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.

The US, China and the Balance of Influence in and around Southeast Asia

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The recent US-ASEAN summit at Sunnylands in California is just the latest high-profile instance of Washington's efforts to strengthen its relations with Asia. Through a MacArthur Foundation-supported project he is leading, Bates Gill has explored a range of old and new security ties between the US and its partners in the Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Australia. Each of these governments seeks to strike the right balance between Washington and Beijing, but the domestic and foreign policies they employ for that purpose differ greatly. Basing his findings and analysis on extensive field research in these countries, Prof. Gill will offer recommendations for Washington and its regional partners as they look to engage with and hedge against a rising China.

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Bates Gill has a 30-year international career as a China watcher, having held teaching, research, and executive leadership positions in the United States, China, Europe, and Australia. He is currently a board director of China Matters, a not-for-profit advisory based in Sydney, Australia. In 2012-15 he was CEO of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He directed the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute from 2007 to 2012 and previously held the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and served as the inaugural director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. 

Prof. Gill has authored or edited seven books including Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy and Asia's New Multilateralism: Cooperation, Conflict and the Search for Community (co-edited with Michael Green). His professional affiliations include service on the editorial boards of China Quarterly and the Journal of Contemporary China, the international advisory board of the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, and the board of governors of the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore). His PhD is from the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.

The US, China and the Balance of Influence in and around Southeast Asia
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Bates Gill Professor of Asia Pacific Strategic Studies, Australia National University
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Responding to North Korea's fourth nuclear test

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In a recent interview with Yonhap News, David Straub, associate director of the Korea Program, says "Although the United States and the PRC certainly have differences [in dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue], they pale in copmarison to U.S.-Soviet differences."

Yonhap News article in English (February 12, 2016)

 

Straub also offers, in an extended interview with South Korea's Segye Ilbo newspaper, his thoughts on Pyongyang's motivations for pursuing nuclear weapons. He argues that the appropriate policy response is to continue to increase pressure on the regime to convince it that nuclear weapons will bring more costs than benefits, while holding open the door to good-faith negotiations to resolve peninsular issues. 

Segye Ilbo article in Korean (January 8, 2016)

 

 

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U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

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U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, America’s top trade official and a member of the President’s cabinet, will discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a groundbreaking new trade agreement with countries throughout the Asia-Pacific Region. During his final State of the Union address last month, President Obama urged Congress to pass this legislation during the current session.  Winning congressional approval of the TPP is one of the Obama Administration’s leading priorities for 2016.

Ambassador Froman will highlight both how exporting Made-in-America products benefits the California economy as well as how the TPP will strengthen America’s economy and its relationships with key partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ambassador Michael Froman is President Barack Obama’s principal advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on international trade and investment issues.  He leads the Office of the United States Trade Representative in its work to open global markets for America’s exports, enforce U.S. rights in the global trading system, and foster development through trade.

Key initiatives under Ambassador Froman’s leadership include the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in the Asia-Pacific Region; the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union; the negotiation of agreements on services, information technology and trade facilitation at the World Trade Organization; and monitoring and enforcement of U.S. trade rights, including through the Interagency Trade and Enforcement Center (ITEC).

Prior to becoming USTR, Ambassador Froman served at the White House as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, responsible for coordinating policy on international trade and finance, energy security and climate change, and development and democracy issues.

Before joining the Obama Administration, Ambassador Froman served in a number of roles at Citigroup, as a Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, and a Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

He received a bachelor’s degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, a doctorate in International Relations from Oxford University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

For Ambassador Froman’s complete biography, click here.

