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.

Dividing ASEAN while Claiming the South China Sea: Chinese Financial Power Projection in Southeast Asia

Monday, November 12, 2018 | 12:00 PM -Monday, November 12, 2018 | 1:30 PM

Four member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have made territorial claims in the South China Sea that conflict with China’s professed entitlement to all of the “islands and the adjacent waters.” Because the “ASEAN Way” is to make decisions by consensus, each member state can, in effect, veto what the group might otherwise decide. Prof. O’Neill will explore how China has used its financial power to divide ASEAN’s members in order to prevent them from acting collectively to resolve their territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. He will compare China’s relations with Cambodia, the Philippines, and Myanmar in order to highlight the key role that a recipient country’s type of regime plays in enhancing or constraining Beijing’s ability to use aid, loans, and investments to influence the policies and politics of developing states. He will argue that authoritarian institutions facilitate Chinese influence while democratic institutions inhibit it.

Daniel C. O’Neill’s current project is a co-authored volume on the politics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast and South Asia. His new book, Dividing ASEAN and Conquering the South China Sea: China’s Financial Power Projection (2018), has been called “well-crafted and theoretically sound” by the highly regarded GWU Southeast Asianist Prof. Robert Sutter. O’Neill’s shorter writings have appeared in venues including Asian Survey, Contemporary Southeast Asia, the Journal of Eurasian Studies, and The Washington Post. Audiences have heard him lecture in, for example, the Philippines, China, and Kazakhstan. For three years running, the School of International Studies where he works named him “Outstanding Teacher of the Year.” His Ph.D. in political science is from Washington University in St. Louis.

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA 94305

Daniel C. O’Neill Associate Professor of Political Science, School of International Studies, University of the Pacific

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APARC Alumni Gather in Beijing and Tokyo, Reflect on Stanford Experience

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News

Date

Fri, 10/26/2018 - 12:00

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5,100 miles separate Tokyo from Stanford. But for Hiroyuki Fukano, the distance was measured in more than miles. It was also a journey of time and memory–of 30 years, to be precise.

As a visiting fellow in the 1988-89 cohort of APARC’s Corporate Affiliate Program (now called Global Affiliates Program), Fukano joined Center alumni and friends from the last four decades for reunions in Beijing and Tokyo. In all, more than 100 former affiliates and visiting fellows gathered to reconnect with peers, meet new ones, and reflect on their times at Stanford.

"These gatherings are a reminder, both to our faculty and alumni, of the power of the APARC experience to change lives,” shared Director Gi-Wook Shin, who delivered welcoming remarks at both events. “We have with us alumni and affiliates from the private and public sectors, as well as from academia. They are doing amazing work in their specific fields; work influenced, in part, by their time at Stanford.”

“Clearly, the APARC experience stretches beyond barriers, both geographical and temporal.”

The gatherings also underscored the influence of the APARC experience on strengthening connections across Asia at large. For example, one Korean affiliate flew in for the Tokyo event, while a Japanese alum, now working in China, joined his Stanford peers at the Beijing gathering.

“It’s an especially unique bond that the affiliates share,” noted Global Affiliates Program Manager Denise Masumoto. “Regardless of the industry or field from which they come, their fellowship year at APARC is a unifying experience for them; it’s something each of them carries forward into everything they do.”

Fukano, who delivered remarks at the Tokyo event, echoed this sentiment. As he reflected on the thirty years that had passed since his time at Stanford, he shared that, even to this day, his year at APARC still held great significance for him.

Director Shin was joined at the events by several Center faculty members. Professor Takeo Hoshi, director of the Japan Program at APARC, updated the Tokyo audience on new research and partnerships being explored by the program.

Professor Jean Oi, director of the China Program at APARC, addressed the Beijing gathering at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU). Professor Oi spoke about the program’s collaboration this fall with SCPKU on their "On the Road to China" program, which brings Stanford students to SCPKU for three months of coursework and area experiences.

We thank everyone who joined us for these alumni events and look forward to seeing even more friends and partners next time.

