Dr. Passang Dorji is a Visiting Fellow at the Nepal Institute of International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE), Nepal. He is an independent scholar, journalist and consultant based in Bhutan. He served as a Member of Bhutan’s National Parliament from 2018-2023. While in Parliament Dr. Passang was the Chairman of the National Assembly of Bhutan’s Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee, Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Bhutan Civil Liability Bill, and Member of Economic and Finance Committee. He also served as the founding President of the Journalists’ Association of Bhutan and was a Cofounder and Board Director of Bhutan Transparency Initiative, an NGO advocating corruption-free Bhutan. Dr. Passang Dorji holds a Ph.D in Asian and International Studies from City University of Hong Kong and Master of Management from the University of Canberra, Australia. His Ph.D thesis is titled: "The Sino-Indian Competition over Bhutan and Nepal: Small State Responses to Great Power Politics" (2018). His recent publications include "Crafting Bhutan-China Ties: Small State Agency in Emergent Diplomatic Relations", which was accepted by Asian Perspective. His commentaries and analyses appeared on The Diplomat, Observer Research Foundation’s Online Publications and Nepali Times.
