Michael Armacost recently gave a talk, examining the “rise” of China, at a gathering of international affairs experts. “How should we think of China,” asked Armacost, saying, “Some portray Beijing as a looming military threat; some regard it as our most promising global partner; some expect it to compete fiercely with us for global economic leadership.” Armacost looked at China’s military, trade, economics, and education in relation to the United States and shared thoughts for preparing the United States to become more competitive for the future.
Michael Armacost (April 15, 1937 – March 8, 2025) was a Shorenstein APARC Fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) from 2002 through 2021. In the interval between 1995 and 2002, Armacost served as president of Washington, D.C.'s Brookings Institution, the nation's oldest think tank and a leader in research on politics, government, international affairs, economics, and public policy. Previously, during his twenty-four-year government career, Armacost served, among other positions, as undersecretary of state for political affairs and as ambassador to Japan and the Philippines.
Armacost began his career in academia, as a professor of government at Pomona College. In 1969, he was awarded a White House Fellowship and was assigned to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of State. Following a stint on the State Department's policy planning and coordination staff, he became a special assistant to the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo from 1972 to 74, his first foreign diplomatic post. Thereafter, he held senior Asian affairs and international security posts in the State Department, the Defense Department, and the National Security Council. From 1982 to 1984, he served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and was a key force in helping the country undergo a nonviolent transition to democracy. In 1989, President George Bush tapped him to become ambassador to Japan, considered one of the most important and sensitive U.S. diplomatic posts abroad.
Armacost authored four books, including, Friends or Rivals? The Insider's Account of U.S.–Japan Relations (1996), which draws on his tenure as ambassador, and Ballots, Bullets, and Bargains: American Foreign Policy and Presidential Elections (2015). He also co-edited, with Daniel Okimoto, the Future of America's Alliances in Northeast Asia, published in 2004 by Shorenstein APARC. Armacost served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, including TRW, AFLAC, Applied Materials, USEC, Inc., Cargill, Inc., and Carleton College, and he currently chairs the board of The Asia Foundation.
A native of Ohio, Armacost graduated from Carleton College and earned his master's and doctorate degrees in public law and government from Columbia University. He received the President's Distinguished Service Award, the Defense Department's Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Secretary of State's Distinguished Services Award, and the Japanese government’s Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
Before 1947, South Asia was for the most part a single state. Multiple states emerged thereafter, and then moved apart politically, culturally, and economically. The resulting interstate tensions are manifest in the countless "negative lists"-items that may not be traded, tariffs that must be paid, transport lines that cannot be crossed-that govern these nations' daily interactions. Intermittent armed conflict in the region only intensifies feelings of distrust.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, interstate relations can be characterized by mutual wariness and circumspection. Failures in development and security cooperation have hurt South Asia, which contains two declared nuclear powers, India and Pakistan. Crossborder human trafficking and terrorism are increasing. Regional trade represents a paltry 5 percent of total trade. Globally, regional integration and prominent regional institutions-such as the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-are gaining ground, but South Asia lags behind. It is almost as if South Asia, as a region, does not exist.
Given that South Asia contains India, one of the world's most dynamic, democratic economies, this is an anomaly. As shown in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere, a "powerhouse" state can be the best guarantor of regional stability and integration. India's recent rise has prompted in some progress in regionalism, but it has been modest to date.
More can and must be done to understand regionalism's drivers, benefits, and barriers. Using a comparative perspective, this lively and broad-based volume draws on theories of trade, security, great-power influence, and domestic political theory to examine the prospects for South Asian regionalism. Does South Asia Exist? devotes particular attention to India, the largest power in the region, and analyzes the extent to which it enhances or blocks greater regional integration. As the distinguished contributors reveal with piercing honesty, the question at the heart of this provocative book defies easy answers.
Examination copies: Desk, examination, or review copies can be requested through Stanford University Press.
Prospects for Regional Integration
The fourth Korea-U.S. West Coast Strategic Forum was held on June 18th at Stanford to discuss current developments in North Korea and North Korea policy, the future of the U.S.-South Korean alliance, and a strategic vision for Northeast Asia. Former senior government officials and other leading experts from the United States and South Korea participated. The forum agenda and the executive summary available.
Participants from the United States included:
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Phillip Lipscy of Stanford University was among the scholars to join a week-long meeting of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future in Washington, D.C. in June. Dr. Lipscy was one of 15 emerging Japan specialists selected for the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future, a new program launched last year by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. The purpose of this program is to build and enhance a network of new generation Japan specialists that can bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the U.S.- Japan policymaking process.
