Since the Cold War, South-East Asia has been marked by a period of relative calm and stability. Yet this peace belies ongoing tensions, mistrust and stress in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and...
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Dylan M.H. Loh
Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
I am an Assistant Professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
I received my PhD at the Politics and International Studies Department, University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Dr Ayse Zarakol.
My peer-reviewed articles have been published in International Studies Review, Cooperation and Conflict, Pacific Review, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, International Relations of Asia-Pacific and the Australian Journal of International Affairs. I have also peer reviewed for Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Asian Security, Pacific Affairs, European Journal of International Security, Review of International Studies, International Affairs and Journal of Global Security Studies.
I am also the founding editor of ThePolitburo.org, an online magazine dedicated to the politics, policies and international relations of China.
Research Interests
- Chinese foreign policy
- Practice theory
- ASEAN politics
- Diplomacy
Education
PhD in Politics & International Studies
University of Cambridge
MSc in International Relations
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU
Publications
Defending China’s National Image and ‘Defensive Soft Power’: the Case of Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Revolution’
This study examines the pro-democracy protests of Hong Kong in 2014 and how the protests became sites for Beijing’s representations of Chinese national image(s). It argues that ‘defensive soft power’ can be used to understand...
Read more about this publicationThe ‘Chinese Dream’ and the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: narratives, practices, and sub-state actors
The ‘Chinese Dream’ (CD) and the ‘Belt Road Initiative’ (BRI) are signature programs of President Xi Jinping. Much of the scholarships on these two projects have concerned itself with either domestic propagandistic effects or external...
Read more about this publicationLiminal sovereignty practices: Rethinking the inside/outside dichotomy
Sovereignty is the core concept of international relations. Almost without exception, approaches to sovereignty in IR have followed a binary framing where sovereignty is seen to consist of two components: ‘internal’ versus ‘external’ sovereignty, ‘positive’...
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Research Interests
My work focuses mainly on Chinese foreign policy and, in particular, the politics and practices of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is heavily informed by practice theory..
Read more about my researchEducation
PhD
Cambridge University 
I completed doctoral studies at the department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge (2015-2019) under the supervision of Dr Ayse Zarakol, with Dr K.C Lin as my second supervisor. I received funding for my PhD through the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences International PhD Scholarship from Nanyang Technological University under the Ministry of Education’s ‘Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme’. During my time there, I was also Graduate Research Fellow at the Centre for Rising Powers from 2016 – 2018 and was supervisor for the final year undergraduate course – ‘China in the International Order’. Additionally, I was a Pre-Doctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen from Sept 2018 – March 2019.
Master's
RSIS 
I received my MSc (International Relations) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. I also spent a summer at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University as a visiting student in 2013. I found RSIS such a welcoming place that I stayed on after my Master’s degree to work as a research analyst with (then-Dean) Ambassador Barry Desker, for almost 2 years.
Bachelors
Nanyang Technological University 
I completed my Bachelor’s in sociology at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). I was placed on the Dean’s list twice in 2007 and 2008 and was awarded the Kwok Chin Yan book prize, given to top students, in 2007. I was also conferred the ‘NTU President Research Scholar’ title in 2008 for the research paper ‘The Construction of Singapore’s National Identity’ written during a 1 year research course. This foundational academic experience influenced my subsequent academic work, particularly in bringing social theory into my international relations research.