Dr. Marina Kaneti is Assistant Professor at the LKY School of Public Policy. She specializes in the geopolitics of global governance, particularly in the context of migration, climate change, and technology. Her research deploys a mixed method approach, drawing primarily on discourse analysis, visual sources, and archival documents.

She is concurrently working on three research projects:

“The Belt Rights Initiative,” explores the nexus of mobility and foreign policy, particularly in the context of China’s Belt Road. As part of this work, she is compiling an original dataset tracking the Chinese government responses to the killings and exploitation of Chinese workers overseas.

“Geopolitics of Maritime Heritage,” explores the political agency of states and communities in creating alternative narratives of transboundary mobility and maritime identities. As part of this work, Dr. Kaneti has curated a digital platform documenting ancient and modern interactions along the Silk and Spice Routes, and the geopolitical impact of the Belt Road initiative. The “Visual Archives of the Silk and Spice Routes,” funded by a NUS Start-up grant and Ford Foundation fellowship, contains 7000+ images, stories, and short movies.

“Knowledge production in the age of AI,” explores processes associated with Machine Learning and the effects such processes have on knowledge production. Her current research focuses is on the effects using AI in the context of migration governance and curation of world heritage. Dr. Kaneti recently published a longitudinal dataset showcasing Generative AI representations of “migrants.” She also co-produced a documentary exploring some of the challenges to heritage digitization.

Dr. Kaneti’s publications appear in a number of peer-reviewed journals including Citizenship Studies, Journal of Global Ethics, Sustainable Development, Human Rights Review, etc. She also publishes op-eds in The Diplomat. She is currently finalizing a book monograph on migrants’ political agency.

Since AY 2022/2023, Dr. Kaneti has been teaching three Electives: “Geopolitics of Heritage,” “Century 21: Global (In)Securities;” and “Drones, Data, Drawings: Visual Politics in IR.” Previously, she taught the MIA Core Course on Global Governance and was the MPP Coordinator for the Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE).

Dr. Kaneti is the recipient of the 2021 NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award and the 2021 LKYSPP Digital Educator Award.

Prior to her academic career, Dr Kaneti worked as Project Manager for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Equity Trader on Wall Street. She often engages as lecturer, workshop facilitator, and strategy consultant for international and non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and think tanks. In addition to her academic research, her expertise extends to topics such as Theory of Change, Capacity Building, Diversity and Gender, AI Ethics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Data for SDGs, Leadership and NGO Management, Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility, Design Thinking for Policy Makers, and Public Private Partnerships.

Visit her research on Google Scholar | Scopus | ORCID account | YouTube | Docu-Series| Podcasts