Conditions for Entry:

  • Current Stanford student or valid photo ID required
  • All bags, backpacks and purses subject to search
  • No signs are allowed
  • No noisemakers are allowed

This event is co-sponsored by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the U.S.-Asia Security Initiative, the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Please direct media inquires to Ms. Lisa Griswold, lisagris@stanford.edu

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U.S.-Asia Security Initiative

Rival Reputations: Coercion and Credibility in US-North Korea Relations

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How has North Korea managed to experience numerous foreign policy crises without escalation to war?  Why has North Korea been willing to repeatedly engage in small-scale attacks against the United States and its South Korean ally?  And why have U.S. officials in liberal and conservative presidential administrations only rarely taken North Korean threats seriously?  In this presentation of his newly released book, Rival Reputations: Coercion and Credibility in US-North Korea Relations, (Cambridge University Press), Dr. Van Jackson argues that these puzzles are best explained with reference to the weight of history in U.S. and North Korean foreign policy.  The book draws on the concept of reputation--the influence of past words and deeds on decision-making in the present--to explain patterns of hostile interactions in foreign policy between the United States and North Korea from 1960s through the present day.  The book's findings have major implications for the conduct of U.S. and South Korean foreign and defense policy toward North Korea.

Dr. Van Jackson is an associate professor in the College of Security Studies at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, specializing in East Asian security, U.S. foreign policy, defense strategy, historical institutionalism, and international relations theory. He is also an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington, as well as a senior editor for the online defense daily, War on the Rocks. From 2009 to 2014, Dr. Jackson held positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as a strategist and policy adviser focused on the Asia-Pacific, senior country director for Korea, and working group chair of the U.S.–Republic of Korea Extended Deterrence Policy Committee. He has previously taught at Georgetown University and the Catholic University of America, and has held fellowships with the Council on Foreign Relations, CNAS, and Pacific Forum CSIS. He is also widely published in leading disciplinary and area studies journals.

Van Jackson <i>College of Security Studies, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies</i>
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Korean Studies Colloquium Series

Nudging Good People into Public Service: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Philippines

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Incompetent and dishonest politicians are common in developing countries. Scholars who write about corruption and poor governance tend to take the existence of bad politicians as a given and focus on the damage that they do. Few study the ways in which politicians are recruited in order to improve that process. Some scholars acknowledge the need to encourage the creation of a political class that is competent and honest. But none have gone further by conducting real-world experiments to evaluate the efficacy of screening and incentivizing competent and virtuous citizens to stand for public office, that is, how to nudge good people to become politicians in the first place.

Dr. Ravanilla will describe a policy intervention designed to attract able and ethical candidates to public service. Can a leadership-training workshop and non-monetary status rewards be used to screen and motivate good people to serve the public good? His answer is yes. The results of a randomized field experiment among youth running for an elective post in the Philippines show that such an intervention is indeed feasible and can be effective in motivating able and moral individuals to seek public office while at the same time discouraging candidates who do not meet these criteria.

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Nico Ravanilla will begin an assistant professorship in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego, in September 2016.  The Southeast Asia Research Group named him a Young Southeast Asia Fellow for 2015-16.  He earned his PhD in political science and public policy at the University of Michigan in 2015.

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Nico Ravanilla 2015-16 Shorenstein APARC Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
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Top policy expert visits, outlines US strategy in Asia

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David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, visited Stanford on Jan. 22 for a daylong series of discussions on the state of U.S. defense strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Shear facilitated a closed-door dialogue with Stanford-based senior military fellows studying national security issues at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Hoover Institution.

Shear also met with faculty members of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and delivered a lecture to a packed audience at Encina Hall.

The events were sponsored by the U.S.-Asia Security Initiative led by Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. The initiative seeks to produce research outcomes and constructive interaction between academic and governmental experts on security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. More information about the initiative can be found here.

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(L) David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, listens to a question posed by an audience member; (R) Shear facilitates a closed-door dialogue with a cohort of Senior Military Fellows at Stanford.
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India and the United States in the 21st Century: Charting a Path for the Indo-Pacific

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The United States and India continue to expand strategic ties and areas of collaboration in unprecedented ways. This of course has not come without constraints or significant obstacles. Under the Obama Administration, the relationship has arguably been elevated to a new level of cooperation, but space remains for a potentially significant further expansion of both ties and collaboration on all levels. This will have strategic implications for both nations, their neighbors, and the overall region itself. 
 

