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As global audiences and digital platforms reshape cultural exchange, APARC’s Japan Program convened leading creators, producers, and scholars at Stanford to examine the creative ecosystems driving the international success of Japan’s content industries and their growing influence on innovation, fandom, and international collaboration.
As Asian economies grapple with aging populations, rising healthcare demands, and rapid technological change, APARC’s 2024-25 Asia Health Policy Program Postdoctoral Fellows Mai Nguyen and Jinseok Kim study large-scale health care structural and policy challenges from the lens of individual decision-making.
As geopolitical uncertainty deepens and traditional alliances are tested, APARC’s Japan Program and the United States-Japan Foundation convened thought leaders at Stanford to explore the shifting bilateral cooperation across areas spanning global democracy, economic resilience, civil society and governance, and the unexpected power of baseball diplomacy.
Political Signaling in an Uncertain World: Brandon Yoder’s Empirical Lens on Chinese Foreign Policy
Brandon Yoder, APARC’s 2024–25 Stanford Next Asia Policy Fellow, focuses on a central challenge in international politics: how states can credibly signal their intentions and avoid war. His work investigates this question in high-stakes contexts, such as during power shifts, amid strategic uncertainty, and in multi-actor settings where traditional signaling models often fall short.
APARC’s 2024-25 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia Shilin Jia researches the careers of high-level Chinese political elites during the economic reform period from 1978 to 2011. Using a quantitative approach, Jia explores how China's party-state orchestrated elite circulation as a governance tool during a time of significant economic and political transformation.
APARC's 2025 Oksenberg Symposium explored how shifting political, economic, and social conditions in China, Russia, India, and the United States are reshaping their strategies and relationships. The discussion highlighted key issues such as military and economic disparities, the shifting balance of power, and the implications of these changes for global stability, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.
At a discussion hosted by APARC’s Southeast Asia Program, Thai politician and democracy advocate Pita Limjaroenrat assessed the challenges facing Thailand and provided a hopeful vision for its future, one that relies on perseverance, strategic electoral victories, and the pursuit of a more just and equitable political system.
Rethinking Racial Formations and Race Relations in Singapore: A Conversation with Alisha Cherian
APARC 2024-25 Predoctoral Fellow Alisha Cherian studies race relations in Southeast Asia, focusing on the lived experience of Indian Singaporeans and their interactions with state-defined racial categories.
Economist Huixia Wang, a visiting scholar at APARC, discusses her research into healthcare economics and the reverberating effects of poor healthcare access on health outcomes across generations.
APARC recently hosted two panels to consider what a second Trump presidency might mean for economic, security, and political dynamics across Asia and U.S. relations with Asian nations.
Held at Stanford and hosted by the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the third annual Dialogue convened global leaders, academics, industry experts, and emerging experts to share best practices for advancing Sustainable Development Goal 9 in support of economic growth and human well-being.
A new book by APARC Visiting Scholar Michael Beeman offers a timely analysis of the shift in United States' foreign trade policy, examines its recent choices to “walk out” on the principles that had defined the global trade system it had created, and offers recommendations for a redefined and more productive trade policy strategy.
Researchers including Stanford sociologist Kiyoteru Tsutsui, the deputy director of APARC and director of the Japan Program at APARC, find that geopolitical rivalries and alliances significantly shape citizen perceptions of immigrants.
At the Nikkei Forum, Freeman Spogli Institute scholars Oriana Skylar Mastro, Michael McFaul, Gi-Wook Shin, and Kiyoteru Tsutsui considered the impacts of the war in Ukraine, strategies of deterrence in Taiwan, and the growing tension between liberal democracy and authoritarian populism.
Anthropologist Gerhard Hoffstaedter, APARC's Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Southeast Asia, discusses his research into the experiences of refugees in Malaysia and their interactions with international institutions.
The Southeast Asia Program at Shorenstein APARC commemorated its 25th anniversary at the conference “Reconsidering Southeast Asia: Issues and Prospects,” gathering leading scholars to examine current trends affecting Southeast Asia’s present and shaping its future.
The Taiwan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center will serve as a Stanford hub and catalyst for multidisciplinary research and teaching about contemporary Taiwan. The program’s inaugural conference convened industry leaders, scholars, and students to examine Taiwan’s challenges and opportunities.
Pathways to Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions at the 2024 Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue
The Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue, part of a joint initiative by the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future, convened at the State Palace in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to stimulate cooperative action towards the cultivation of peace, justice, and strong institutions as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 16 in the United Nations-adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow Norman Joshua examines how state-society interactions in Indonesia produced an authoritarian political culture, tracing the implications of the country’s enduring legacy of militarization.
Amid North Korea’s increasing provocations, APARC’s Korea Program hosted three experts — Robert Carlin, Victor Cha, and Siegfried Hecker — to consider whether Pyongyang plans to go to war.
A panel discussion co-hosted by Shorenstein APARC and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA examined the key dynamics at play in the unfolding regional competition over power, influence, and the fate of Taiwan.
Popular Political Sentiments: Understanding Nationalism and Its Varied Effects on Liberal Democracy
Korea Program Postdoctoral Fellow Gidong Kim discusses his research into nationalism and its behavioral consequences in Korea and East Asia.
Video Interview: Gi-Wook Shin's 2024 Forecast for South Korea's Politics, Diplomacy, and Culture
APARC and Korea Program Director Gi-Wook Shin joined Arirang News to examine geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the Korean Peninsula in 2024, North Korea's intentions, Japan-U.S.-South Korea trilateral cooperation, Seoul-Beijing relations, tensions over Taiwan, and South Korean politics and soft power.
Stopping the Spiral: Threat Perception and Interdependent Policy Behavior in U.S.-China Relations
A new article for The Washington Quarterly, co-authored by Thomas Fingar and David M. Lampton, investigates the drivers of Chinese policy behavior, assesses the role of U.S. policy in shaping it, and suggests steps to reduce the heightened tensions between the two superpowers.
The fourth installment of Shorenstein APARC’s fall seminar series examined the future of multilateral institutions in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, focusing on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.