Governance

FSI's research on the origins, character and consequences of government institutions spans continents and academic disciplines. The institute’s senior fellows and their colleagues across Stanford examine the principles of public administration and implementation. Their work focuses on how maternal health care is delivered in rural China, how public action can create wealth and eliminate poverty, and why U.S. immigration reform keeps stalling. 

FSI’s work includes comparative studies of how institutions help resolve policy and societal issues. Scholars aim to clearly define and make sense of the rule of law, examining how it is invoked and applied around the world. 

FSI researchers also investigate government services – trying to understand and measure how they work, whom they serve and how good they are. They assess energy services aimed at helping the poorest people around the world and explore public opinion on torture policies. The Children in Crisis project addresses how child health interventions interact with political reform. Specific research on governance, organizations and security capitalizes on FSI's longstanding interests and looks at how governance and organizational issues affect a nation’s ability to address security and international cooperation.

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In May 2023, Thai pro-democracy reformer and lawmaker Pita Limjaroenrat led Thailand’s Move Forward Party to a stunning victory in the general election on a platform of progressive change. The party won a clear mandate from over 14 million voters, but conservative powers and military-appointed senators blocked Pita’s path to the prime ministership. Fifteen months later, Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolved the Move Forward Party – the same fate its predecessor, the Future Forward Party, met in 2020. The court also barred Pita from politics for a decade.

It is a story he recounts in his political memoir, The Almost Prime Minister, and one he discussed at a February 2025 fireside chat hosted by APARC’s Southeast Asia Program. In his current role as a Senior Democracy Fellow back at his alma mater, the Harvard Kennedy School, Pita continues to champion transparent and equitable governance, coaches a new generation of political leaders, and strategizes a democratic path forward for Thailand. 

On May 29, 2026, Pita returned to Stanford for a follow-up discussion with APARC Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui, who also serves as co-director of the Southeast Asia Program. Pita examined political developments in Thailand since the contentious 2023 election, the tensions between Thailand and Cambodia, the crisis in Myanmar, ASEAN’s role in the region, and how Thailand and other middle powers should hedge their bets amid the U.S.-China competition and a fragmenting world order. 


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Autocrats want to make sure that politics is dramatized, boring, or irrelevant. And you guys get tired when you talk about politics. And that's what we call 'voter fatigue by design.'
Pita Limjaroenrat

Anatomy of a Defeat


Pita’s opening remarks focused on the outcome of Thailand’s recent general election, in which the People’s Party – the successor to the dissolved Move Forward Party – suffered a decisive defeat. Entering the February 8, 2026, election, the People’s Party had hoped to convert widespread calls for democratic reform into power. Instead, the conservative Bhumjaithai Party secured a clear victory and then joined forces with the third-place populist Pheu Thai Party to form a coalition government.

Pita, who had campaigned for the People’s Party ahead of the election – a political activity he remains eligible to undertake despite being barred from seeking office – offered a candid assessment of the party’s loss.

Lower voter turnout was a key determinant of the February 8 election results, he argued: at 65 percent, it was sharply down from 76 percent in the 2023 general election that he won. Many voters came to believe that the costs of participating in the political process outweighed the potential benefits, Pita said.

That is the calculus of autocrats when they manipulate elections, he argued. Recognizing that electoral participation is the linchpin of a representative democracy's legitimacy and power, and that voter turnout of upward of 70 percent would all but guarantee a People Party victory, "they want to make sure that the cost of going to an election is higher than the benefit."

Pita pointed to his experience as evidence. Despite winning the 2023 election, Thai supporters now see him, three years later, living in Boston rather than governing from Bangkok. The message to voters, he said, is clear: If you keep voting and nothing changes, then why bother?

Pita calls this "voter fatigue by design" – a tactic used by autocrats to make politics seem “dramatized, boring, or irrelevant.”

He labels this Thai establishment's effort to convince voters that political participation is futile as “constituency.” It is one element in a “five C’s framework” that explains the People’s Party’s recent election defeat, he says.

A second factor, which he names “competitive collusion,” was evident in the decision by conservative candidates to coordinate their efforts – whether by merging campaigns or stepping aside – to avoid splitting the vote and present a unified front against the reformist People’s Party.

Third, conflict – by which Pita refers to the recent flare-up of tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – rallied nationalistic sentiment, lending greater legitimacy to the military and thus benefiting the conservative parties associated with it.