As the U.S.-India relationship continues to grow into the 21st century, a new regional construct has the potential for developing along with it. At the confluence of India's Act East foreign policy and the United States' strategic rebalance to Asia lies the relatively undefined domain of the Indo-Pacific. This seminar will touch upon the efforts of the Obama Administration to further this "defining partnership of the 21st century", and then delve into the potential future of the Indo-Pacific and the strategic implications and challenges of a developing Indo-Pacific reality from political, economic, security, and technological perspectives

 

Philip James Reiner is an Affiliate at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, and serves as a consultant to both the private and public sectors. He previously served as Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), where he successfully led U.S. government efforts to revitalize the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, and oversaw two head-of-state level engagements including the groundbreaking visit of President Obama as Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2015. Prior to his appointment as Senior Director, Mr. Reiner served at the NSC for three years, first as Director for Pakistan and then as Senior Advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In these capacities, he helped to manage the war-time requirements of effectively staffing the President, the National Security Advisor, and senior White House and NSC leadership, while helping to lead team efforts to sustain an international coalition of more than 40 countries in Afghanistan, with functional focus on both counterterrorism and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He also played an instrumental role in managing significant bilateral and regional crises and helping to reset and rebalance U.S.-Pakistan relations after the tensions of 2011.

Prior to joining the White House, Mr. Reiner worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon, where he received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service; and at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. Mr. Reiner holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religions with a minor in History from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and daughter.

 

This event is co-sponsored by the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Center for International Security and Cooperation 

 
Philip James Reiner Former Senior Director for South Asia, National Security Council
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Contemporary Asia Seminar Series
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Silicon Valley and Asian Economies

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This event is co-sponsored by NHK WORLD, Global Agenda, and the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

About NHK and Global Agenda

NHK WORLD is NHK's international broadcast service. NHK is Japan’s national public broadcasting corporation and operates international television, radio, and internet services; together, they are known as NHK WORLD.

The aims of NHK WORLD are:

  • To provide both domestic and international news to the world accurately and promptly
  • To present information on Asia from various perspectives, making the best use of NHK's global network
  • To serve as a vital information lifeline in the event of major accidents and natural disasters
  • To present broadcasts with great accuracy and speed on many aspects of Japanese culture and lifestyles, recent developments in society and politics, the latest scientific and industrial trends, and Japan's role and opinions regarding important global issues
  • To foster mutual understanding between Japan and other countries and promote friendship and cultural exchange

“Global Agenda” is a new program within NHK WORLD TV where world opinion leaders discuss various issues facing Japan and the rest of the world today.

Symposium Overview

Innovation is essential for economic growth, especially in advanced economies. As the catch-up phase of economic growth is ending or has ended for many Asian economies, they face the challenge of transforming their economic systems to ones that encourage innovations and use those as the most important source for growth. The panel will discuss various issues surrounding the economic system that is favorable for innovations. Silicon Valley, where Stanford University is located, has an ecosystem that is conducive to innovations. The panel will pay special attention to implications for Japan and other Asian economies.

Panelists

William Barnnett, Professor of Business Leadership, Strategy, and Organizations, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Francis Fukuyama, Director, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Freeman Spogli Insititute for International Studies

Takeo Hoshi, Director, Japan Program, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Kenji Kushida, Research Associate, Japan Program, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Note

This event will be recorded and broadcast worldwide. By registering to attend you hereby grant Stanford University and NHK World permission to use encode, digitize, copy, edit, excerpt, transmit, and display the audio or videotape of your participation in this event as well as use your name, voice, likeness, biographic information, and ancillary material in connection with such audio or videotape. You understand that this event will be broadcast worldwide, which will be available to the general public. This event may also be webcast over one or more websites. By registering to attend you grant, without limitations, perpetual rights for the use and transmission and display of audio or videotape of this event. This permission is irrevocable and royalty free, and you understand that the University and NHK will act in reliance on this permission.

RSVP

RSVP for this event is mandatory as seating is limited. Doors will open at 3:00pm and the event will begin promptly at 3:30pm. Since the event is being recorded, we ask that participants arrive on time.