Dr. Lipscy is an assistant professor of political science and FSI Center Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. His fields of research include Japanese politics, U.S.-Japan relations, international and comparative political economy, international security, and regional cooperation in East and Southeast Asia. His most recent research examines the politics of financial crises with a particular focus on Japan and the United States. He has also written on a wide range of topics such as negotiations over representation in international organizations, the politics of energy efficiency, the use of secrecy in international policymaking, and Japanese responses to the Asian financial crisis. Dr. Lipscy obtained his PhD in political science at Harvard University. He received his MA in international policy studies and BA in economics and political science at Stanford University. In 2009, he was named as the inaugural Sakurako and William Fisher Family Faculty Scholar.
During the meeting in Washington, Dr. Lipscy and the other U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows had an opportunity to meet with senior policymakers and participate in briefings about current issues affecting U.S.-Japan relations. The meeting followed an introductory meeting for U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows held in Washington this January. U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows also will participate in workshops and a study trip to Japan during the two-year program. They will help shape public policy by preparing opinion pieces and by sharing their views and recommendations at a public Policy Brief Session in Washington in early 2011. These and other activities are expected to lead to deeper and more vigorous dialogue and research on topics of immediate concern to U.S.- Japan relations as well as on ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship through cooperation and shared goals in the global arena. A list of the U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Fellows and more information about the program is available on the Mansfield Foundation's website.
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that promotes understanding and cooperation in U.S.-Asia relations. The Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C.; Tokyo, Japan; and Missoula, Montana.
The Center for Global Partnership (CGP) is a part of the Japan Foundation, which is a Japanese Independent Administrative Institution (Dokuritsu Gyosei Hojin). CGP operates grant programs as well as self-initiated projects and fellowships. CGP has offices in Tokyo, Japan and New York, New York.
Speaking on June 17, 2010 in a television interview in South
Korea, Dr. Gi-Wook Shin, Director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific
Research Center (APARC) at Stanford University, said, “No one can now
ignore or
overlook the importance of Asia.” He spoke of the rise of Asian
countries in
the past 50 years, particularly in the area of economics, and the
world’s
growing awareness of Asia. Dr. Shin discussed the important role that
Shorenstein
APARC and its Korean Studies Program (KSP) play in the field of Asian
studies,
noting that Shorenstein APARC’s unique focus on research, policy, and
the social
sciences distinguishes it from most academic Asian studies centers in
the
United States. He explained that not only do scholars from Shorenstein
APARC
carry out academic research, but they also “produce some policy reports
for the
American government and…try to promote dialogue between the U.S. and
Asian
countries.”
In his interview with Heart
to Heart (Arirang
TV) host Kolleen Park, Dr. Shin discussed the history of the field of
Asian
studies, noting the growing importance of Korean studies in the past 15
years. Dr. Shin said that in the past 100 years of Korean history are
found “the key elements that we talk about in the social sciences.” He
then asked, “How can we use
the Korean experience to generate a general model or theoretical
experience for
the rest of the world?”
Dr. Shin’s interview took place during his visit to South
Korea for the POSCO Asia Forum where he
was a keynote speaker. The theme of the
2010 Forum was the “Globalization of Asian Culture.” “Looking back, Asia
had a
great contribution to human society and human civilization,” Dr. Shin
said. His
motivation in addressing the attendees of the Forum, he explained was,
“I felt
that it was time to take Asia more seriously and think about how Asia
can
continue to make contributions to human society and civilization.”
Highlights from the POSCO Asia Forum, a summary of Dr. Shin’s new book One
Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era (Stanford
University Press 2010), and Dr. Shin’s
thoughts on relations between the two Koreas are also covered in the
interview.
Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in the Department of Sociology, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the founding director of the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) since 2001, all at Stanford University. In May 2024, Shin also launched the Taiwan Program at APARC. He served as director of APARC for two decades (2005-2025). As a historical-comparative and political sociologist, his research has concentrated on social movements, nationalism, development, democracy, migration, and international relations.
In Summer 2023, Shin launched the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), which is a new research initiative committed to addressing emergent social, cultural, economic, and political challenges in Asia. Across four research themes– “Talent Flows and Development,” “Nationalism and Racism,” “U.S.-Asia Relations,” and “Democratic Crisis and Reform”–the lab brings scholars and students to produce interdisciplinary, problem-oriented, policy-relevant, and comparative studies and publications. Shin’s latest book, The Four Talent Giants, a comparative study of talent strategies of Japan, Australia, China, and India to be published by Stanford University Press in the summer of 2025, is an outcome of SNAPL.
