Mission
Knowledge, foresight, dialogue.
To generate knowledge, foresight, and dialogue that empowers people, institutions, and societies across Asia to shape equitable, sustainable, and flourishing futures for the region and the world.
A new intellectual initiative
Imagining Asia,
Shaping Tomorrow.
The Centre for Asian Futures thinks rigorously and imaginatively about the choices that will shape Asia over a ten-to-fifty-year horizon, and amplifies diverse Asian voices in making them.
An initiative of AIDIA, Think Tank & Graduate School, Lalitpur, Nepal
Call for Papers
Asian Futures inaugural issue, January 2027 · Submissions close 15 October 2026
About the Centre
Asia stands at an extraordinary inflexion point.
Home to more than half of humanity, the world’s fastest-growing economies, ancient civilisations navigating rapid transformation, and some of the most consequential geopolitical dynamics of the twenty-first century, the Asian region demands serious, sustained, and sophisticated intellectual engagement.
The AIDIA Centre for Asian Futures is established in recognition that the choices made across Asia in the coming decades in governance, technology, ecology, culture, and human development will shape not only the lives of billions of Asians but the trajectory of global civilisation itself. The Centre exists to think rigorously and imaginatively about those choices, to amplify diverse Asian voices in shaping them, and to build the knowledge and capacities needed to navigate them wisely, across a ten-to-fifty-year horizon.
The choices made across Asia in the coming decades will shape not only the lives of billions of Asians but the trajectory of global civilisation itself.
Vision
Asia’s futures, led by Asians.
A world in which Asia’s futures are imagined, designed, and led by Asians, grounded in the region’s diverse wisdom traditions, responsive to its contemporary realities, and oriented toward the long-term wellbeing of its peoples and the planet.
Core Purpose
A hub for futures thinking.
- Leading intellectual hub for Asian futures
- Bridge scholarship, policy & civil society
- Elevate forward-looking Asian voices
- Evidence-based foresight for institutions
- Foster a new generation of thinkers
Thematic architecture
Six mandate areas, one region.
Geopolitics & Strategic Order
Strategic competition, conflict prevention, and pathways to stability across a multipolar Asia.
Technology & Digital Futures
AI, biotechnology, and digital platforms reshaping Asian societies, economies, and governance.
Governance & Political Futures
Political systems, institutions, and the search for legitimate, capable governance across Asia’s diversity.
Economic & Development Futures
Trajectories of growth, structural transformation, and the future of work in Asian contexts.
Ecological & Climate Futures
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pathways to sustainable development in the Asian context.
Social, Cultural & Human Futures
Demography, urbanisation, migration, identity, and the building blocks of human flourishing.
What we do
Six functions, one purpose.
Research
Original, commissioned, and collaborative scholarly research across all six thematic mandate areas, meeting the highest international standards while remaining grounded in Asian realities.
Foresight & Strategic Analysis
Rigorous foresight methodologies to support anticipatory thinking about Asia’s futures, partnering with governments, international organisations, and the private sector.
Dialogue & Convening
A convener of diverse stakeholders in productive dialogue, from high-level forums to deliberative dialogues engaging citizens and communities across the region.
Knowledge Translation & Communication
Translating complex research into accessible, actionable knowledge for diverse audiences, from decision-makers to the broader public.
Capacity Building & Education
Investing in the next generation of Asian futures thinkers and practitioners through fellowships, executive education, and academic partnerships.
Advisory & Applied Engagement
Offering expertise in support of practical policy and institutional challenges, with embedded engagement on specific futures questions.
Inaugural Issue | January 2027
Call for Papers
Asian Futures: A Post-Disciplinary AIDIA Journal
Decolonising Knowledge. Reimagining Asia.
Understanding Multipolarity. Governing the Age of AI.
The international order is being transformed by shifting centres of power, new institutions, technological change, diverse intellectual traditions, and competing visions of the future.
The central question is
What kind of international order is Asia helping to create?
Asian Futures brings together scholarship and policy perspectives that examine the changing international order from Asian and Global South perspectives. The journal adopts a post-disciplinary approach, connecting international affairs with history, political economy, strategic studies, development, technology, sociology, geography, and related fields.
Journal themes
Decolonisation & Asian Futures
- Asian IR theory
- Decolonial frameworks
- Knowledge hierarchies
- Sovereignty discourses
- Regional order formation
Global Order, Multipolarity & Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Strategic autonomy
- Institutional reform
- Geoeconomic competition
- AI geopolitics
- Digital sovereignty
Economy, Security & Strategic Transformations
- De-dollarisation trends
- Supply chain reconfiguration
- Maritime security in Asia
- Regional security architectures
- Strategic doctrines
Development & Climate Futures
- Energy transition pathways
- Climate finance systems
- Green industrialisation
- Climate governance regimes
- Nepal in the emerging Asian order
Engendering Economics & Inclusive Futures
- Gender & development economics
- Care economy & social protection
- Feminist political economy
- Labour, migration & informal economies
- Intersectionality & social justice in Asia
Partnerships
A global institution, for ideas, collaboration, and impact.
Our work transcends borders, disciplines, and regions, bringing together scholars, policymakers, practitioners, institutions, and communities from across the world. We believe that the most important questions of our time about development, diplomacy, technology, governance, sustainability, peace, and human progress cannot be understood through a single national or disciplinary lens.
Asian futures cannot be understood without understanding the world.
Asia is deeply connected to global economic, political, technological, environmental, and cultural transformations. At the same time, the future of the world cannot be understood without recognising the ideas, experiences, aspirations, and contributions of Asia. Our perspective is therefore both globally informed and deeply connected to Asia, bringing the world into conversation with the region and the region into the wider global dialogue.
We welcome partnerships with universities, think tanks, governments, international organisations, businesses, foundations, civil society organisations, and other knowledge institutions seeking to exchange expertise, develop collaborative research, convene meaningful conversations, nurture emerging leaders, and translate ideas into impact.
For scholars
Contribute & collaborate
- Fellowship programmes for emerging scholars
- Submit to Asian Futures journal
- Collaborative research partnerships
- Visiting scholar engagements
For partners
Commission & co-convene
- Governments & international organisations
- Commissioned research & foresight studies
- Co-convene forums and Track-2 dialogues
- Universities & think-tank partnerships
For supporters
Invest in Asian futures
- Philanthropic foundations & individual donors
- Research grants & endowed fellowships
- Conference & convening support
- Diversified funding protects independence
Asian Futures journal
Editorial Board
Prof. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed
Dhaka
Prof. Thakur Singh Powdyel
Thimphu
Dr. Wang Zhen
Shanghai
Dr. Ashis Nandy
New Delhi
Prof. Kuo Hua Chen
Taipei
Dr. Nur Anisah Abdullah
Kuala Lumpur
Prof. Surichai Wun’gaeo
Bangkok
Amb. Mustafa Osman Turan
Istanbul
Prof. Dr. Miwako Hosoda
Yokohama
Dr. Shin-wha Lee
Seoul
Get in touch
Let’s think about Asia’s futures together.
Whether you wish to submit to the journal, commission research, or partner with the Centre, we would be glad to hear from you.
asianfutures@aidia.edu.npMitra Marga, Chakupat,
Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Ward No. 11
Lalitpur, Bagmati Province, Nepal asianfutures@aidia.edu.np asianfutures.aidia.edu.np