Stanford University

International Relations

FSI researchers strive to understand how countries relate to one another, and what policies are needed to achieve global stability and prosperity. International relations experts focus on the challenging U.S.-Russian relationship, the alliance between the U.S. and Japan and the limitations of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Foreign aid is also examined by scholars trying to understand whether money earmarked for health improvements reaches those who need it most. And FSI’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center has published on the need for strong South Korean leadership in dealing with its northern neighbor.

FSI researchers also look at the citizens who drive international relations, studying the effects of migration and how borders shape people’s lives. Meanwhile FSI students are very much involved in this area, working with the United Nations in Ethiopia to rethink refugee communities.

Trade is also a key component of international relations, with FSI approaching the topic from a slew of angles and states. The economy of trade is rife for study, with an APARC event on the implications of more open trade policies in Japan, and FSI researchers making sense of who would benefit from a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States.

Divided Memories: History Textbooks and the War in Asia

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The Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, the Center for Pacific and Asian Studies at The University of Tokyo and the Department of Area Studies at The University of Tokyo will present a 3 part discussion comparing the formation of divided memories in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

The aim of this research is that it puts Japanese textbooks in a comparative framework, and changes the nature of the dialogue about these issues as a result. We will NOT focus on Japanese textbooks per se but rather on the comparative analysis.

Part 1. Comparative Analysis of High School History textbooks in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States

  • Professor Gi-Wook Shin (Director, Shorenstein APARC): an overview of our project
  • Professor Peter Duus (Stanford University): the comparative analysis of historical narratives presented in the textbooks of China, Japan and the U.S.
  • Professor Jae-Jung Chung (The University of Seoul) : the comparative analysis of textbooks in South Korea and Japan
  • Dr. Weike Li (Editor, Peoples Education Press, Beijing): on Chinese textbooks
  • Professor Haruo Tohmatsu (Tamagawa University): the comparative analysis of Japanese textbooks with other textbooks

Part 2. Textbooks as an International Relations issue

  • Dr. Daniel Sneider (Shorenstein APARC): the history of textbooks as an international issue and the different approaches to solving it
  • Professor Hiroshi Mitani (The University of Tokyo): the personal experiences with Sino-Japanese and Korean-Japanese historical Dialogue
  • Professor Shinichi Kitaoka (The University of Tokyo, former ambassador to UN): the experience of official joint committee between Japan and China

Part 3. General Discussions

  • Professor Tatsuhiko Tsukiashi (The University of Tokyo, Korean history)
  • Professor Shin Kawashima (The University of Tokyo, Chinese history)

The University of Tokyo
Komaba Hall 1F, 18th bldg.

Gi-Wook Shin

Shorenstein APARC
Encina Hall E301
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6055
(650) 724-8480 (650) 723-6530
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Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Professor of Sociology
William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea
Professor, by Courtesy, of East Asian Languages & Cultures
Gi-Wook Shin_0.jpg PhD

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.

Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL)

Explore SNAPL

Shin's Reflections on Korea

A monthly column in the Korean magazine Sindonga
Read more

Reengaging North Korea

Learn more

Stanford Asia-Pacific Innovation

Learn more

Selected Multimedia

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Director of the Korea Program and the Taiwan Program, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Director of Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab, APARC
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History Textbooks and the War in Asia

India Arriving: How This Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business

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Dr. Rafiq Dossani, Senior Research Scholar; Executive Director, South Asia Initiative, will review and sign his new book "India Arriving: How this Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business" at Foothill College on Wednesday, October 8 at 12:00 p.m.

Foothill College
Appreciation Hall
12345 El Monte Road
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Rafiq Dossani

No longer in residence.

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R_Dossani_headshot.jpg PhD

Rafiq Dossani was a senior research scholar at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) and erstwhile director of the Stanford Center for South Asia. His research interests include South Asian security, government, higher education, technology, and business.  

