Devika Jain

I am a second-year MPhil student in International Relations and a member of Wadham College. My research examines the proliferation of International Commercial Courts (ICommCs) and the changing nature of jurisdiction, territory, and sovereignty in the international. My thesis investigates the relationship between law and capital and contextualizes ICommCs within a broader history of judicial spaces overseeing commerce. In the autumn of 2026, I will be pursuing a Juris Doctor (JD) at the University of Toronto.

China–Russia Relations and Allies and Subsidized Capacity Building

What is the nature of Sino-Russian alignment, its main drivers, and its evolution since 1949? Which factors have influenced the relationship most? How does the nature of this alignment affect peace, stability, and the liberal international order? Existing alliance literature does not fully explain why two great powers, China and Russia, with a history of ideological differences, asymmetric capabilities, and shifting threat perceptions have periodically deepened, downgraded, and reoriented their military cooperation since 1949.

Provost’s talk with Baroness Debbonaire: ‘Global Politics, the UK Culture Sector, and Support for the Creative Industries’

Join Baroness Thangam Debbonaire in conversation with Oriel College Provost and former UK government Culture Commissioner Lord Mendoza.

Debbonaire is a Labour peer and was a Labour MP for Bristol West from 2015-2024. During her time as an opposition MP, she held a number of shadow cabinet positions over a period of four years. Most recently she was the Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

How do solidaristic worker's movements emerge and what makes them sustainable?

How do solidaristic worker's movements emerge and what makes them sustainable? Maya will examine this question through a comparison of trade union politics in the US and UK at the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, both movements rejected government aid in favour of an exclusive set of trade union benefits. By the early twentieth century, the movements had diverged: whereas the British Trades Union Congress came to embrace universal state benefits, the American Federation of Labor clung to its exclusive benefits system and campaigned against state aid.

Hicks Lecture 2026

Labor Market Transitions: Measurement and Scalable Interventions
This talk considers several questions relating to labor market transitions. What workers face challenges with labor market transitions, and what interventions help? What are the mechanisms through which different types of workers can improve their outcomes? How can methods from machine learning and generative artificial intelligence be used to better understand the sources of disparities in labor market transitions?

Book Talk: Order without Hegemony

What comes after American hegemony? In this book, Acharya and Pardesi compare the interplay of power and ideas in the ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean to explain why the two regions took divergent paths to peace and stability. They also discuss its lessons for international order today. While the ancient Mediterranean order was shaped by the hegemony of Rome, the Indian Ocean developed an open and inclusive international order without the dominance of any single power.

Ahmed Azim Wazeer

Background

Azim is a DPhil candidate in Politics. His studies are generously funded by the Middle East Centre at St. Antony’s College and through a Doctoral Fellowship from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

France, Middle Powers and the Quest for a New Global Order

The global order is under assault from major powers. Normative and geopolitical revisionism have become widespread. This picture calls for a new partnership to reform and remake the international multilateral system, as well as to uphold rules, norms, and values. It is the middle powers that can take on this role. As both a middle power and a leading European actor, France is well-positioned to assume such a role.

Quotidian Social and Political Life in China: Documentary Screenings

Newton Niu is an award-winning documentary filmmaker from China, with nearly two decades of
experience working across state broadcast and independent production. His collaborative and independent
projects have received major international and Chinese awards, including recognition at IDFA and the
Sundance Film Festival.
Based on extensive fieldwork across almost all provinces in China, his work engages with contemporary
Chinese society, politics, and everyday governance, offering a distinctive ground-level perspective shaped
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QS WORLD RANKINGS FOR POLITICS & INT’L STUDIES: 2

BEST UK UNIVERSITIES FOR POLITICS – THE GUARDIAN: 1

THE WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS FOR POLITICS AND INT’L STUDIES: 1 IN THE UK