The fourth element, according to Pita, is Thailand’s Constitution, under which the Election Commission – the country’s sole election management body – is effectively appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Senate. “So I felt the [February 2026] election was not fair,” Pita said. “There was no linkage to the people, and there were no checks and balances.”

Finally, Pita pointed to the People Party's own missteps, which he categorizes as “candidacy.” He described a “Brahmin left versus merchant right” dynamic, arguing that the party became overly focused on technocratic, urban-centered policies and lost touch with the rural grassroots base that had been crucial to the Move Forward Party’s 2023 electoral success.

We have to aim for a durable peace between Thailand and Cambodia, and I think the only mechanism to do that is to return back to the JBC, the Joint Boundary Commission.
Pita Limjaroenrat

Regional Flashpoints: Cambodia and Myanmar


On the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, Pita called for a renewed commitment to diplomacy, arguing that lasting peace can only be achieved through dialogue. He pointed to the Joint Boundary Commission, the bilateral body the two countries established in 1997 to oversee the demarcation of their border, as the most viable mechanism for resolving the dispute.

“If we return to the table and try to negotiate that out, I think that could be a path toward durable peace between Thailand and Cambodia.”

Turning to Myanmar, Pita stressed the need for Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a more active role in addressing the civil war that has devastated the country since the military coup of February 2021. The conflict’s spillover effects, he noted, extend well beyond Myanmar’s borders, fueling cyber scam operations, human trafficking, and illicit financial activity that directly affect Thailand.

“If the ASEAN core, especially Thailand, with its geographic proximity, doesn't do anything, it's going to keep going in a dangerous drift like that.” 

Pita noted, however, that the crisis in Myanmar has grown more complex in recent years. Beyond the struggle among ethnic armed groups and between the military and pro-democracy forces, it now encompasses resource politics as part of a broader competition over rare earths and China’s expanding strategic interests linked to trade corridors and energy infrastructure.

As China’s involvement in the region deepens through its trade routes and gas pipeline interests, the conflict in Myanmar has become much harder to resolve, he said.

As a way forward, Pita proposed a minilateral coalition comprising key ASEAN states, along with India, China, and possibly Japan and South Korea. The goal, he said, would be to work with Myanmar’s opposition forces to “turn resistance into governance” and lay the groundwork for a viable political transition toward a post-conflict Myanmar.

Once you choose sides, that's the end of everything that you have. So how do you think about neutrality? Not as a position, but as a capability.
Pita Limjaroenrat

The Middle Power Moment and U.S.-China Rivalry


Zooming out to the global stage, Pita spoke of his interest in the prospects of a "middle power moment" taking shape, citing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent diplomatic tour of the Indo-Pacific region to urge middle power nations, including India, Australia, and Japan, to unite in response to the U.S.-China great power rivalry and the transformation of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.

“Thailand is still the second-largest country in ASEAN,” Pita said. “So we have agency and autonomy. Whether we use it or not, that is something that remains to be seen.”

“You realize that if you rely on the Americans for security and the Chinese for the economy, you are going to be forced to choose sides. And once you choose sides, that's the end of everything that you have.” He argued that, if nations are to avoid being forced to choose sides, they must redefine neutrality as an active capability rather than a passive position.

Here, too, he suggested, flexible, issue-based minilaterals could be beneficial. “So I think we'll see a rise of multilaterals on various issues, whether it's AI governance, semiconductors, maritime management, cybersecurity, or critical minerals.”

I think about it every single night, to return to the arena and become a player. But I can wait [...] And when I return, I will change Thailand for good.
Pita Limjaroenrat

From Player to Coach


Forced to the sidelines of Thai politics, Pita has embraced a new role. "My calling now is to groom next-gen leaders. I used to be a player, and I did a good job. And then they stopped me. They forced me to sit down. So I decided to become a coach instead.” At Harvard Kennedy School, he now co-teaches a class on running for public office in developing countries, turning his recent, raw experiences into a textbook for the next generation.

Despite the setbacks, Pita’s message remains one of resilience and determination. When asked if he could still win, he was unequivocal. "I think I can," he stated. “I think about it every single night, to return to the arena and become a player. But I can wait. I could strategize, I could accumulate small victories until I'm strong, vigorous, and capable. And when I return, I will change Thailand for good.”

