Ms Aishath Leesha

Leesha's doctoral research analyses the domestic and international dynamics of the Maldives as a democratizing small state in a region of great power rivalry.  

Her research discusses how the democratic political transformation of the Maldives has brought with it its own challenges, and demonstrates this through the various shifts in its democratic progress. It covers how, in less than two decades since its democratic transition, the Maldives went from a newly transitioned democratic state adopting democratic values to experiencing an abrupt disruption in its transition progress with the resignation of the first democratically elected president (also regarded as a coup de et); and how the country went through a phase of democratic backsliding towards authoritarianism, raising doubts about democratic sustainability in the small Islamic island nation; and most recently, how the Maldives shifts towards a revival of democratic norms. She further analyses the changes to the Maldive's foreign policy since the transition and observes that while the pattern in Maldives possesses similarities with other small states, there is limited research on in-depth analysis of the democratic process of the Maldives and its foreign policy orientation. Hence, to have a comprehensive understanding of the democratic progress of small states in general, her research aims to understand these challenges from the Maldivian perspective as a small state with a recent democratic transition that is nestled in a region of great geopolitical rivalry.