Dr. Kira Huju
London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)
Expertise on
Countries: India, Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, Global South
Policy Areas & Themes: Defence & Security, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign Policy, Gender, Governance, History, Indo-Pacific, Institutions, Multilateralism, Politics, Religion, Strategic Partnerships
Bio
Kira Huju is a Fellow in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a British Academy Innovation Fellow at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), where she has been seconded as an India Research Analyst. She also serves as the India lead for Oxford University’s *Europe in a Changing World* programme, led by Sir Timothy Garton Ash, and is an India specialist in the Expert Working Group on Global Order convened by the European Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, she was a Departmental Lecturer in the International Relations of South Asia at Oxford University, where she completed her PhD in International Relations in 2020.
Her book, *Cosmopolitan Elites: Indian Diplomats and the Social Hierarchies of Global Order* (Oxford University Press, 2023), explores the domestic influences and socio-historical roots of Indian diplomacy, offering the first book-length analysis of caste in International Relations. She is currently researching Indian populism, "decolonial Hindutva," and the resurgence of Global South discourse in New Delhi.
special research expertise on
India
Global Order
Global South
Diplomacy
Political Theory
Rising Powers
Hindu Nationalism
Populism
Engagement experience includes
As India Research Analyst at the FCDO, covering Indian domestic, regional, and foreign politics.
References to and interviews on her academic research have appeared in The Economist, Foreign Policy, South China Morning Post, and Le Figaro, as well as the Indian Express, The Wire, Scroll, and Caravan.
She writes for Indian magazines and comments on Indian politics in Finnish media.
In testament to her public engagement on themes around India, she is recognised on the 2023 40under40 list of Next Generation Leaders on Indo-UK/Indo-EU relations by the Europe India Centre for Business and Industry.
Read a sample of Kira’s research outputs
“Cosmopolitan Elites: Indian Diplomats and the Social Hierarchies of Global Order”, Oxford University Press (2023) (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YcThEAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false)
“Saffronizing Diplomacy: the Indian Foreign Service under Hindu Nationalist Rule”, International Affairs (Volume 98, Issue 2, March 2022, pp. 423-441) (https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/98/2/423/6522060)
“How Decolonial Hindutva Marries Nativist Politics with Left-wing Vocabulary”, Scroll, 08.04. 2024 (https://scroll.in/article/1065727/how-decolonial-hindutva-marries-nativist-politics-with-left-wing-vocabulary)
