SOAS Anti-Corruption Evidence and the Institute for New Economic Thinking are convening a two-day conference for UK-based early career researchers working on governance, corruption, and related political economy issues in the Global South.

The conference will bring together early career and senior academics in a focused, discussion-led format centred on research exchange, mentorship, and network building.

Timed to coincide with the UK Anti-Corruption Summit 2026, the conference offers opportunities to connect emerging research with live policy debates and to engage with policy experts and practitioners working in the field.

Public Panel: Governance in a Fragmenting World
25 June 2026, 6:00–7:30 PM
Register here

What does the breakdown of the international rules-based order mean for anticorruption and accountability reform? The international rules-based order is under threat like never before, not only from authoritarian challengers but increasingly from major powers willing to disregard international norms and institutions in pursuit of their own interests.

For decades, incorporation into the global order was used as an incentive for governance and economic reform across developing and emerging economies. As that order fragments, new forms of geopolitical bargaining, competition, and deal-making are emerging between domestic ruling coalitions and competing global powers. Intensifying competition over technology, security, and economic influence is further reshaping incentives to comply with international rules and institutions.

Join our expert panel to explore what these shifts mean for governance, accountability, and reform. How can smaller states navigate an increasingly unstable international environment while still supporting domestic rule of law and institutional development?

Panelists

Keynote: Anna Bossman, Former Director of Integrity and Anti-Corruption at the African Development Bank; Former Ghanaian Ambassador to France

Joe Powell MP, UK Member of Parliament and Former Deputy CEO of the Open Government Partnership

Mushtaq Khan, Professor of Economics, SOAS University of London

Jonathan Papoulidis, Vice President, Food for the Hungry

Pallavi Roy, Professor of International Economics, SOAS University of
London (Moderator)

25 June 2026, 6:00–7:30 PM
Register here

Conference speakers:

• Alexandra Gillies, Organize Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
• Heather Marquette, University of Birmingham
• Jonathan Cushing, Oxford Policy Management
• Marc Ayoub, University of Galway
• Mushtaq Khan, Professor, SOAS University of London
• Mustain Zahir, Former policy adviser to the Interim government of
• Bangladesh
• Pallavi Roy, SOAS University of London
• Pamela Ogbozor, University of Nigeria Health Policy Research Group
• Simeon Obidario, SOAS University of London/Aluko & Oyebode
• Sunanda Nair Bidkar, INET
• Susan Hawley, Spotlight on Corruption
• Robert Barrington, University of Sussex
• Thomas Shipley, University of Sussex
  
  

EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHER PRESENTERS

• Caroline Cornier, University of Manchester | Paper: The Ivoirian Cocoa Settlement: Understanding commodity dependence with Political Settlements Analysis

• Catherine Angai, University of Sussex | Paper: Applying Behavioural Science to Anticorruption: Lessons from Nigeria

• Daniel Bernal-Serrano, LSHTM/SOAS | Paper: Procurement Corruption as a Health System Governance Vulnerability: Objective Evidence from Mexico’s COVID-19 Pandemic

• Denisse Rodriguez-Olivari, University of Glasgow | Paper: When Anti-Corruption Crusades Collapse: Narrative Competition and the Reversal of Peru’s Lava Jato

• Franco Serra, University of Oxford | Paper: Who Governs, Who Enters: Regulatory Proximity and the Political Construction of the Revolving Door in Argentina’s Executive
  
• Irakli Petriashvili, University of Sussex | Paper: Corruption and Procurement Fraud Indicator Analysis: ADB Funded Infrastructure Projects in the Global South

• James Sharrock, The Open University | Paper: Politically Viable Anti-Corruption Reform in Post-Disaster Reconstruction: Lessons from Nepal’s Building Back Better Experience

• Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, University of Sussex | Paper: The Norm of Asset Return: A Victim’s Perspective

• Mamunur Rashid Choudhury, University of Sussex | Paper: Addressing Economic Erosion in Anti-Corruption Enforcement: A Time-Value-

• Sensitive Asset Management Model for Bangladesh
  
  
• Prince Agwu, University of Dundee | Paper: Re-envisioning Anti-human Trafficking Response in Nigeria through an Anti-corruption Lens

• Sofia Castillo, University of Sussex | Paper: Urban Capture in the Global South: Elite Cartels, Moguls and Oligarchic Networks in City-Level Governance

• Thomas Shipley, University of Sussex | Paper: Why capture the weak state? Analysing the Relationship Between State Capture and Fragility
  

ORGANISERS

• Bikram Barman, INET Young Scholars Initiative
• Christina Kujur, INET Young Scholars Initiative
• Duncan Edwards, SOAS ACE
• Louise Ball, SOAS ACE
• Mushtaq Khan, SOAS ACE
• Pallavi Roy, SOAS ACE
• Sunanda Nair Bidkar, INET