Prof. Takeo Hoshi, Lei Guo (2016-17 Visiting Scholar, Peking University), and Masami Miyashita (2011-12 Corporate Affiliate, Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry, Japan)

Luguang Li (2002-03 Corporate Affiliate, PetroChina) and Professor Gi-Wook Shin

Masami Miyashita (2011-12 Corporate Affiliate, METI, Japan, now based in Hong Kong) and Zhuoyan Wang (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, PetroChina)

Zhuoyan Wang (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, PetroChina)

Jung-Yi Lee (2013-14 Visiting Scholar, Hanmaum Peace & Research Foundation)

Xiuxiao Wang (2016-17 Visiting Scholar, Central University of Finance and Economics) and Professor Gi-Wook Shin

Liang (Leon) Fang (2014-15 Corporate Affiliate, China Sunrain Solar Energy Co., Ltd.) and Zhuoyan Wang (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, PetroChina)

Hong Cheng (2016-17 Visiting Scholar, Wuhan University), Lei Guo (2016-17 Visiting Scholar, Peking University), Professor Takeo Hoshi, and Jianxiong Liu (2016-17 Visiting Scholar, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Professor Jean Oi and Guofeng Sun (2003-04 Corporate Affiliate, Research Institute of People’s Bank of China)

Lei Guo, 2016-17 Visiting Scholar from Peking University, and Professor Andy Walder

Beijing reception on September 10, 2018

Toshiyuki Watanabe (2017-18 Corporate Affiliate, The Asahi Shimbun) and Takahito Inoshita (2017-18 Corporate Affiliate, Kozo Keikaku Engineering)

Hiroyuki Fukano (1988-89 Corporate Affiliate, ITOCHU Corporation)

Takashi Imoto (1998-99 Corporate Affiliate, Kansai Electric Power Company), Yasuhiro Kanda (2005-06 Corporate Affiliate, Kansai Electric Power Company), and Professor Takeo Hoshi

Aki Takahashi (2015-17 Corporate Affiliate, Nissoken), Kenichi Kamai and Kimie Kawamoto (affiliate representatives from Nissoken)

Ryuichiro Takeshita (2014-15 Corporate Affiliate, Huff Post Japan), Toshiyuki Watanabe (2017-18 Corporate Affiliate, The Asahi Shimbun) and Takahito Inoshita (2017-18 Corporate Affiliate, Kozo Keikaku Engineering)

Yotaro Akamine (2007-08 Corporate Affiliate, Tokyo Electric Power Company)

Professor Gi-Wook Shin and Keiichi Uruga (2013-14 Corporate Affiliate, Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry, Japan)

Tadashi (Brian) Miyakawa (2000-01 Corporate Affiliate, IBM, Japan)

Yohei Saito (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, Future Architect Inc.), Col. Daisuke Nakaya (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, Japan Air Self Defense Force), Akihiko Sado (2016-17 Corporate Affiliate, The Asahi Shimbun), Hiroki Morishige (2016-18 Corporate Affiliate, Shizuoka Prefectural Government) and Aki Takahashi (2015-17 Corporate Affiliate, Nissoken)

Tokyo reception on September 5, 2018

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Group photo of Global Affiliates Program participants for 2019-20.

Rod Searcey

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Break Through: Women in Silicon Valley, Womenomics in Japan Final Report

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On August 9, 2018, the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center (APARC) hosted a conference, “Break Through: Women in Silicon Valley, Womenomics in Japan" with support from the Acceleration Program in Tokyo for Women (APT). Women thought-leaders and entrepreneurs from Stanford, Silicon Valley, and Japan came together to discuss innovative ideas for narrowing the gender gap, and cultivated interpersonal support networks and collaboration across the Pacific. The report, which is an outcome of the conference, offers an analysis and discussion of the themes and takeaways from the day.

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Publication Type

Policy Briefs

Publication Date

October 24, 2018

Journal Publisher

Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

2018 Holiday Party

Thursday, December 6, 2018 | 5:00 PM -Thursday, December 6, 2018 | 7:00 PM

Management, Faculty Productivity, and Student Learning in India

Wednesday, November 28, 2018 | 12:00 PM -Wednesday, November 28, 2018 | 1:30 PM

The idea that good management practices matter for organizational performance is widely accepted. An expanding literature suggests that better management practices improve the performance of organizations in various industries including manufacturing, health care, education, and government. In this paper we aim to present a more contextualized perspective. In particular, we examine how management practices affect performance in complex organizations that have multiple and potentially competing performance goals, that is, higher education.

To examine the impact of management practices on teaching and research outcomes, we analyze unique, nationally representative, and granular data that we collected from close to 300 university departments, 5,000 faculty, and 40,000 students in India. Through analyzing these data, we produce three novel sets of findings. First, we find that better management practices, on average, do not have significant effects on domain-specific or domain-general aspects of student learning. Any positive relationship between management practices and student learning disappears once we control for selection by student ability into institutions. Second, and by contrast, we find that better management practices—in particular better target-setting and performance-oriented practices—significantly increase faculty research productivity. Third, we find that the effect of better management practices depends on the performance goals of institutions.

