic applies elsewhere, including Asia" - My comments to AA v.aa.com.tr/3799385
‘Aggressive’ US approach in Western Hemisphere could affect rivalry with China, Russia: Experts
Interventionist policies in Latin America could reshape strategic competition with Beijing and Moscow, with spillover effects in Asia - Anadolu Ajansı
v.aa.com.tr

Reposted by Bessma Momani

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 10
An illegal US military operation in Venezuela & Europe’s uneasy silence are not isolated events but warning signs of a world where power replaces law, and where Europe may soon discover that losing moral courage today means losing leverage tomorrow, even over Greenland. #MyPiece

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 8
Trump withdraws the US from 66 international organizations - 31 UN bodies, and 35-non UN multilateral institutions. It is a signal that Trump doesn't see multilateral institutions serve American interests. Also, to show the US doesn't need NATO, the NATO needs the US.

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 7
Those dreaming of a European army are day-dreaming.
No shared strategic culture.
No unified political authority.
No common threat perception.
National armies answer to national voters—not Brussels.
Europe can coordinate and cooperate, but a real army needs sovereignty, not slogans.

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 5
Europe’s silence on Trump’s abduction of Venezuela’s president Maduro is not caution, it is consent. If Trump moves on Greenland tomorrow, Europe will have no moral or diplomatic leverage left to stop him. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/trum...
The dangerous acquiescence of Europe
The most dangerous response to Trump's invasion of Venezuela is to pretend it is someone else’s problem, writes Ashok Swain
www.nationalheraldindia.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Jan 3
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland will not erase Gaza, weaken Palestinian solidarity, or enhance security. It exposes legal hypocrisy, fuels instability in the Horn of Africa, and risks opening new fronts along the Red Sea. Strategic theatre, not statesmanship. #MyPiece

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 31
Wishing everyone a hopeful New Year 2026 — may it bring greater peace, deeper understanding, and renewed tolerance in our world. #HappyNewYear2026

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 24
Bangladesh and India need each other - Right wing politics on both sides and Indian media should not inflame bilateral tension and public anger. My comments to BBC. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Crisis in India-Bangladesh relations spirals amid violent protests
Recent deadly protests in Bangladesh are further straining Delhi's already frayed tied with Dhaka.
www.bbc.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 21
Link: www.nationalheraldindia.com/world/why-in...
Why India has no place in the ‘Pax Silica’ order
Pax Silica includes countries smaller than India, in both population and market size, some far more dependent on US security guarantees, and some with no pretence to ‘strategic autonomy’
www.nationalheraldindia.com

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 21
Indian media must stop pouring fuel on Bangladesh’s crisis. Branding student protesters as Islamists and framing Bangladesh as a security threat is reckless journalism that is accelerating anti-India sentiment after Osman Hadi’s killing. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1089...
Opinion: What India must do to help restore stability in Bangladesh
To treat the crisis primarily as a security problem guarantees deeper resentment and a neighbour that increasingly defines itself in opposition to India.
scroll.in

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 20
India’s exclusion from President Trump's Pax Silica is a strategic verdict on Modi's failed foreign policy. A US led tech bloc shaping the future economy has moved ahead without India, exposing the costs of Modi’s foreign policy built on symbolism, hedging & illusion. #MyPiece

Reposted by Ashok Swain

pkashwan.bsky.social
Dr. Prakash Kashwan @pkashwan.bsky.social · Dec 19
As India claims to be an emerging global power, it'd do well to invest some of its wealth to address climate change & climate inequalities at home. Climate change is not just an env/diplomatic issue: it's about human security. @ashoswai.bsky.social @thediplomat.com thediplomat.com/2025/12/indi...
Screenshot of the header of an article by Prakash Kashwan and Ashok Swain published in The Diplomat magazine. The title and the blurb reads as follows: India’s Climate Diplomacy Must Account for Domestic Inequalities Economic liberalization in India has shifted the emissions burden from more equal and developed states to less equal ones. This needs to change.

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 17
Shootings and shooting related deaths have gone down in Sweden. In 2022, which was the worst year in recent years, there were 390 shootings with a total of 62 fatalities. In 2025, there have been 143 shootings with 43 fatalities.

Reposted by Ashok Swain

uupeace.bsky.social
UppsalaPeaceConflict @uupeace.bsky.social · Dec 16
Today we celebrated the 40th anniversary of our PhD program. The faculty board took the formal decision on 14 November 1985. We are proud of all the amazing individuals who have earned their doctorate at the DPCR over the years and look forward to our 70th thesis defence in January!
Peter Wallenstee, Ashok Swain and Desirée Nilsson DPCR Staff kitchen filled to the brim. Peter Wallensteen gives a speach.

Reposted by Prakash Kashwan

ashoswai.bsky.social
Ashok Swain @ashoswai.bsky.social · Dec 14
Tuvalu's first climate migrants have arrived in Australia - More than a third ofTuvalu's 11,000 citizens applied for the new climate visa — a deal forged between the two countries to preserve Tuvaluan culture as the atolls disappear. www.abc.net.au/pacific/firs...
Tuvalu's first climate migrants arrive in Australia - ABC Pacific
Tuvalu's first climate migrants have arrived in Australia, beginning a historic relocation as rising seas threaten their island home.
www.abc.net.au