Dossani’s most recent book is Knowledge Perspectives of New Product Development, co-edited with D. Assimakopoulos and E. Carayannis, published in 2011 by Springer. His earlier books include Does South Asia Exist?, published in 2010 by Shorenstein APARC; India Arriving, published in 2007 by AMACOM Books/American Management Association (reprinted in India in 2008 by McGraw-Hill, and in China in 2009 by Oriental Publishing House); Prospects for Peace in South Asia, co-edited with Henry Rowen, published in 2005 by Stanford University Press; and Telecommunications Reform in India, published in 2002 by Greenwood Press. One book is under preparation: Higher Education in the BRIC Countries, co-authored with Martin Carnoy and others, to be published in 2012.

Dossani currently chairs FOCUS USA, a non-profit organization that supports emergency relief in the developing world. Between 2004 and 2010, he was a trustee of Hidden Villa, a non-profit educational organization in the Bay Area. He also serves on the board of the Industry Studies Association, and is chair of the Industry Studies Association Annual Conference for 2010–12.

Earlier, Dossani worked for the Robert Fleming Investment Banking group, first as CEO of its India operations and later as head of its San Francisco operations. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of a stockbroking firm on the OTCEI stock exchange in India, as the deputy editor of Business India Weekly, and as a professor of finance at Pennsylvania State University.

Dossani holds a BA in economics from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, India; an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India; and a PhD in finance from Northwestern University.

Senior Research Scholar
Executive Director, South Asia Initiative
Rafiq Dossani Speaker
Lectures

Opportunities And Challenges In India, Pakistan, And Afghanistan

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The election of a new American president is an event of great importance to the entire world, not just the United States. From Japan to Afghanistan, the United States plays a crucial role in the security, political, and economic affairs of the region. America's 44th president will face many challenges once in office including rebuilding trust in America, reviving the American economy without protectionism, and how to combat terrorism. Ultimately, the United States must effectively utilize and support multilateral institutions to uphold international law and foster the common interests such as international justice. Future relations with Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia depend on how these efforts unfold. 

Levinthal Hall

The Honorable Karl F. Inderfurth Former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs and U.S. Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations Speaker
The Honorable Teresita Schaffer Former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Speaker
The Honorable Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Former Executive Secretary and Inspector General of the State Department Speaker
Seminars

Don Keyser

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 725-2703 (650) 723-6530
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Pantech Fellow, 2008-09
Keyser,_Don.jpg

Donald W. Keyser retired from the U.S. Department of State in September 2004 after a 32-year career.  He had been a member of the Senior Foreign Service since 1990, and held Washington-based ambassadorial-level assignments 1998-2004.  Throughout his career he focused on U.S. policy toward East Asia, particularly China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Fluent in Chinese and professionally conversant in Japanese, Russian and French, he served three tours at the American Embassy in Beijing, two tours at the American Embassy in Tokyo, and almost a dozen years in relevant domestic assignments.  In the course of his career, Keyser logged extensive domestic and foreign experience in senior management operations, conflict resolution, intelligence operations and analysis, and law enforcement programs and operations.  A Russian language major in college and a Soviet/Russian area studies specialist through M.A. work, Keyser served 1998-99 as Special Negotiator and Ambassador for Regional Conflicts in the Former USSR.   He sought to develop policy initiatives and strategies to resolve three principal conflicts, leading the U.S. delegation in negotiations with four national leaders and three separatist leaders in the Caucasus region.

Keyser earned his B.A. degree, Summa Cum Laude, with a dual major in Political Science and Russian Area Studies, from the University of Maryland.  He pursued graduate studies at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., from 1965-67 (Russian area and language focus) and 1970-72 (Chinese area and language focus).   He attended the National War College, Fort McNair, Washington (1988-89), earning a certificate equivalent to an M.S., Military Science; and the National Defense University Capstone Program (summer 1995) for flag-rank military officers and civilians.