This lecture is part of the 2018-2019 South Asia Colloquia series co-sponsored by Shorenstein APARC and the Center for South Asia .

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

Yong Suk Lee

Former SK Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

yong_resize2.jpg PhD, MPP

Yong Suk Lee was the SK Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Deputy Director of the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. He served in these roles until June 2021.

Lee’s main fields of research are labor economics, technology and entrepreneurship, and urban economics. Some of the issues he has studied include technology and labor markets, entrepreneurship and economic growth, entrepreneurship education, and education and inequality. He is also interested in both the North and South Korean economy and has examined how economic sanctions affect economic activity in North Korea, and how management practices and education policy affect inequality in South Korea. His current research focuses on how the new wave of digital technologies, such as robotics and artificial intelligence affect labor, education, entrepreneurship, and productivity.

His research has been published in both economics and management journals including the Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Health Economics, and Labour Economics. Lee also regularly contributes to policy reports and opinion pieces on contemporary issues surrounding both North and South Korea.

Prior to joining Stanford, Lee was an assistant professor of economics at Williams College in Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University, a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and a Bachelor's degree and master's degree in architecture from Seoul National University. Lee also worked as a real estate development consultant and architecture designer as he transitioned from architecture to economics.

While at APARC, Dr. Lee led and participated in several research projects, including Stanford-Asia Pacific Innovation; Digital Technologies and the Labor Market; Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Economic Development; The Impact of Robotics on Nursing Home Care in Japan; Education and Development in the Digital Economy; and New Media and Political Economy.

Former Deputy Director of the Korea Program at Shorenstein APARC

Stanford University

Prashant Loyalka Stanford University

Stanford University

How and Why Did the Opposition Win in Malaysia? Lessons for Semi-Authoritarian Asia

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | 12:00 PM -Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | 1:30 PM

Malaysia's ruling National Front (BN) coalition ran one of the most durable authoritarian governments in the world. But in May 2018, a coalition of opposition parties won power, unseating the BN government for the first time in 61 years. In two complementary talks, APARC scholars Sophie Lemière and Sebastian Dettman will examine the roots of this victory in light of the strategies, coalitions, and messianic messages used by the opposition. Using findings from their fieldwork in Malaysia, they will show how and why the opposition parties were successful and draw implications of the victory for Malaysia’s future under its new coalition government. The speakers will also convey broader insights about political competition in Southeast Asia’s semi-authoritarian polities and beyond.

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Sebastian Dettman completed his doctorate in the Department of Government at Cornell University in 2018. He researches party building, electoral competition, and political representation in newly democratic and authoritarian regimes, with a focus on Southeast Asia. Sebastian has an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Michigan and has worked as a consultant and researcher for organizations including the Asia Foundation, the International Crisis Group, and the Carter Center.

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Sophie Lemière is a political anthropologist in the Ash Center for Democracy at Harvard University. At Stanford she is working on a political biography of Malaysia’s current prime minister that features his recent election campaign. She is the editor of a series of books on politics and people in Malaysia, including Gangsters and Masters (2019), Illusions of Democracy (2017), and Misplaced Democracy (2014). She has held visiting research positions at universities in Singapore, Australia, and the US. Her PhD is from Sciences-Po in Paris.

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

Sebastian Dettman 2018-19 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia

Sophie Lemière 2018-19 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia

Seminars

Why Xi Jinping’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Has Undermined Chinese Citizens’ Regime Support?

Monday, November 12, 2018 | 4:30 PM -Monday, November 12, 2018 | 6:00 PM

Populist leaders around the world often fight against corruption in an effort to win public support. Conventional wisdom holds that this strategy works because leaders can signal their benevolent intentions by removing corrupt officials. We argue that fighting against corruption can produce unintended consequences. By revealing scandals of corrupt officials, anti-corruption campaigns can alter citizens’ beliefs about public officials and lead to disenchantment about political institutions. We test this argument by examining how China’s current anti-corruption campaign has changed citizens’ public support for the government and the Communist Party. We analyze the results of two surveys conducted before and during the campaign, and employ a difference-in-differences strategy to show that corruption investigations decrease respondents’ support for the central government and party. We also examine our respondents’ prior and posterior beliefs, and the results support our updating mechanism.

SPEAKER:

Yuhua Wang is an assistant professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He received his B.A. from Peking University and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Yuhua's research has focused on the emergence of state institutions, with a regional focus on China. Yuhua is the author of Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China (Cambridge University Press, 2015). He is currently working on a book-length project to examine long-term state development in China.