William Barnnett Professor of Business Leadership, Strategy, and Organizations- Graduate School of Business
Francis Fukuyama Director, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law- FSI
Takeo Hoshi Director, Japan Program- Shorenstein APARC
Kenji Kushida Research Associate, Japan Program- Shorenstein APARC
Symposiums

Third Annual Stanford Summer Juku on Japanese Political Economy

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The Japan Program held the third annual Stanford Summer Juku on Japanese Political Economy from August 10-13. Over 40 scholars from various parts of the US and Japan participated in the conference, which took place at the Bechtel Conference Center at Encina Hall. The first two days focused on political science and the second day on economics. Distinctive features of the Summer Juku are the long times allotted to each paper to allow for two in-depth discussants and discussion among participants, as well as ample time for informal discussions and interactions among participants allowing for collaborations and expansion of the network of researchers on Japan in political science and economics. Particularly notable this year was a large number of cross-disciplinary and cross-national collaborations between scholars ranging from political science, economics, management, infomatics, and medicine.

The first day included four papers in political science. Amy Catalinac from New York University presented her paper, "Positioning Under Alternative Electoral Systems: Evidence from 7,497 Japanese Candidate Election Manifestos", with discussants Gary Cox (Stanford) and Harukata Takenaka (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan).

Daniel Smith (Harvard University) presented a paper co-authored by Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth College) and Teppei Yamamoto (MIT) entitled "Identifying Multidimensional Policy Preferences of Voters in Representative Democracies: A Cojoint Field Experiment in Japan". The Discussants for the paper were Kay Shimizu (Columbia University) and Karen Jusko (Stanford).

Harukata Takenaka from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies presented his paper on “Changes in Power of Japanese Prime Minister: Still Away from a Westminster Model.” Tsuneo Akaha (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey) and Kenji Kushida (Stanford University) were the discussants.

The fourth paper was “Territorial Issues and Support for the Prime Minister: A survey Experiment on Rally-‘Round-the Flag Effect in Japan” by Tetsuro Kobayashi (National Institute of Informatics, Japan) and Azusa Katagiri (Stanford), discussed by Tsuneo Akaha (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey) and Daniel Smith (Harvard).

The second day focused on political economy and international relations. Gene Park (Loyola Marymount University, and former Shorenstein Fellow at APARC) presented his paper co-authored with Saori Katada (University of Southern California) and Giacomo Chiozza (Vanderbilt University) entitled “Policy ideas and monetary policy: The Bank of Japan's delayed break with the monetary orthodoxy". Discussants were Azusa Katagiri (Stanford) and Ayako Saiki (De Netherlandsche Bank).

The second paper of the day was "The Political Economy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Implications beyond Economics" by Hiroki Takeuchi (Southern Methodist University), discussed by Kay Shimizu (Columbia University) and Gene Park (Loyola Marymount University). 

After lunch, Llewelyn Hughes (Australian National University) presented "Lead Markets, Vertical Specialization, and Standards Competition in Electric Vehicles" with discussants Kenji Kushida (Stanford University) and Phillip Lipscy (Stanford University). The final session was "Renegotiating the World Order: Institutional Change in International Relations” which were select chapters from a book manuscript by Phillip Lipscy (Stanford University). The discussants were Amy Catalinac (New York University) and Llewelyn Hughes (Australian National University). A group dinner followed the second day.

The third day was the kick-off for economics papers, where we also saw cross-disciplinary collaborations with colleagues from the US and Japan.

Karen Eggleston (Stanford University) presented “Medical spending and health care utilization in Japan, 2010-2014: Projections from Future Elderly Model microsimulation”, which was co-authored by Hawre Jajal (Stanford University), Brian K. Chen (University of Southern California), Hideki Hashimoto (University of Tokyo), Toshiaki Iizuka (University of Tokyo), Lena Shoemaker (Stanford University), and Jay Bhattacharya (Stanford University). Yong Suk Lee (Stanford University) was the discussant.

The second paper, "The adverse effects of value-based purchasing in health care: dynamic quantile regression with endogeneity" by Galina Besstremyannaya (Visiting Scholar, Stanford University), was discussed by Jay Battacharya (Stanford University) and Takeo Hoshi (Stanford University).

The third paper was ""How Do Agricultural Markets Respond to Radiation Risk? Evidence from the 2011 Disaster in Japan" by Kayo Tajima (Rikkyo University), Masashi Yamamoto (University of Toyama), and Daisuke Ichinose (Rikkyo University). Discussants for the paper presented by Tajima were Satoshi Koibuchi (Chuo University and Visiting Scholar, Stanford University) and Yong Suk Lee (Stanford University).

