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.

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Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has embarked on a historically important shift in its defense policy, taking on a more active regional security role and re-interpreting the Japanese constitution to allow for the country to participate in acts that are no longer strictly defined as defense of Japan's own territory. What do these changes mean for Japan's relations with its neighbors? For the alliance with the United States? Are these changes truly within the bounds of the Japanese constitution? And what are the politics of the debate within Japan over this historic change in defense and security policy?

 

Panelist:
Ryo Sahashi - Visiting Associate Professor, Shorenstein APARC at Stanford University and Associate Professor of International Politics, Faculty of Law at Kanagawa University

Daniel C. Sneider - Associate Director for Research, Shorenstein APARC at Stanford University

Moderator:
Takeo Hoshi - Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at FSI; Professor, by courtesy, of Finance, Graduate School of Business and Director, Japan Studies Program, Shorenstein APARC at Stanford University

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Former Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Former Professor, by courtesy, of Finance at the Graduate School of Business
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Takeo Hoshi was Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Professor of Finance (by courtesy) at the Graduate School of Business, and Director of the Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), all at Stanford University. He served in these roles until August 2019.

Before he joined Stanford in 2012, he was Pacific Economic Cooperation Professor in International Economic Relations at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he conducted research and taught since 1988.

Hoshi is also Visiting Scholar at Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and at the Tokyo Center for Economic Research (TCER), and Senior Fellow at the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER). His main research interest includes corporate finance, banking, monetary policy and the Japanese economy.

He received 2015 Japanese Bankers Academic Research Promotion Foundation Award, 2011 Reischauer International Education Award of Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, 2006 Enjoji Jiro Memorial Prize of Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, and 2005 Japan Economic Association-Nakahara Prize.  His book titled Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan: The Road to the Future (MIT Press, 2001) co-authored with Anil Kashyap (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago) received the Nikkei Award for the Best Economics Books in 2002.  Other publications include “Will the U.S. and Europe Avoid a Lost Decade?  Lessons from Japan’s Post Crisis Experience” (Joint with Anil K Kashyap), IMF Economic Review, 2015, “Japan’s Financial Regulatory Responses to the Global Financial Crisis” (Joint with Kimie Harada, Masami Imai, Satoshi Koibuchi, and Ayako Yasuda), Journal of Financial Economic Policy, 2015, “Defying Gravity: Can Japanese sovereign debt continue to increase without a crisis?” (Joint with Takatoshi Ito) Economic Policy, 2014, “Will the U.S. Bank Recapitalization Succeed? Eight Lessons from Japan” (with Anil Kashyap), Journal of Financial Economics, 2010, and “Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan” (Joint with Ricardo Caballero and Anil Kashyap), American Economic Review, December 2008.

Hoshi received his B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Tokyo in 1983, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988.

Former Director of the Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
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Moderator

Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Encina Hall, Rm. E313
616 Serra Street
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 725-5781
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Visiting Associate Professor
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Ryo Sahashi is a visiting associate professor of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) from April 2014 to March 2015. He joins APARC from Kanagawa University, where he concurrently serves as an associate professor of international politics. He will be writing a book on U.S. strategy toward China, Taiwan, and Northeast Asia since the Cold War.

Sahashi is a specialist on the regional security architecture in East Asia and Japan’s international relations. His articles are published in Chinese, English, and Japanese, including “Security Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific: a Three-Tier Approach,” William T. Tow and Rikki Kerstain (eds.); Bilateral Perspectives on Regional Security: Australia, Japan and the Asia-Pacific Region, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012, pp.214-240; “Security Partnership in Japanese Asia Strategy: Creating Order, Building Capacity, and Sharing Burden,” ifri Policy Papers, February 2013; “The rise of China and the transformation of Asia-Pacific security architecture,” William T. Tow and Brendan Taylor (eds.); Contending Cooperation: Bilateralism, Multilateralism, and Asia-Pacific Security, London and New York: Routledge, 2013, pp.135-156. His newest articles on Japan-Taiwan relations and on Japan’s foreign policy since DPJ era (2009-) will soon be available.

He also serves as Research Fellow at Japan Center for International Exchange. In the past, he was the visiting researcher at the Japanese House of Councilors and German Fund of the United States. His early academic career as faculty started with the University of Tokyo and Australian National University.

He is an active commentator and contributor to international media, including NHK (Asian Voice & Newsline), CCTV, APF, Newsweek, Defense News, Stars and Stripes, Global Times, China Dairy, Asia Pacific Bulletin, and East Asia Forum.

Sahashi is a graduate from International Christian University, spending junior year at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and earned his LL.M. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Schools for Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo.

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David Straub, the associate director of the Korea Program at Shorenstein APARC, spoke with the Voice of America about the three American citizens being held as prisoners in North Korea. On 1 Sept. 2014, the detainees called for U.S. help in videotaped interviews released by the North Korean government.

“If I were still in the U.S. government, I would be reluctant to be a party to sending extremely senior Americans to pick up Americans who have been incarcerated. At what point can you continue to do that? At what point does this become a benefit to the North Koreans, allowing them at any point to blackmail the United States?” said Straub.

