• Maritime Security
• Strategic Studies
• Nuclear Politics
• Feminist Security Studies

Shayesta has worked previously as a Teaching Assistant for Dr Happymon Jacob. In this role, she taught Dr Jacob’s course on Arms Control and Disarmament Diplomacy, at the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament (CIPOD), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has also interned at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Sapru House. She has published her research articles in academic journals, as online commentaries, and book chapters.

• PhD (Final Semester), Diplomacy and Disarmament Division, Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• MPhil, Diplomacy and Disarmament Division, Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• MA in Politics (with Specialisation in International Relation), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• BA (Hons) in Political Science, Cotton College, Guwahati

• Explaining the Role of Deterrence and Distrust in India’s Pursuit of Nuclear Sea Deterrence in the Light of the Completion of the Nuclear Triad, presented at the ‘Annual South Asia Conference by Ireland-India Institute, Dublin City University, online on 28-30 April 2021.

• India’s Nuclear Sea Deterrence Force Upgradation– New Areas to Scale in the Indo-Pacific, presented at the ‘A Nuclear Order in Flux? Surviving the Next 75 years…’, the Seventh Annual Conference of the British International Studies Association- Global Nuclear Order Working Group, online on 15-16 December 2020.

• Distrust and Domestic Contestations in India’s Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrence Development, presented at the Web Forum on New Threats, New Movements, New Nationalisms: The Risks and Securitisation of COVID-19, by the International Political Science Association (IPSA)-AISP Research Committee on Security, Conflict, and Democratisation (RC-44), online on 17-18 September 2020.

• Nuclear Restraint through Lower Numbers: A Case Study of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Disarmament Initiatives, presented at the 3rd Regional Conference: Asia-Pacific and World Order: Security, Economics, Identity and Beyond, organised by the International Studies Association (ISA), at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 6 July 2019.

• Gendered Militarisation and Measures for Counter-Terrorism, presented at the 3rd Regional Conference: Asia-Pacific and World Order: Security, Economics, Identity and Beyond, organised by the International Studies Association (ISA), at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 5 July 2019.

• The Impact of Domestic Political Contestations in the Pursuit of Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrence Capability of India and the United Kingdom, presented at the All India International and Area Studies Convention, 2019, ‘Ascending India: Reflection on Global and Regional Dimensions’, held in Jawaharlal Nehru University, 30 January – 1 February 2019.

• The Systemic Dynamics and the Logic of Nuclear Sea Deterrence, presented at the Young Scholars Conference 2018, ‘Conflict and Cooperation in Contemporary World Politics’, organised by the Centre for International Politics, Organisation, and Disarmament in Jawaharlal Nehru University, 20th November 2018.

• Gendered Militarisation and Measures for Counter-Terrorism, Participated and presented a working paper at the Counterterrorism and Global Security Project 2018: Author Workshop, held in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 6th October 2018.

• The Role of Distrust in the Case of Maritime Nuclear Security: A Study on India’s Tryst with Undersea Nuclear Deterrence and the Sino-Pakistani Connection, presented at the 10th All India Conference of China Studies, held in Goa University, from 12th – 14th December 2017.

• Women in Diplomacy: A Case Study of Gendered Negotiating Styles and Female diplomats in India,  presented at the Pre-Conference Workshop: Feminist Perspectives on Diplomacy in the 6th Annual International Feminist Journal of Politics Conference: Walking the Talk: Feminist Reflections on International Practices, Hosted by South Asian University, New Delhi, 9 April – 11 April 2017.

• Masculinised Strategic Studies: The Impact on the Daily Discourse of Security Studies, presented at the 6th Annual International Feminist Journal of Politics Conference: Walking the Talk: Feminist Reflections on International Practices, Hosted by South Asian University, New Delhi, 9 April – 11 April 2017.

• Gender and its Affect in Negotiation Styles in Diplomatic Practice, presented at the ICSSR Sponsored 3rd International Graduate Seminar on Fostering Change: Public Policies, Impacting State, Markets and Society, Organised by the School of Public Policy and Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad Campus, from the 16 March – 18 March 2017.

• China India Relations in the Light of the Completion of the Indian Nuclear Triad, presented at the 9th All India Conference of China Studies, held at the University of Mumbai, from 12 December – 14 December 2016.

• The Role of Indian Diaspora and Its Soft Power in the United States of America and Its Effects on India-US Relations, presented at the International Conference Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge, and Culture, organised by Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism, New Delhi, from 26 November – 27 November 2016.

• The Landmine Ban – Its Environmental Impact and the Indian Non-Signatory Case, presented at the ICSSR Sponsored National Seminar on Emerging Issues of Climate Change: Sustainability and Economic Implications, held in Sri Aurobindo College, University of Delhi, from 21 October -22 October 2016.

• Dam Construction and Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Northeast India, presented at the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Sponsored National Seminar on Public Policy, Governance, and Development in India: Issues and Challenges, held in the Central University of Rajasthan (CURAJ), from 23 September – 24 September 2016.

• The Syrian Crisis through the Looking Glass of Feminist Security Studies, presented at the 57th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), held in Atlanta in the United States of America, from 16 March – 19 March of 2016.

• Feminist Contestations of the Core in International Politics, presented at the 2nd Annual International Studies Convention (AISC), held in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, from 22 March – 23 March 2015.