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Kimberly Hoang and Kiyoteru Tsutsui seated in an office during a recorded podcast conversation.
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Weaponized Corruption, Extreme Wealth, and Democratic Reordering: Insights from Asia

Speaking on the APARC Briefing video series, University of Chicago sociologist Kimberly Kay Hoang examines the architecture of global capital and how corruption discourse is transforming governance and political order in Asia and the United States.
Weaponized Corruption, Extreme Wealth, and Democratic Reordering: Insights from Asia
Portrait photo of Shibani Mahtan, winner of the 2026 Shorenstein Journalism Award.
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Singapore-Based Investigative Journalist Shibani Mahtani Wins 2026 Shorenstein Journalism Award for Excellence in Asia-Pacific Coverage

Sponsored by Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the 25th annual Shorenstein Journalism Award honors Mahtani for her exemplary investigations into the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong and China's growing global influence.
Singapore-Based Investigative Journalist Shibani Mahtani Wins 2026 Shorenstein Journalism Award for Excellence in Asia-Pacific Coverage
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Q&As

How Cities Are Rewriting Global Climate Governance

Political scientist Gaea Morales, APARC’s 2025-26 Shorenstein postdoctoral fellow on contemporary Asia, studies questions at the nexus of global policy and local action and how Southeast Asian megacities build climate resilience by drawing on local knowledge and global networks to drive change from the ground up, even in the absence of central government support.
How Cities Are Rewriting Global Climate Governance
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Banned from political office but unbowed, the Thai pro-democracy leader revisited Stanford to analyze the recent electoral defeat of his progressive party, weigh in on regional tensions in Southeast Asia and Thailand’s geopolitical balancing act, and consider the prospects for the country’s future and his political comeback.

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What makes a corporation American, Italian, Chinese, or any other nationality – and who gets to decide? In the contemporary global economy, corporate national identity (CNI) can no longer be understood as a fixed legal attribute. Rather, it emerges from the interaction of four interrelated facets – legal, economic, (geo)political, and symbolic – whose relative salience varies across contexts and over time. Classical legal tests such as the jurisdiction of incorporation, real seat doctrine, and corporate control remain important, but they are increasingly insufficient. In a world of weaponized interdependence, data location and access, supply-chain geography, state influence over private firms, and efforts to shape public perceptions of corporate identity now play central roles in determining how firms are classified and treated. Two nascent tests are emerging across these facets: what might be called a “data seat” doctrine that treats data location and access as a marker of CNI, and a government influence test that looks beyond voting equity to assess the degree of state leverage over corporate decision-making.

Drawing on case studies involving TikTok, Shein, Pirelli, and Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, the article illustrates how CNI is increasingly contested and actively reconstructed. The result is a potential shift away from a binary world in which cross-border transactions are either permitted or blocked, toward a more intrusive model in which states restructure governance arrangements midstream in the name of national security, while firms seek to strategically shape their identities to navigate this new reality. The article explores new questions CNI contestation and engineering raise for corporate law, investor protection, and cross-border investment.

 

Related Blog Post - Published in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance:

 

Corporate National Identity: Contestation and Reconfiguration in an Age of Weaponized Interdependence > 

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Curtis J. Milhaupt
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Corruption is typically understood as a sign of weak institutions and failed governance. But what if it is a deliberate political technology used to consolidate power, discipline rivals, and reshape political systems?

This is the argument advanced by University of Chicago sociologist Kimberly Kay Hoang in the latest episode of the APARC Briefing series. Drawing on years of ethnographic research across Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Myanmar, Hong Kong, and Singapore, as well as offshore tax havens, Hoang uses a comparative Asian lens to show how both democratic and authoritarian governments strategically align with private capital, reinforcing elite power. Hoang joined APARC Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui to share core insights from her work.
 

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Kimberly Kay Hoang speaks on the APARC Briefing series with host Kiyoteru Tsutsui.


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She argues that corruption discourse often operates as a political tool, widely seen across Asian political economies and increasingly evident in the United States during the Trump era. This rhetoric, she says, tends not so much to dismantle institutions but to reshape them, concentrating authority in the executive and weakening checks and balances. According to Hoang, these patterns reflect a broader global shift toward more oligarchic forms of governance, where political power is increasingly concentrated among transnational elites.

"We often think of corruption as a failure of governance – that it's a weak state, and weak states can’t govern," Hoang says. "But in Southeast Asia and in other parts of East Asia, it has become an instrument for governance. It's a way of consolidating political power, weaponizing corruption."