Straub was part of the 2009 diplomatic mission with former U.S. president Bill Clinton to free two American journalists.

 

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In 2009, David Straub (back row 2nd from right), associate director of the Korea Program, pictured with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to free two U.S. reporters.
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The Honorable Park Won Soon is the 35th mayor of Seoul, South Korea. He was initially elected in Oct. 2011, and recently reelected for another four-year term in June 2014. Park was elected as an indepedent candidate, with the support of the Democratic Party and Democractic Labor Party.

In his keynote speech, Mayor Park will share his philosophy on civic participation and local governance, reflecting on his career in- and outside government. He will explore communication strategies that local government can employ to better engage citizens and motivate collective action, using best practices from Seoul to illustrate his point.

Before assuming office, Park was a human rights lawyer and passionate activist who founded several NGOs. In his early university years at Seoul National University, Park was arrested and expelled for participating in a student rally against the military dictatorship of President Park Chung Hee, and was subsequently imprisoned for four months.

Park passed the state bar exam in 1980, and worked as a public prosecutor in the Daegu District Court in Gyeongsang Province (1982–3), afterward launching a private law practice in Seoul. In 2006, Park founded the Hope Institute, a think tank that aims to apply policy alternatives based on ideas generated by Korea’s citizens.

He also founded the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in 1994, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting justice and human rights in Korean society through civic participation.

In 2000, Park founded the Beautiful Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote a culture of philanthropy and a just society in Korea, and in 2002, the Beautiful Store, a secondhand store that raises funds for the Foundation’s initiatives.

Park holds a diploma in international law from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in history from Dankook University. In 1993, he was a visiting research fellow in the Human Rights Program at the School of Law at Harvard University and from 2005-6 he was a distinguished practitioner at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University.

This event is part of the Asia-Pacific Leaders Forum.

The video of this presentation is located on the Shorenstein APARC YouTube channel.

 

McCaw Hall

Stanford Alumni Association
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center
326 Galvez Street
Stanford, CA 94305-6105
Parking, Map & Directions.

 

Park Won Soon Mayor of Seoul
Lectures
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60 years have passed since Japan started its development cooperation in 1954.  Japan has undergone the process of a defeated country of World War II becoming an economic superpower in the 1970s-1980s to be stagnant in the succeeding two decades.  During these periods, Japan's financial contribution to development cooperation once reached the highest among the OECD countries in the 1990s. But recently Japan's financial contribution stays at 4th or 5th. How has the Japanese development cooperation evolved over the past six decades? What have been its characteristics? What are the current debates of future direction of Japan's development cooperation? What role does it play in overall Japan's diplomacy and international relations?

 

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ihiko Tanaka is President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Before assuming the present post, he was Professor of International Politics at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies and at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo. Most recently he was Vice President of the University of Tokyo (2011-2012), Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo (2009-2011), and Director of the Division of International Affairs of the University of Tokyo (2008-2010).

He obtained his B.A. in International Relations at the University of Tokyo in 1977 and his Ph.D. in Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981.

Mr. Tanaka’s specialties include theories of international politics, contemporary international relations in East Asia, and Japan’s foreign policy. He has numerous books and articles in Japanese and English including the New Middle Ages: The World System in the 21st Century (Tokyo: The International House of Japan, 2002).

He received the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his academic achievements in 2012.

 

 

Akihiko Tanaka President Speaker President, Japan International Cooperation Agency
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Improving communication and historical education are two of the major recommendations from a final report on a Stanford-hosted dialogue on World War II memories in northeast Asia.

Stanford's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center convened a dialogue in May with experts from Asia, the United States and Europe to examine World War II reconciliation in Asia. It came at a time of heightened tensions among the governments of China, Japan and South Korea – contentious issues include territorial disputes and the way these societies portray WWII events.

"Each nation in northeast Asia and even the U.S. has selective or divided memories of the past, and does not really understand the views of the other side," said Stanford's Gi-Wook Shin, director of the Shorenstein center and a lead organizer of the event.

Stanford's two-day session was a culmination of a multi-year project that Shin and associate director Daniel Sneider organized. That effort has also yielded three books, and Shin and Sneider have another co-written volume under way on the subject. The research center is part of Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

A path to peace

The report, "Wartime History Issues in Asia: Pathways to Reconciliation," suggests the countries involved take the following steps:

  • Create supplementary teaching materials: Based on Stanford's Divided Memories and Reconciliation project, supplementary curricula could highlight how the WWII period is treated in Chinese, Japanese, South Korean and American textbooks. An alternative approach would be to focus on two or three thorny WWII themes, such as the Nanjing massacre, the atomic bombing of Japanese cities and forced labor.
  • Launch history dialogues: Ongoing conversations among Asian, American and European historians could highlight specific WWII events or contentious issues. The dialogue could be broadened into an international setting with more European participation.
  • Offer educational forums: Public and open educational forums could be held so historians could offer various perspectives on WWII issues to journalists, policy makers and college students.
  • Conduct museum exchanges: A dialogue among museum professionals in Asia and even the United States and Europe could create historically accurate narratives for those museums dealing with reconciliation issues. One idea would be to create a model museum wholly dedicated to WWII reconciliation in Asia.
  • Increase student exchanges: Large-scale middle and high school student exchanges among China, Japan and South Korea could build educational and cultural bridges among these nations.

