“Dr Barton has always been fascinated with the dynamism and cultural diversity of the East and immersed himself into studying the impact of China’s grand “Belt & Road” Initiative (BRI).”
DR BENJAMIN BARTON
Associate Professor and Head of School
School of Politics and International Relations
Born in Winchester, raised in Normandy, worked across Asia and now settled in Malaysia, Dr Benjamin Barton is a study of cultural mixes. By a quirk of fate, he found himself at the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) campus’s steps seven years ago and has not looked back since.
As the current Head of the School of Politics and International Relations, he brings level-headed pragmatism to a field of study usually described as dry and theoretical.
Dr Barton has always been fascinated with the dynamism and cultural diversity of the East and immersed himself into studying the impact of China’s grand “Belt & Road” Initiative (BRI) and, as part of a policy brief series organised by the 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ of Nottingham’s Asia 188体育网址_188体育在线-【唯一授权网站】@ Institute, the UK’s role in it.
This led to him sitting on a panel with the then UK’s Special Envoy to the BRI and a Chinese Minister attached to the Embassy in London to discuss the BRI in an event organised at the Asia House (London).
His role in this panel burnished his credentials as an expert in Eastern political studies and he returned to Malaysia, catching one of the last flights out of the UK as the pandemic closed all travel across the world.
As classes moved online and face to face interaction was curtailed, Dr Barton started writing a book on the BRI. The book was subsequently published after many rewrites on very tight schedules. He described it as the most intense period of work and study of his academic life.
As the Head of School, Dr Barton is now focused on realigning the university’s role into a center of study specialising in ASEAN and more broadly Asian politics and strategic relations. His school and the university have pivoted from a formerly Eurocentric focus based on the parent university’s curriculum.
He envisions UNM as having more impact on actual policy making by engaging with key stakeholders in government and think tanks. His choice of staff reflects this and a new breed of academics with vast experience in realpolitik now hold the teaching reins in the School.
With a daughter and a son born and raised in Malaysia, Dr Barton is now settled into the local culture and is fully focused on the task at hand. That is to prepare his students to have a real impact on nation building and policy development.
To support this his academic staff must be able to effectively multitask as researchers and teachers, each building on their individual strengths to build a formidable team well into the future.