Bérénice Guyot-Réchard

Bérénice Guyot-Réchard is a Reader (equivalent to Associate Professor) in International and South Asian History at King’s College London’s Faculty of Arts & Humanities. She specializes in the interconnected histories of state-making, nation-building, and geopolitics across South Asia and international relations, with a focus on border regions like the Himalayas and Indian Ocean.

• University of Cambridge (Research Fellowship at Emmanuel College)
• Graduate Institute, Geneva (Visiting Fellowship)

Her research bridges geopolitical transitions, decolonization, and borderland dynamics, informed by extensive publications including the award-winning Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910-62 (Cambridge, 2016) and co-edited South Asia Unbound (Leiden, 2023). Key themes include:

• International and transnational relations
• Frontiers, borders, and borderlands
• Decolonization and state-making
• Maritime spaces

Recent publications explore postcolonial diplomacy (e.g., Apa Pant’s role in India-Africa relations), Burma-India border complexities, and the Indian Ocean’s geopolitical evolution. Awards include the Philip Leverhulme Prize (2023), British Academy Rising Star Award (2018), and James Fisher Prize (2017).

• Philip Leverhulme Prize (2023) for The Glass Giant: India and the Making of an International World, 2024–2026
• British Academy Research Grant (2021–2024) for Breathing through water: Sri Lanka’s diplomacy and the sea, 1960s-1980s

She founded the New International Histories of South Asia (NIHSA) network, hosting events like the Archives & Policy series (2025) and panels at the Association for Asian Studies conference (2024). Her work intersects with UN Sustainable Development Goals for peace, justice, and global partnerships.