"A balanced historical education with a better understanding of the perspective of the other side is urgently needed," Shin said.

He said that for China and Korea, Japanese acts of aggression – such as the Nanjing massacre or forced labor and sexual slavery – constitute the most crucial element in their colonial and wartime memories.

"Korea and China are a less significant element in Japan's memories, while Japan looms large in theirs," said Shin.

For Japan, Shin added, U.S. actions such as the fire-bombings of Japanese cities or the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are more important.

Europe provides a model

Scholars from China, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, including Stanford University faculty members, participated in the conference. Most of them have significant experience on reconciling wartime history issues.

Because WWII reconciliation in Europe has been largely successful, scholars from that continent were an integral part of the Stanford talks. In particular, Germany has engaged in robust history textbook revisions and exchanges with France, Poland and other countries.

Along with the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the Stanford dialogue was co-sponsored by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, an international organization in Seoul established by the governments of China, Japan and South Korea in 2011 to promote peace and prosperity.

Shin said that governments and civil organizations alike should work together to bring about healing and reconciliation necessary for peace and prosperity in Asia. The media and political leadership can play important roles.

"Reconciliation will also benefit the U.S., which has huge interests in the region," he added.

The rise of nationalism among youth in China, Japan and South Korea is dangerous, the report stated: "Dialogue among youth of the different nations is needed, along with an appreciation for the diversity of views and the complexity of history."

"The Stanford dialogue could launch a new effort to resolve wartime history issues in the region," according to the report.

Clifton Parker is a writer for the Stanford News Service.

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Dialogue participants gather outside Encina Hall.
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Shorenstein APARCStanford UniversityEncina Hall, Room E301Stanford,  CA  94305-6055
(650) 724-6404 (650) 723-6530
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Koret Fellow, 2014-2015
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Yeon-Cheon Oh, former president of Seoul National University (SNU), joined the the Korea Program at the Shorentein Asia-Pacific Research Center as the 2014–15 Koret Fellow.

Oh will focus on analyzing the significant changes in the history of East Asia since the late 19th century, and in the process, identify forces endemic to East Asian politics, economy and culture as well as their limitations, thereby attempting to create a model for “Asian Values.” He aims to create a new paradigm for higher education that will actively foster leaders who can contribute to the peace and prosperity of humanity, and also propose new alternative policies.

Oh has an extensive career as a university administrator, professor and in leadership positions in South Korea’s civil service. He was the 25th president of SNU (2010­–2014) and chairman of the Board of Trustees. Before then, he taught at SNU’s Graduate School of Public Administration from 1983 to 2010, and also served as the dean of that school from 2000 to 2004. His main areas of research include applied public economy and financial management.

Outside academia, Oh served as the chairman of the Committee of Industry Development Deliberation, Ministry of Knowledge Economics, from 2007 to 2009; board member of ITEP, Ministry of Commerce, from 2005 to 2009; and chief of ICT, Policy Review Committee, Ministry of Information and Communication, from 2003 to 2007.

Oh received his bachelor’s degree in political science from SNU, and his master’s degree and doctorate in public administration from New York University.

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2014-15
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Ryuichi Ohta is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2014-15.

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2014-15
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Feng Lin is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2014-15.  Lin is the founder and chairman of ACON Biotechnology Group, which built the first GMP IVD facility and the first US FDA IVD facility registered in China.  Lin has also invested in the leading clinical laboratories in China and a leading life sciences and drug discoveries company in the U.S.  While at Stanford, Lin is researching the innovations in China Primary Healthcare Reform.  He holds a master's degree in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2014-15
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Jaigeun Lim is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2014-15.

 

Shorenstein APARCStanford UniversityEncina Hall, Room E301Stanford,  CA  94305-6055
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Visiting Scholar
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Jasper Kim joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) during the 2014 academic year from Ewha Womans University's Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul, Korea, where he serves as Professor and Director of the Center for Conflict Management. He was a former visiting scholar at Harvard University (joint affiliation with Harvard Law School and the Korea Institute).

His research interests include social finance, international business law, and international negotiation strategy. During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Jasper Kim will participate in an interdisciplinary study on the application of social finance models, with an emphasis on social impact bond funding mechanisms relating to contemporary post-crisis Japan and South Korea.

Jasper Kim has published in numerous journals, including at Harvard, Columbia, the University of California Press, and Seoul National University. He has authored seven books, including American Law 101 (ABA, 2014), Korean Business Law (Carolina Academic Press, 2010), and ABA Fundamentals: International Economic Systems (ABA, 2012). He has also contributed to global media outlets such as the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

He received his Juris Doctor (JD) from Rutgers University School of Law, MSc from the London School of Economics (LSE), dual-BA degrees from the University of California at San Diego, and PON training at Harvard Law School.

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