From Vietnam's Hostess Bars to Global Finance


Hoang's research journey began in an unexpected place: working 12-hour shifts in Vietnamese hostess bars in 2009-2010, shortly after the global financial crisis. What started as an ethnographic study of the sex industry and human trafficking in Vietnam evolved into something far larger: a story of Asian ascendancy and Western decline playing out in micro-transactions.

"I started to witness local Vietnamese men turning down deals with Western businessmen and taking extraordinary deals from investors from China, parts of Southeast Asia – Hong Kong and Singapore – and Korea, Taiwan," Hoang recalls. When she examined foreign direct investment data, "the numbers lined up to what I was seeing at a micro level."

But when she presented these findings in the United States, the response was skeptical, even hostile. "People would say, 'Okay, yes, the economy is in decline, but America still has the strongest military,' or 'China is really dependent on the American economy, so if the American economy collapses, so will China's,'" she remembers. "It was a huge oversight of American arrogance to just believe that [Asian ascendancy] was impossible."

Her continued research led her to follow not just the money but "the people who move the money" – from Vietnam and Myanmar to Hong Kong and Singapore, and ultimately to offshore tax havens in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the Seychelles, and the Cayman Islands.

The Architecture of Global Capital


What Hoang uncovered was what she calls an "architecture of global capital" – an invisible financial infrastructure built by "hidden engineers" including specialized wealth managers, lawyers, and financial advisors who coordinate across borders to move elite wealth beyond the reach of any single nation-state.

The scale is staggering: approximately $7.6 trillion in household wealth is hidden offshore globally, with the top 0.01% avoiding about 25% of their tax obligations through legal structures and shell corporations.

"We have to move beyond national boundaries," Hoang argues, "because global oligarchs choose the sovereigns and choose the jurisdictions that govern their financial transactions and activities."

This system creates what Hoang describes in her book, Spiderweb Capitalism: How Global Elites Exploit Frontier Markets (Princeton University Press), as a web of legal and financial gray zones that allow wealth to compound while evading accountability.

If we think of corruption as a tool of governance in authoritarian states and increasingly in democratic countries, [...] it means that we no longer rely on institutions or law branches of government [...] People who have executive authority can just go after their rivals.
Kimberly Kay Hoang

Corruption as Governance Mechanism


Hoang’s work exposes the connections between the rise of global elites, corruption, and the emergence of oligarchic governance. Across both Asia and the United States, she explains, corruption discourse operates as a mechanism for reshaping democratic governance by means of dissolving the boundary between political authority and economic power.

"What does that mean? It means that we no longer rely on institutions," she says. "People who have executive authority can just go after their rivals."

This creates what Hoang calls "anticipatory compliance," a situation in which political and economic elites preemptively align themselves with power centers. The mechanism works through strategic ambiguity: when corruption charges can be selectively deployed, everyone becomes potentially vulnerable, leading to self-regulation through fear.

While this pattern is well-established in countries like China and Vietnam, Hoang sees similar dynamics emerging in the United States. "Under the Trump administration, we've seen charges of corruption being weaponized as a tool of governance," she notes, while emphasizing that elements of this already appeared under the Biden administration.

Democratic Reordering, Not Collapse


When explaining the impacts of corruption discourse on democratic governance, Hoang is careful to distinguish between democratic collapse and what she terms "democratic reordering." Rather than overtly capturing the state, global oligarchs work through existing institutions, gradually redefining their function through moralized narratives, weakened oversight, selective enforcement, and strategic risk management. The outward forms of democracy remain intact, but the independence of courts, election fairness, and accountability mechanisms are steadily eroded. "They increasingly serve concentrated elite interests."

In comparing the United States to China, Hoang notes a crucial difference: "China has a long view. They're playing a 50-year view [...] If we're in this constant [electoral] cycle, and we've delegitimized oversight and political authority, [...] we need to have stronger independent institutions that outlast whoever is in office."

Finding Hope in Resistance


Despite her sobering analysis, Hoang sees reasons for optimism. "What gives me hope is that, if you look carefully, there are a lot of resistance movements," she says. "I think there's a growing battle between the millionaires and billionaires."

She points to resistance not just from grassroots movements but from millionaires who "don't want to live in a billionaire oligarchy world, who feel economically precarious vis-à-vis the extreme inequality."

