Dr Aniruddha Saha

Dr Aniruddha Saha holds a BA degree in Journalism and Communication Studies from Manipal University. From 2017 to 2018, he read for an MA degree in International Relations at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, as a Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and Dr Duncan Anderson scholar. Dr Saha successfully defended his PhD thesis in the same department in September 2023 and was elected as a Junior Research Fellow in Politics at St. John’s College, Oxford, starting from October 2023.

Teaching

Previous Teaching:
For the academic year of 2020-2021, Dr Aniruddha Saha taught undergraduate seminars at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London for the module ‘War in International Order’ (5SSW2049). In the same academic year, he also undertook teaching for developing study skills (non-crediting bearing seminar series) for BA undergraduate students at War Studies. At King’s College London, Dr Saha further supported teaching for the MA course ‘Theories, Concepts and Methods in International Relations’ (7SSWM079) in helping digitalise the required module readings on My Reading List and KEATS, post the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognition of his pedagogical skills and contribution to higher education, Dr Saha was awarded an Associate Fellowship from the Advance Higher Education in the United Kingdom.

Assigned Teaching:
In the Trinity term of 2024, Dr Saha will be teaching undergraduate tutorials for paper 297 (International Security and Conflict) at St. John’s College, Oxford.

Dr Aniruddha Saha’s scholarship uses an inter-disciplinary lens in examining identity construction, norms, international hierarchies, and stigmatisation approaches in nuclear governance. More specifically, his research focuses on: i) how states that showcase non-compliant behaviour by breaching the norms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons construct their deviance in nuclear governance, and ii) how these recalcitrant states manage and reason their deviance with dominant powers in the international system, in order to move towards de-facto or an implicit recognition of the former's nuclear programme.

Dr Saha’s PhD thesis examined how India’s deviant identity and nuclear relationship with the United States moved towards gradual normalisation, post the former’s 1974 nuclear test. At St. John’s College, Oxford, Dr Saha is working on publishing his first monograph that emerges from his doctoral thesis. Furthermore, he is also examining whether the Indian nuclear case could serve as a relatable study to the ongoing US and European negotiations in halting Iranian nuclear ambitions. This is being developed alongside Dr Saha being part of the Beyond Nuclear Deterrence working group, hosted by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, and funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

Dr Aniruddha Saha is also co-convening the Global Nuclear Order Working Group for the British International Studies Association.

Recent Publications

Selected Publications:

Peer-reviewed:
Saha, A. 2022. “Nuclear Stigma and Deviance in Global Governance: A New Research Agenda,” International Studies Quarterly, 66(3): sqac055. doi:10.1093/isq/sqac055.

Saha, A. 2022. “Addressing the Norms Gap in International Security Through the India-US Nuclear Relationship,” India Review, 21(2): 216-248. doi:10.1080/14736489.2022.2080488.

Other publications:
Saha, A. 2022. “CAATSA or no CAATSA: India Needs Time to Leave Russia’s Side,” March 11, South Asian Voices (Stimson Center). Available at: https://southasianvoices.org/caatsa-or-no-caatsa-india-needs-time-to-leave-russias-side/.

Saha, A. 2022. “Interpretivism and Hiring: The Problems of COVID-19 and Its Implications for Academic Research,” March 10, Duck of Minerva. Available at: https://www.duckofminerva.com/2022/03/interpretivism-and-hiring-the-problems-of-covid-19-and-its-implications-for-academic-research%ef%bf%bc.html.

Saha, A. 2021. “In the Shadow of Sanctions? US–India Relations and the S-400 Purchase,” January 29, E-International Relations. Available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2021/01/29/in-the-shadow-of-sanctions-us-india-relations-and-the-s-400-purchase

Awards and Distinctions

Selected:
British International Studies Association Founders Fund (2023)
The Humanitarian Trust Fund (2022)
Gilbert Murray United Nations Study Award (2022)
Royal Historical Society Research Expenses Grant (2021)
The British Society for the History of Science Research Grant (2021)