PhD
R Spencer Haines
Dr Haines is a Research Affiliate at the Australian National University’s Mongolia Institute and has decades of experience living, working and conducting research in Mongolia and Central Asia. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Mongol History and a Master of International Affairs specialising in Central Asian Studies from the Australian National University, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of Waterloo. Dr Haines has published articles in academic publications, including ‘Mongolica: An International Journal of Mongol Studies’ and he is a member in good standing of the International Association for Mongol Studies. Dr Haines is also a senior career foreign policy officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He has served overseas as a diplomat, including in Mongolia, and speaks Russian, French and Mongolian.
Dr Haines research interests include the history of Oirat peoples, independence movements in Central Eurasia in the early 20th century, Mongolian politics during the 21st Century and topics related to the Altai region, Western Mongolia, Eastern Kazakhstan and Xinjiang. His PhD thesis focused on the self-strengthening campaigns undertaken by the Zunghar (Oirat) in the 17th and 18th centuries in response to the changing world around them.