Jagannath Panda participated in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026 and the Korea Association of International Studies conference of 2026
June 30, 2026: Dr. Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, was a speaker at The Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026. He spoke in a panel titled “The Art of Pragmatic Diplomacy: Can Middle Power Partnership Serve as Korea’s Strategic Alternative in a Turbulent World Order? organized by the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, Seoul. Dr. Panda’s remarks have been covered in the Foreign Affairs Observer.
The other speakers of the panel were Dr. Amitav Acharya, Distinguished Professor, American University, Dr. Thomas Wilkins, Associate Professor, University of Sydney, Dr. Kei Koga, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Dr. Kuyoun Chung, Associate Professor, Kangwon National University, South Korea. This event was moderated by Dr. Wondeuk Cho, Director, Center for ASEAN-Indian Studies at the KNDA. Mr. Kang Myoung II, Senior Executive Director of the IFANS, delivered opening remarks. The Jeju Forum details can be seen here.
This panel focused on how Middle powers can cooperate with South Korea. In general, the panel analyzed that the second Trump administration has accelerated the resurgence of America First policies, the retreat of multilateralism, and the transactionalization of alliances, shaking the foundations of the postwar international order and rapidly eroding established structures of inter-state solidarity and cooperation. Amid this structural upheaval, many countries are pursuing diversification to secure greater strategic autonomy, with calls for stronger partnerships among like-minded middle powers growing louder. This session departed from that urgency – rigorously assessing whether meaningful solidarity and cooperation among middle powers, particularly U.S. allies and key partners, is genuinely achievable, and if not, what structural obstacles stand in the way. Beyond optimism alone, the panel discussed identifying concrete policy pathways for translating such cooperation into real strategic synergy, while exploring what role South Korea must play – not as a passive participant, but as an active architect and practitioner of pragmatic diplomacy in a reconfiguring world order.
Dr. Panda also spoke and participated in the Korea Association of International Studies conference of 2026 titled, “70 Years of Korean International Studies: Reconstructing the Theory-Practice Nexus in a National Interest-Centered World Order”. Dr. Panda presented on “Beyond BRICS: The Global South’s Quest for a New International Order” in the session titled “The Rise of the Global South and the Quest for an Alternative International Order”. This session was chaired by Prof. Kim Tae-Hyung of Soongsil University. The other panellists of the session were: Dr. Xue Li of the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing, Dr. Kim Dongsuk of the KNDA. The discussants of this panel were: Dr. Choi Kyong Jun of Konkuk University, Dr. Kim Hyungjong of Seoul National University, and Dr. Sung Jisun of the KNDA. This session explored the role and prospects for South Korea to cooperate with the Global South and how the Global South should have its own identity in a fragmented world order.