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA 94305

Yuhua Wang Assistant Professor, Department of Government at Harvard University

Independence and Governance in Singapore: The Highest Stage of Colonialism?

Monday, October 22, 2018 | 12:00 PM -Monday, October 22, 2018 | 1:30 PM

Singapore’s government is widely seen as competent, honest, and meritocratic—an exceptional case of post-colonial governance. Nor can any elected incumbent party anywhere match Singapore’s People’s Action Party’s 59-year record of uninterrupted rule. But recent events have cast doubt on the PAP government’s reputation for performance and stability. Despite acknowledging its need for new leaders, the government has been unable to select a clear successor to the current prime minister, even as his talented and popular deputy is sidelined, apparently due to his ethnic-minority background. When the government tried to ascertain public opinion on legislation against “deliberate online falsehoods,” the exercise descended into name-calling and threats against witnesses. Resentments have meanwhile risen over socioeconomic inequality and the mismanagement of public transport, housing, and health care.

How did this happen? In his talk, Dr. Thum will explore the historical forces that have shaped Singapore's politics and governance; explain the political economy of decision-making there; and recount his own experience with the turmoil affecting the country's government. He will argue that Singapore's post-colonial independence and governance are an evolution of—not from—British colonial rule. The government is responsive and accountable to international capital. But the PAP needs the approval of voting citizens to legitimize its continuation in power. The party’s leaders embody this dilemma in their struggles to reconcile two such different and competing sets of interests.

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Thum Ping Tjin (“PJ”) is a historian. He founded and serves as managing director of New Naratif (www.newnaratif.com), a Southeast Asian platform for research, journalism, art, and community organization that supports democracy and human rights. He is also a founding director of Project Southeast Asia, an interdisciplinary research cluster on the region at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar, Commonwealth Scholar, Olympic athlete, and the only Singaporean to have swum the English Channel, his scholarship centers on the history of Southeast Asian governance and politics. In March 2018 he was questioned for six hours by Singapore’s minister for law and home affairs for his criticism of statements and actions undertaken by PAP politicians acting under internal security laws in Singapore during the Cold War.

Philippines Conference Room Encina Hall, 3rd Floor 616 Serra Street, Stanford, CA 94305

Thum Ping Tjin Visiting Research Fellow, University of Oxford

Seminars

Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election (Book Chapter)

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This third volume in the Japan Decides series remains the premier venue for scholarly research on Japanese elections. Spotlighting the 2017 general election, the contributors discuss the election results, party politics, coalition politics with Komeito, the cabinet, constitutional revision, new opposition parties, and Abenomics. Additionally, the volume looks at campaigning, public opinion, media, gender issues and representation, North Korea and security issues, inequality, immigration and cabinet scandals. With a topical focus and timely coverage of the latest dramatic changes in Japanese politics, the volume will appeal to researchers and policy experts alike, and will also make a welcome addition to courses on Japanese politics, comparative politics and electoral politics.

Chapter 15, Abenomics' Third Arrow: Fostering Future Competitiveness?, was written by Shorenstein APARC Research Scholar, Kenji Kushida.

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Publication Type

Books

Publication Date

May 30, 2018

Authors

Kenji E. Kushida

External Purchase Links

Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election

External URL

Palgrave Macmillan

Research Handbook on Digital Transformations (Book Chapter)

Read more about Research Handbook on Digital Transformations (Book Chapter)

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The digital transition of the world economy is now entering a phase of broad and deep societal impact. While there is one overall transition, there are many different sectoral transformations, from health and legal services to tax reports and taxi rides, as well as a rising number of transversal trends and policy issues, from widespread precarious employment and privacy concerns to market monopoly and cybercrime. This Research Handbook offers a rich and interdisciplinary synthesis of some of the recent research on the digital transformations currently under way.

This comprehensive study contains chapters covering sectoral and transversal analyses, all of which are specially commissioned and include cutting-edge research. The contributions featured are global, spanning four continents and seven different countries, as well as interdisciplinary, including experts in economics, sociology, law, finance, urban planning and innovation management. The digital transformations discussed are fertile ground for researchers, as established laws and regulations, organizational structures, business models, value networks and workflow routines are contested and displaced by newer alternatives.

This book will be equally pertinent to three constituencies: academic researchers and graduate students, practitioners in various industrial and service sectors and policy makers.

Chapter 17 of this book, The Impact of Digital Technologies on Innovation Policy, was written by Shorenstein APARC Research Scholar Kenji Kushida.

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Publication Type

Books

Publication Date

September 30, 2016

Authors

Kenji E. Kushida

External Purchase Links

Research Handbook on Digital Transformations

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