Taking stock and looking ahead with 9DASHLINE
TAKING STOCK AND LOOKING AHEAD with 9DASHLINE
23 December 2022
2022 has been a busy year at 9DASHLINE — along with publishing some stellar content, we have built new partnerships, hosted a number of engaging webinars, and grown our team.
As we say farewell to an incredibly rewarding year and look forward to taking a brief but well-deserved break, 9DASHLINE’s leadership — David MacSweeney (Founder), Dr Manali Kumar (Editor-in-Chief), and Dr Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy (Head of the Associates’ Network) — answer some frequently asked questions about our goals and hopes for the platform in 2023.
Q: It has clearly been another very busy year. Can you speak to any highlights, what stands out?
DAVID: Absolutely. The last 12 months have proved an incredibly enjoyable albeit busy time. While delivering another year of high-quality analysis has been greatly satisfying, perhaps the most exciting aspect of the year has been welcoming several new people who have brought so much to the team. It's also hard to ignore the sheer number of leading experts, who alongside early career analysts, continue to trust us with their thoughts as we run their material through our editorial process in order to make sure their ideas are presented in the best possible way. If I had to highlight one thing from across the year then I found our joint event with our brilliant partners at La Trobe Asia and the Kubernein Initiative on the issue of Feminist Foreign Policy in the Indo-Pacific hugely informative.
MANALI: The editorial team has grown quite a lot this year as new Associate and Assistant Editors have come on board, and this has also helped us improve our work and introduce some new kinds of content. We started off the new year with collections of expert comments around specific issues, which were very well received by our audience, and we are looking forward to publishing these again in the new year. We also introduced a new feature this year — In Dialogue — that sees two experts discuss a particular issue. We’re always looking for new ideas to encourage more exchange and interaction, and hope to expand our content offering as we continue to grow!
ZSUZSA: 2022 has been an exciting year for the Associates’ Network too. With Dr Tereza Novotna as our Korea Associate, we expanded our presence in the Korean Peninsula. With her expertise in EU-Korea relations acquired in Brussels and Berlin, she brings great value to our research on Korean affairs, and helps reinforce the Network’s regional focus. Hunter Marston has continued to expand the Network as our Australia Associate, connecting 9DL and La Trobe Asia, a collaboration that we very much look forward to further deepening. Concerning our work on Taiwan, based in Taipei, I have continued to follow regional developments in the Indo-Pacific, also exploring ways to better embed this thriving democracy into regional initiatives aimed at reinforcing the rules-based order. Being on the ground has been an absolute privilege, which I look forward to building on in 2023 as regional dynamics evolve. Going forward, with developments across the Taiwan Strait affecting the entire region, we look forward to growing our presence in Japan in the coming year.
Q: What does it take to be published by 9DL? Do you only publish senior scholars?
MANALI: Not at all! In fact, one of our goals is to provide a platform for emerging voices and new ideas. The most important requirement for getting published by 9DL is an interesting perspective that is well presented. Our team is always happy to review submissions, however, sending us a brief pitch of about 200 words can help increase the chances of success. It is important that articles strike a good balance between describing an issue and presenting an argument about it. If I may offer two pieces of advice, especially for students — first, please don't send us an essay that you wrote for a course, and second, please take a few minutes to read our submissions guide before you send us a piece for consideration. Academic essays contain important insights, however, they serve a specific purpose that is quite different from articles written for a wider audience. Reading a couple of our recently published articles can be a great way for helping understand how to transition your writing from academic to public.
Q: What is 9DL’s approach to offering writing fees for contributions?
MANALI: We are an independent platform — this means we don’t receive financial backing from any third party. Freedom is very important to us, both in the sense that we are free of ideological interference, and our content is free of paywalls. One consequence of this is that we are not currently in a position to offer financial rewards to our contributors. All 9DL team members also volunteer their time and effort out of their mutual interest in the Indo-Pacific and passion for the project. We do hope to change this in the future.
Q: Can you say something about your future plans? What should we look out for and how can people support you?
DAVID: We have been working on this. As a first step, we recently launched a crowdfunding campaign which we hope people will consider supporting. In addition to our stellar network of experts who generously share their opinions with us, our readers are a crucial part of our success. We hope they will consider making a contribution — one-time or recurring payments — to help support our work and preserve our independence. If that’s not possible then you can always just support us by sharing our content and amplifying the voices of our brilliant writers.
We are also exploring a number of other avenues including offering bespoke consulting services to clients who want to better understand the Indo-Pacific and build deeper connections with the region. In addition to our in-house team that brings a range of experience both within and outside of academia, we are also fortunate to be able to draw upon a wide international network of experts and analysts.
Q: What can we expect from 9DL in 2023?
DAVID: While working to connect Europe and the Indo-Pacific remains our focus we are keen to pursue this aim by building on our daily content and moving into new areas. What most excites me about the coming year is our plan to collaborate with partners, old and new, in working to develop a comprehensive report looking at the emerging multipolar order in the Indo-Pacific.
MANALI: On the editorial front, we’ve already got some fantastic new books lined up for our In Conversation author interview series, and we are also looking forward to hosting more engaging discussions as part of our In Dialogue feature. We are also discussing ideas for introducing new kinds of content and perhaps organising a writing workshop in the summer — so stay tuned!
ZSUZSA: With the joint efforts of our in-country Associates, I look forward to expanding the Network not only in the region, but also in Europe. I sense an opening, on both ends, towards building on ongoing exchanges between the academic and policy circles. In fact, one of our great ambitions has been to better connect these separate but interconnected worlds. I also see mounting interest in expanding existing collaboration among experts of diverse but complementary backgrounds. I trust mutual awareness in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific will continue to increase, so I am hopeful we will benefit from further growth in our own community of experts, which we sought to capitalise on this year.
Q: How can we keep up to date with everything 9DL is doing?
ZSUZSA: Follow us on your preferred social media platform! You can find us on: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Mastodon, Facebook, and Post.
Lastly, on behalf of the entire team, I would like to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our work or shared our content over the last year. We wish you happy holidays and look forward to bringing you further high-quality analysis in the new year.