Dr. Milla Vaha is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Affairs at the University of the South Pacific. Born and raised in Finland, she did her first degree in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Turku and continued her studies in Political Theory at the London School of Economics. She holds a PhD in Social and Political Sciences of the European University Institute. She has worked in Lecturer and Senior Lecturer positions in Finland, been a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the European Union Experts4Asia Fellow at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on International Political Theory and the ethics of world politics. In her most recent research project she explores the theoretical and normative features of existential threat in the context of Small Island States by exploring both the region's nuclear legacy and ongoing climate crisis. Her book, The Moral Standing of the State in International Politics: A Kantian Account, was published by the University of Wales Press in July 2021.