Donald K. Emmerson

Portrait of Donald K Emmerson

Donald K. Emmerson, PhD

  • Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Affiliated Faculty, CDDRL
  • Affiliated Scholar, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies

Biography

At Stanford, in addition to his work for the Southeast Asia Program and his affiliations with CDDRL and the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Donald Emmerson has taught courses on Southeast Asia in East Asian Studies, International Policy Studies, and Political Science. He is active as an analyst of current policy issues involving Asia. In 2010 the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars awarded him a two-year Research Associateship given to “top scholars from across the United States” who “have successfully bridged the gap between the academy and policy.”

Emmerson’s research interests include Southeast Asia-China-US relations, the South China Sea, and the future of ASEAN. His publications, authored or edited, span more than a dozen books and monographs and some 200 articles, chapters, and shorter pieces.  Recent writings include The Deer and the Dragon: Southeast Asia and China in the 21st Century (ed., 2020); “‘No Sole Control’ in the South China Sea,” in Asia Policy  (2019); ASEAN @ 50, Southeast Asia @ Risk: What Should Be Done? (ed., 2018); “Singapore and Goliath?,” in Journal of Democracy (2018); “Mapping ASEAN’s Futures,” in Contemporary Southeast Asia (2017); and “ASEAN Between China and America: Is It Time to Try Horsing the Cow?,” in Trans-Regional and –National Studies of Southeast Asia (2017).

Earlier work includes “Sunnylands or Rancho Mirage? ASEAN and the South China Sea,” in YaleGlobal (2016); “The Spectrum of Comparisons: A Discussion,” in Pacific Affairs (2014); “Facts, Minds, and Formats: Scholarship and Political Change in Indonesia” in Indonesian Studies: The State of the Field (2013); “Is Indonesia Rising? It Depends” in Indonesia Rising (2012); “Southeast Asia: Minding the Gap between Democracy and Governance,” in Journal of Democracy (April 2012); “The Problem and Promise of Focality in World Affairs,” in Strategic Review (August 2011); An American Place at an Asian Table? Regionalism and Its Reasons (2011); Asian Regionalism and US Policy: The Case for Creative Adaptation (2010); “The Useful Diversity of ‘Islamism’” and “Islamism: Pros, Cons, and Contexts” in Islamism: Conflicting Perspectives on Political Islam (2009); “Crisis and Consensus: America and ASEAN in a New Global Context” in Refreshing U.S.-Thai Relations (2009); and Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia (edited, 2008).

Prior to moving to Stanford in 1999, Emmerson was a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he won a campus-wide teaching award. That same year he helped monitor voting in Indonesia and East Timor for the National Democratic Institute and the Carter Center. In the course of his career, he has taken part in numerous policy-related working groups focused on topics related to Southeast Asia; has testified before House and Senate committees on Asian affairs; and been a regular at gatherings such as the Asia Pacific Roundtable (Kuala Lumpur), the Bali Democracy Forum (Nusa Dua), and the Shangri-La Dialogue (Singapore). Places where he has held various visiting fellowships, including the Institute for Advanced Study and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 



Emmerson has a Ph.D. in political science from Yale and a BA in international affairs from Princeton. He is fluent in Indonesian, was fluent in French, and has lectured and written in both languages. He has lesser competence in Dutch, Javanese, and Russian. A former slam poet in English, he enjoys the spoken word and reads occasionally under a nom de plume with the Not Yet Dead Poets Society in Redwood City, CA. He and his wife Carolyn met in high school in Lebanon. They have two children. He was born in Tokyo, the son of U.S. Foreign Service Officer John K. Emmerson, who wrote the Japanese Thread among other books.

publications

Commentary
November 2021

Our Epistemological Crisis: "Ilmu Budaya" and "Two Cultures" Revisited

Author(s)
cover link Our Epistemological Crisis: "Ilmu Budaya" and "Two Cultures" Revisited
Commentary
April 2016

Indonesia’s Fishing Boat Incident and Tensions in the South China Sea: A View from the United States

Author(s)
cover link Indonesia’s Fishing Boat Incident and Tensions in the South China Sea: A View from the United States
Commentary
February 2016

Sunnylands or Rancho Mirage? ASEAN and the South China Sea

Author(s)
cover link Sunnylands or Rancho Mirage? ASEAN and the South China Sea

Current research

In The News

Reconsidering Southeast Asia: Issues and Prospects participants gather for a group photo
News

APARC Celebrates 25 Years of Southeast Asia Studies at Stanford

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.
cover link APARC Celebrates 25 Years of Southeast Asia Studies at Stanford
Richard Heydarian and Donald Emmerson
News

Video Interview: Donald Emmerson on the Evolution of Great Power Competition in Southeast Asia

In a new interview, Southeast Asia Program Director Donald K. Emmerson discusses the history and politics that have shaped great power competition in Southeast Asia and how the intensifying rivalry between China and the United States might affect ASEAN member states.
cover link Video Interview: Donald Emmerson on the Evolution of Great Power Competition in Southeast Asia
From Left to Right: Yuko Kasuya, Lisandro Claudio, Donald Emmerson, Aya Watanabe, Marisa Kellam, Ruosui Zhang, Reza Idria, Francis Fukuyama, Michael Bennon, and Kana Inata.
News

Workshop Brings Scholars Together to Discuss the State of Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia

Scholars from Asia joined faculty and researchers from Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) to present research and reflections on various topics and cases from the Southeast Asia region, including the monarchy in politics, peace-making in the Philippines, Chinese infrastructure investments in Myanmar, illiberalism in the Philippines, and Islamic law in Indonesia.
cover link Workshop Brings Scholars Together to Discuss the State of Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia

Selected Multimedia