My preferred name is Nara, and I use she/her pronouns. I am a Visting Assistant Research Professor at AidData with a joint appointment at the William & Mary Department of Economics, a member of the Steering Group, and a Co-Founder of Diversifying and Decolonising Economics (D-Econ).
My dissertation research was on the political economy of peace and conflict, in particular, peace-building and ethnic reconciliation in conflict/post-conflict countries, where my primary case study was Sri Lanka. The work focused on subnational foreign allocation in conflict/non-conflict zones and the intersection of domestic governmental politics and international donor politics.
My more recent work focuses on the rise of non-traditional foreign aid donors, like the People's Republic of China or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the adverse impact of their development financing in the Global South.
Publications
Peer-reviewed
Sritharan, Narayani. (2024). "Unveiling Margins: Women, Caste, Class, and Post-War Development in Sri Lanka's North and East." In Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, Amjad Mohamed Saleem (Eds.), Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Sri Lanka (1st ed., pp. 194-206). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003300991
Sritharan, Narayani, Asad Sami, and Ammar A. Malik. (2023). "Continuity and change in Saudi Arabia’s Development and Humanitarian Aid." Third World Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2023.2288852
Sritharan, Narayani. (2023). "A Comparative Study of Traditional Donors and Non-traditional Donors in Sri Lanka." Orbis 67.4 : 579-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orbis.2023.08.007
Policy analysis
Samantha Custer, Bryan Burgess, Jonathan A. Solis, Narayani Sritharan, and Divya Mathew. "Beijing’s Big Bet on the Philippines: Decoding two decades of China’s financing for development." AidData. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani and Peter Rizkillah. "Navigating Sinophobia Amid Indonesia's Economic Ascent." 9Dashline. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani, Kritika Jothishankar, and Sarah Wozniak. "The Great Himalayan Chessboard: China, India, and the Geopolitical Gambit Nepal". Foreign Policy Research Institute. - Link
Carpenter, Charli, Jaeye Baek, Catie Fowler, Isha Mahajan, Jenna Norosky, Nara Sritharan, Imtashal Tariq, Caroline Williams. "Rethinking America's Women, Peace & Security Agenda in Afghanistan". Human Security Lab Briefing Note #2. 2022. - Link
Christensen, Lars, Narayani Sritharan. "EM Bond Snapshot". Danske Bank Market Research. Sep 2013 - Link
Christensen, Lars, Narayani Sritharan. "EMEA Weekly". Danske Bank Market Research. Sep 2013 - Link
OpEds and Blogposts
Tasler, Timmy and Narayani Sritharan. "Why Haven’t Sanctions Stopped Atrocities in Myanmar?". InkStick Media. 2024. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani. "Beyond Military Might: Rethinking the Trilateral Summit’s Approach to Regional Security". InkStick Media. 2024. - Link
Sarah Wozniak and Narayani Sritharan. "Perceptions vs. Realities: Discordant Narratives on China’s Footprint in Zimbabwe". InkStick Media. 2023. -Link
Kritika Jothishankar and Narayani Sritharan. "The Indo-Pacific is the Theater for The US and China’s High-Stakes Diplomacy". InkStick Media. 2023. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani and Jeffrey Crittenden. " Saudi Arabia is Trying to Use Sports to Repair Its Reputation". InkStick Media. 2023. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani and Yining Li. "Millions of Displaced Ukrainians Need more Financial Support". InkStick Media. 2023. - Link
Sritharan, Narayani. "Using GIS to mapping to reframe post-conflict aid distribution - Sri Lanka as a case study". Security in Context. 2021.- Link
YouTube content
Narayani Sritharan interviews Dr. Ryan Briggs for Security in Context: "Does Aid Target the Poorest with Dr. Ryan Briggs" - Link
Narayani Sritharan discusses "The Belt and Road's Impact on Partner States" at the Wilson Center. An event put together by the Foreign Policy Research Institute. - Link
Forthcoming
Horigoshi, Ana and Narayani Sritharan. "Uncovering African Leaders' Perceptions of China's Belt and Road Initiative". (book chapter)
Sritharan, Narayani, and Kritika Jothishankar. "Money Talks: How Remittances Contribute to Wealth Creation in Post-Conflict Communities". Accepted for Journal of International Development.
Under Review
Sritharan, Narayani. "How Public Opinions about the Central Government can Affect Reconciliation Processes in Postwar Countries – Evidence from Sri Lanka."
Sritharan, Narayani, and Yining Li. "Countering the Impact of Conflict: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Remittances on Investment and Consumption for Internally Displaced Households"
Jonathan A. Solis, Narayani Sritharan, and Sarah Wozniak. "Shaping Perceptions: Chinese Aid, Media Freedom, and Public Attitudes Toward China in Developing Nations".
Work in Progress
Horigoshi, Ana and Narayani Sritharan. "Aid and Corruption".
Sritharan, Narayani, and Magnus Lundgren. "The Impact of terrorist designations on Aid Allocation: Exploiting a Natural Experiment in Yemen"
Mary C. Fabrizio, Vaskar Nepal, Troy D. Tuckey, Rahul Ranjan, Hemanta Dhakal, David Edds, Kunwar Singh, Patton Burchett, Sapana Lohani, Narayani Sritharan, Ammar Malik, and Krishna Paudel. "Hurdles and Opportunities for Conservation of Fish Biodiversity in Nepal."