KYAW HSAN HLAING

Welcome! I am a doctoral student in political science at Cornell University and a recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. 

I study comparative politics and international relations, with a focus on revolution, movement, regime change, violence, political culture, democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, and rebel politics. 

Prior to my doctoral studies, I worked as an independent journalist who reported on Myanmar’s crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflict, protests, and the 2021 military coup. My reporting from the frontlines has been featured in leading global outlets, including TIME, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, and Al Jazeera. I have also written for institutions such as the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, United States Institute of Peace, and the Stimson Center. 

At Cornell, I am an affiliate of the Center on Global Democracy, Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, and Southeast Asian Program (SEAP). I hold a BA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, following a seven-year gap after leaving the University of Distance Education at Sittwe University. 

I am proud to be the first in my family, from a rural village in western Myanmar, to graduate from high school.

To contact, kh827@cornell.edu.