Manish Thapa's Page

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs)

MANISH THAPA is currently a Doctoral Research Candidate in International Studies at the University of Tokyo working on his research project titled: From Bullet to Ballot: The Politics of Peacemaking in Nepal. He is recipient of prestigious Robert McNamara Fellowship (2009-2010) from the World Bank & prestigious RONPAKU Fellowship (2008-2011) from Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences (JSPS). He is also associated as Visiting Research Fellow at Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at University of Notre Dame, USA. He was Sauvé Research Fellow at McGill University in Canada (2006-2007). He received his Bachelors degree in Development Studies from Kathmandu University, and Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from Austria’s European University – Centre for Peace Studies. He was Founding Executive Director (2006-2008) of the Asian Study Centre for Peace & Conflict Transformation (ASPECT). In 2005, Manish founded the Nepal Peace Initiative Alliance, which was instrumental in the establishment of the Ministry of Peace & Reconstruction in Nepal. He also played a key role in establishing the Department Conflict, Peace & Development Studies Program at Tribhuvan University, where he is now associated as a core faculty member. He is also Visiting Faculty at Nepal Army Command and Staff College where he teaches courses on Peace & Security. He is co-chair of the Internal Conflicts Commission at the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and Council Member of the Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA). He is on the Research Committee on Centre for Global Non-killing (CGNK). Currently he is leading a team of international peace builders in institutionalizing South Asian Peace Academy (SAPA) which will be state-of-art Peace Academy in South Asia.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise

Nepal & All South Asian Countries

What is your current country of residence?

Nepal

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Director - Asian Study Center for Peace & Conflict Transformation - ASPECT

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.aspect.org.np

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://www.sarcan.info

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?

Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Conflict Mainstreaming, Democratization, Development, Education, Gender

Which are your primary skills areas?

Advocacy, Evaluation, Fundraising, Program Administration, Program Design

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

Collaborative Book Project titled: "Action Research for Peacebuilding Practice" on research stage jointly with Prof. John Paul Lederach and several colleauges worldwide.

Bullet to Ballot: The Politics of Peace Making in Nepal - (PhD. Research Project at Department of International Studies at University of Tokyo)

From Rebellion to Politics: Transformation of Rebel Groups into Political Parties in Armed Conflict: A Case Study of Maoists Party of Nepal (Research project of Asian Study Center for Political & Conflict Transformation - ASPECT)

Building National Infrastructure for Peace: Prospects & Challenges (Panel Discussion at 4th Global Summit for Ministries & Department of Peace September 2008 in Sydney, Australia)

Understanding Maoist Insurgency of Nepal: Context, Cost and Consequences (Presenting the Paper on International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Conference in July 2008)

Institutional Approaches to Gender Policies in Post Conflict Reconstruction – A Case Study of World Bank (Presenting the Paper on International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Conference in July 2008)

If appropriate feel free to list several of your publications

"The Role of Civil Society, Government and Political Parties in Peacebuilding" in The New Dynamics of Conflict in Nepal, edited by Bishnu P. Poudel & Hari Bansh Jha (2009);

"From Conflict to Peace: The Role of Young People in Creating New Nepal" in Young People, Education, and Sustainable Development: Exploring Principles, Perspectives, and Praxis, edited by Philip Osano & Peter Blaze Corcoran (2009);

Nepal Climate Change and Security Factsheet, co-authored with Dr. Christian Webersik for United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo (2008);

"Maoists Insurgency in Nepal: Context, Cost & Consequences" in Afro-Asian Conflicts: Changing Contours, Costs and Consequences, edited by Dr. Seema Shekhawat and Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra (2008);

"Ministry of Peace & Reconstruction in Nepal: A Foundation for Peace" in Joint Action for Prevention: Civil Society & Government Cooperation on Conflict Prevention & Peacebuilding, edited by Paul Van Tongeren & Christine van Empel (2007);

Institutional Approaches to Gender Policies in Post Conflict Reconstruction – A Case Study of World Bank (2006);

“Back to Negotiations: Diagnosis & Prognosis of Future Negotiation Process of Nepal” in EPU Research Paper Series (2006) and

Understanding Maoists Insurgency from Wider Perspective in GDN Research Paper Series (2005).