Se-Il Park

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall,Room E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 724-5668 (650) 723-6530
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Visiting Scholar, 2008-09
Seil_Park.JPG PhD

Park, Se-Il is a professor of law and economics in the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University. He is the founder and chairman of the board of Hansun Foundation for Freedom and Happiness, which is an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Seoul devoted to high-quality public policy research. The Foundation works to provide innovative and practical policy recommendations to the South Korean government.

Dr. Park is the author of many books including Communitarian Liberalism (2008); National Strategy for Sunjinwha in Korea (National strategy to make Korea to become a world class nation)(2006); Blueprint for Tertiary Education Reform in Korea (2003); Strategy for Presidential Success: Authority, Role, and Responsibility (2002); Growth, Productivity, and Vision for Korean Economy (2001); Reforming Labor Management Relations: lessons from the Korean experience: 1996-1997 (2000); Law and Economics (2000).

Park is currently writing a book on globalization in which he plans to research several important political, social, and economic challenges, stemming from globalization. Based on that research he hopes to make comprehensive strategic recommendations for Korea to become a successful advanced nation in the age of globalization. The tentative title is Creative Globalization: Korean strategy for globalization.

Park has taught for more than 20 years at Seoul National University, College of Law and Graduate School of International Studies. He served as Senior Secretary to the president for policy planning and social welfare in the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea from 1995 to 1998, and was a member of National Assembly of the Republic of Korea from 2004 to 2005. He also worked at the Korea Development Institute as a Senior Fellow from 1980 to 1985. He received the Chung-Nam Award from the Korean Economic Association in 1987 for his outstanding publications in economics. He served as President of the Korean Labor Economic Association (2001-2002), President of the Korean Law and Economic Association (2000-2003), and President of the Korean Institutional Economic Association (2002-2003). Park received his BA from Seoul National University and his MS and PhD from Cornell University.

Late Democratization in Pacific Asia

Professor Thompson builds on Barrington Moore's insight that there are different "paths to the modern" world. Thompson's manuscript explores alternatives to the familiar South Korean-and Taiwan-based model of "late democratization." According to that model, political pluralism follows a formative period of economic growth during which labor is demobilized and big business, religious leaders, and professionals depend upon and are co-opted by the state.

Worker Identities and the Origins of Capital in Vietnam

The Vietnamese government legalized strikes in 1995. Since then Vietnamese workers have gone on strike more than 1,500 times. Most of these actions have erupted in factories established by capital investments from South Korea and Taiwan. Far fewer have been reported in factories relying on private investments from other countries or in publicly funded and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). When labor protests do occur in SOEs, they tend to be less confrontational, involving petitions and letters of complaint sent to local labor newspapers and relevant officials.

Sivaraman Vasudevan

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Sivaraman Vasudevan is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2008-09. Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he has been working for Reliance Life Sciences in Bangalore (India) as Regional Head in charge of sales operations for Eastern and Southern parts of India. His job responsibilities include developing business plans, implementing strategies and achieving sales targets. Additionally, he is part of an elite corporate team in developing national and regional marketing strategies. Sivaraman did his Graduation in Statistics and Diploma in Management and worked in sales and marketing at Bayer Pharmaceuticals prior to joining Reliance Life Sciences in February 2004.

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Koji Toyoshima

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Koji Toyoshima is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2008-09. He received his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from The University of Tokyo and joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), government of Japan in 1995. He has experienced a variety of policy making in Japan. He engaged in policy making about global warming and recycling of home appliances and he is interested in environmental policies and energy policies. He also has experience in science and technology policy making and the execution of information disclosure law in Japan.

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Boyoung Shin

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
652666318_VwRFq-L-1.jpg MBA

Boyoung Shin is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2008-09 and 2009-10. Boyoung graduated from the University of Southern California (BA in Econ) in 1990 and received his MBA from Yonsei University. He also has military experience as a Marine Officer serving 3.5 years. He had been elected as a Kyong-gi provincial council man twice. There, he had roles of the Chairman of the Special Committee of Budgets and Accounts, the Chairman of the Special Committee of Free Trade Agreements, the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee and others.

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