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Thu Hien Phan

Thu Hien Phan

PhD Candidate
Arts, Design & Architecture
School of Social Sciences

Email: hien_thu.phan@unsw.edu.au

Supervisors: Alexander Korolev, Andrea Benvenuti

I am an International Relations researcher specialising in geopolitical security and currently conducting doctoral research on ASEAN regionalism at UNSW. I am interested in Asia Pacific security and politics. My research has been published by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Asian Development Bank institute, Pacific Review, Southeast Asia Globe and The Young Diplomats.

Prior to UNSW, I was with Vietnam’s State Audit Office, a constitutional agency reviewing national budget and economic activities. I was responsible for the Office’s cooperation with international bodies like the EU, International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutes (INTOSAI), and Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutes (ASOSAI), focusing on policy and best-practices exchange.

Before that, I was at South Korea’s national development institute researching Chinese government leadership and its effects on domestic and international policies.

I hold a bachelor in International Relations from Bath University in the UK and a Master in Global Politics from the London School of Economics.

Politics of domestic legitimacy enhancement and Southeast Asian states’ strategies of engaging within ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
  • Abb, P., Tan, J., and Phan, T.H (2023). The Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia: a delicate balance between external and internal security. In: Towards Sustainable Security for Asia and Europe. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
  • Phan, T.H., Estrada, L.G., Mengdavid, T., and Pendrakowska, P. (2023). The EU and ASEAN in the Context of Major Powers’ Rivalry: Engaging with Intergovernmental Regional Organisations to Hedge. In: Towards Sustainable Security for Asia and Europe. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
  • Phan, T. H. (2022). ASEAN is Vietnam’s Platform to Diversify Relationships with Major Powers. Southeast Asia Globe.
  • Pan, G. and Phan, T. H. (2022). The Transformation of the Asymmetry: The Evolution of Philippines’ and Vietnam’s South China Sea policy and the asymmetry of attention. The Pacific Review.
  • Nguyen, D. D., Phan, T. H., and Mai, T. C. H. (2022). ADBI Development Case Study No. 2022-3 (September): Tackling Unequal Access to Digital Education in Vietnam during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Asian Development Bank Institute.
  • Phan, T. H. (2021). Thinking about China’s Active Engagement in Global Free Trade. The Young Diplomats.
  • Phan, T. H. (2016). Comparative analysis of territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam: Award-winning Papers Collection.