Shin is also the author/editor of twenty-seven books and numerous articles. His books include The Four Talent Giants: National Strategies for Human Resource Development Across Japan, Australia, China, and India (2025); Korean Democracy in Crisis: The Threat of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization (2022); The North Korean Conundrum: Balancing Human Rights and Nuclear Security (2021); Superficial Korea (2017); Divergent Memories: Opinion Leaders and the Asia-Pacific War (2016); Global Talent: Skilled Labor as Social Capital in Korea (2015); Criminality, Collaboration, and Reconciliation: Europe and Asia Confronts the Memory of World War II (2014); New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan (2014); History Textbooks and the Wars in Asia: Divided Memories (2011); South Korean Social Movements: From Democracy to Civil Society (2011); One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era (2010); Cross Currents: Regionalism and Nationalism in Northeast Asia (2007); and Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy (2006). Due to the wide popularity of his publications, many have been translated and distributed to Korean audiences. His articles have appeared in academic and policy journals, including American Journal of Sociology, World Development, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Political Science Quarterly, Journal of Asian Studies, Comparative Education, International Sociology, Nations and Nationalism, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, Journal of Democracy, and Foreign Affairs.
Shin is not only the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, but also continues to actively raise funds for Korean/Asian studies at Stanford. He gives frequent lectures and seminars on topics ranging from Korean nationalism and politics to Korea's foreign relations, historical reconciliation in Northeast Asia, and talent strategies. He serves on councils and advisory boards in the United States and South Korea and promotes policy dialogue between the two allies. He regularly writes op-eds and gives interviews to the media in both Korean and English.
Before joining Stanford in 2001, Shin taught at the University of Iowa (1991-94) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1994-2001). After receiving his BA from Yonsei University in Korea, he was awarded his MA and PhD from the University of Washington in 1991.
Speaking on June 17, 2010 in a television interview in South
Korea, Dr. Gi-Wook Shin, Director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific
Research Center (APARC) at Stanford University, said, "No one can now ignore or
overlook the importance of Asia." He spoke of the rise of Asian countries in
the past 50 years, particularly in the area of economics, and the world's growing awareness of Asia. Dr. Shin discussed the important role that Shorenstein
APARC and its Korean Studies Program (KSP) play in the field of Asian studies,
noting that Shorenstein APARC’s unique focus on research, policy, and the social
sciences distinguishes it from most academic Asian studies centers in the
United States. He explained that not only do scholars from Shorenstein APARC
carry out academic research, but they also “produce some policy reports for the
American government and…try to promote dialogue between the U.S. and Asian
countries.”
In his interview with Heart to Heart (Arirang
TV) host Kolleen Park, Dr. Shin discussed the history of the field of Asian
studies, noting the growing importance of Korean studies in the past 15 years. Dr. Shin said that in the past 100 years of Korean history are found “the key elements that we talk about in the social sciences.” He then asked, “How can we use
the Korean experience to generate a general model or theoretical experience for
the rest of the world?”
Dr. Shin’s interview took place during his visit to South
Korea for the POSCO Asia Forum where he was a keynote speaker. The theme of the
2010 Forum was the “Globalization of Asian Culture.” “Looking back, Asia had a
great contribution to human society and human civilization,” Dr. Shin said. His
motivation in addressing the attendees of the Forum, he explained was, “I felt
that it was time to take Asia more seriously and think about how Asia can
continue to make contributions to human society and civilization.”
Highlights from the POSCO Asia Forum, a summary of Dr. Shin’s new book One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era (Stanford University Press 2010), and Dr. Shin’s
thoughts on relations between the two Koreas are also covered in the interview.
Watch the entire interview online here at the Shorenstein APARC website and learn
more about the activities of Shorenstein APARC and KSP.
Shorenstein APARC is pleased to announce that Leif-Eric Easley has been awarded the %fellowship1% for 2010-2011. This fellowship is made possible through the generosity of the Northeast Asian History Foundation in Korea. The fellowship supports a scholar to conduct research and writing on a historical subject that has an impact on modern and contemporary Northeast Asia. While at Shorenstein APARC, Leif will engage in research and writing for a book manuscript on nationalism and strategic trust in Northeast Asia. He will also teach a course addressing issues of national identity and contested history, with focus on implications for the international relations of Japan, China, South Korea, and the United States.
Sookyung Kim, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, has been selected as the 2010-2011 Takahashi Fellow. She currently is completing a dissertation titled "Renationalizing the Nation: Securing Korean National Identity in the Era of Global Migration." Before entering graduate school, Kim pursued a career in journalism, working as a staff writer in the Dong-A Daily, one of the most widely circulated newspapers in South Korea. She has written articles on social affairs and arts. She also briefly worked as a translator in Newsweek Korean Edition. Kim received her B.A. in linguistics from Seoul National University. She was born in Seoul, South Korea.
The %fellowship2% supports a Stanford University predoctoral student's research within a broad range of topics related to the political economy of contemporary East Asia. Fellows whose main focus is Japan are called Takahashi Fellows, in honor of the Takahashi family, whose generous gift has made this fellowship possible.
