A postcolonial approach to Nepal's geopolitics, hydro-politics, and border-politics

Postcolonial approaches have challenged as parochial the conventional International Relations frames and their limited one-dimensional consideration of power. Study of Nepal as an international actor remains dominated by conventional IR that prioritises the interests and views of great powers like China and India. In this context, considering the case of Nepal’s relationship as a small state vis-à-vis its much larger neighbours India and China, I contend that a postcolonial approach allows us to reveal hitherto marginalised relational dimensions and recognise the agency of Nepal as an international actor. The empirical focus is on key areas of geopolitics, hydro-politics and border-politics. The thesis identifies and highlights power asymmetry, representation, and resistance within a neo-colonial context that marks Nepal’s relations with China and India.
The thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge in two ways. Firstly, it applies a postcolonial approach to the study of Nepal’s relationship with its neighbours, which has been dominated by the mainstream IR realist/neo-realist approaches. This marks a shift from the conventional one-way interaction that was too focused on the great powers’ interests and actions, paving the way to unleash the hitherto marginalised form of ‘resistance’ and ‘agency’ of the small state, Nepal. Secondly, it encourages researchers to venture into new possibilities in their study on small states in the context of South Asia and beyond.