The final paper for the third day was "Shocks and Shock Absorbers in Japanese Bonds and Banks During the Global Financial Crisis" by Hyonok Kim (Tokyo Keizai University), Yukihiro Yasuda (Hitotsubashi University), and James A. Wilcox (University of California, Berkeley). Discussants were Sabrina Howell (New York University) and Suparna Chakraborty (University of San Francisco).

The final day included two papers. The first was "Impact of Financial Intermediary's Information Production on Market Value of Firm: Case Studies on the DBJ's Liquidity Providing During the Financial Crisis and the Environmental Rating of Firm" by Hiroaki Suzuoka (Development Bank of Japan), Atsushi Motohashi (Development Bank of Japan), Shinya Nakamura (Development Bank of Japan), Tomoya Maruoka (Development Bank of Japan), and Takamasa Uesugi (Development Bank of Japan), presented by Takamasa Uesugi. Discussants were Jess Diamond (Hitotsubashi University) and Masami Imai (Wesleyan University). The final paper was "Selective Disclosure: The Case of Nikkei Preview Articles" by William N. Goetzmann (Yale School of Management), Yasushi Hamao (University of Southern California), and Hidenori Takahashi (Kobe University), presented by Yasushi Hamao. Eiichiro Kazumori (University of Buffalo) was the discussant.

After the completion of four days of Summer Juku, participants who had enough time before their flights held an “uchiage” (completion celebration) gathering—a tradition at the conclusion of the Summer Juku—at “The Patio” in downtown Palo Alto for further informal exchange over drinks and appetizers.

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The participants of the Stanford Summer Juku held in August, 2015
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Does Money Matter? Education Enrollment and Attainment in Rural China

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In 2006, the Chinese Government introduced a massive block grant program for rural compulsory education, similar to that of Title I grant in the United States. Central government provided block grants with add-on requirement to provincial governments based on total number of pupils, average per pupil spending in that province, and a cost-sharing plan that favors the economically backward provinces. Provincial governments then distributed the grants along with its own share to county government using a similar formula to cover school operating expenditures, free tuitions, and conditional cash transfers for boarding students.

 

While there have been plenty research on whether the program has buttressed the financing of rural education or crowded out local financing, little is known about its effects on the enrollment and education attainment of rural children after a decade  (Shi, 2012; Chyi & Zhou, 2014; Lü, 2014). This paper fills this glaring gap by using matched household survey data and county school expenditure data between 2000-2011 that were made available to researchers for the first time.

 

Our identification strategies are composed of three parts. First, we take advantage of the exogenous variation in the rates of cost-sharing in the two-step allocation process of the block grants to estimate “Intention to Treatment” effects of the whole program. Secondly, we compare counties receiving different proportion of subsidies from central government in a difference-in-difference framework. Thirdly, we use the IV-DID strategy that instruments the county-level education spending with the exogenous variation in the planned allocation of the grants.

 

Dr. Wei HA is currently Research Professor in Education Policy and Leadership at the Graduate School of Education and a faculty associate at the Institute of Education Economics at Peking University. Prior to joining the Peking University, he worked as policy specialists at UNICEF and UNDP for seven years in the United States and Africa. During his doctoral study at the Harvard University, he also served as a consultant at the World Bank. He has conducted research in a wide-range of fields including education economics, public health, migration, and development economics. His current research focuses on the impact evaluation of key national education policies in China such as the Rural Compulsory Education Finance Reform, and China’s efforts to build “World Class Universities” through the 211 and 985 Projects. He also examines the interaction between education and major social transformations in China such as the massive labor retrenchments at State-Owned Enterprises in the late 1990s and rising housing prices in urban China. Dr. Ha received a dual BA in Economics and Political Science and MA in Education Economics from Peking University and his PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University.

 

This event is cosponsored by the Rural Education Action Program (REAP).

Does Money Matter? The Effects of Block Grants on Education Enrollment and Attainment in Rural China
Wei HA Education Policy and Leadership at the Graduate School of Education and Institute of Education Economics at Peking University
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