The challenge, she argues, is that both mainstream and social media highlight extremes while missing the middle-level discourse and resistance movements that are actively organizing.



Kimberly Kay Hoang is Professor of Sociology and the College, and Director of Global Studies at the University of Chicago. In addition to Spiderweb Capitalism, she is the author of Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work (University of California Press). Her forthcoming work examines U.S.-China power relations in offshore financial centers.

The full APARC Briefing conversation with Hoang is available on APARC’s YouTube channel.

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Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gather on April 4, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea, with a foucs on a man holding a sign reading "Stop the Steal" and an American flag.
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Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Understanding Far-Right Ideas and Practices

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sociologist Myungji Yang offers a historical account of South Korea’s far right, arguing that recent reactionary mobilization reflects long-standing Cold War legacies, anti-communism, and conservative political networks. Although South Korea is often viewed as one of Asia’s democratic success stories, Yang suggests that recent political turmoil has revealed how deeply rooted illiberal forces remain.
Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Understanding Far-Right Ideas and Practices
People walk through the flooded streets at Kampung Pulo on January 18, 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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APARC Visiting Scholar Sheds Light on the Cold War Roots of Contemporary Urban Politics in Southeast Asia

Gavin Shatkin, a Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford fellow on Southeast Asia at APARC, argues that prevailing urban development challenges in Jakarta, Metro Manila, and Bangkok stem from Cold War-era political and institutional structures imposed by U.S.-backed authoritarian, anti-communist regimes.
APARC Visiting Scholar Sheds Light on the Cold War Roots of Contemporary Urban Politics in Southeast Asia
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to the media in front of a board displaying the names of LDP candidates on general election day on February 8, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan.
Commentary

What's Next for Japan After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Historic Election Victory

In a new APARC Briefing explainer, APARC and Japan Program Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui analyzes how Takaichi secured a landmark supermajority in a landslide election win for her party and what this outcome means for Japan's fiscal policy, constitutional change, its relationship with China, and its alliance with the United States.
What's Next for Japan After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Historic Election Victory
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Speaking on the APARC Briefing video series, University of Chicago sociologist Kimberly Kay Hoang examines the architecture of global capital and how corruption discourse is transforming governance and political order in Asia and the United States.

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The legacies of colonialism, the Cold War, and U.S. policies significantly shaped state-building and economic growth in post-World War II Asia, including South Korea. While these factors have been extensively studied, one crucial aspect has been underexplored: the power of ideas. This talk will cover the historical changes and continuity of ideas and knowledge on public administration in South Korea during the 1940-1960s. The presenter will focus on the dissemination and transformation of American administrative knowledge in this period, addressing how the original American knowledge was disseminated to South Korea, and why and how it was sought to be ‘Koreanized’ by public administration scholars in South Korea.

Speaker:
Seok Jin Eom is a professor of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University in Korea. He is a Fulbright scholar and a 2025-26 visiting scholar at Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. His current research interests include the intellectual history of Korean public administration, the changes and continuity of public governance in Korea, and the digital transformation of government in the AI era. He has published numerous academic papers and books including The Intellectual History of Korean Public Administration Research and Education (2026, Seoul National University Press), Enabling Data-Driven Innovation and AI Government in Korea (2026, Springer), and The Changes and Continuity of Japanese State Apparatus (2015, Seoul National University Press).

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Philippines Conference Room (C330)
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616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305

Seok Jin Eom, Professor of the Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University
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Visiting Scholar at APARC, 2026
Eunjung Lim.JPG PhD

Eunjung Lim joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) as visiting scholar from April 2026 to February 2027 from Kongju National University (KNU), where she serves as Professor in the Division of International Studies. She previously served as Vice President for International Affairs and as Dean of the Institute of Korean Education and Culture and the Institute of International Language Education at KNU (June 2021–May 2023).

Her research focuses on international cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, comparative and global governance, and energy, nuclear, and climate change policies in East Asia. She previously served as a board member of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC) from May 2018 to July 2024 and currently serves on the Policy Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Unification. She is also a member of the governing board of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and a member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Just Transition of the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth.

Before joining KNU, Dr. Lim was an Assistant Professor at the College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. She has also taught at several universities in the United States and Korea, including Johns Hopkins University, Yonsei University, and Korea University. In addition, she has been a researcher and visiting fellow at various academic institutions, including the Center for Contemporary Korean Studies at the University of Tokyo, the Institute of Japanese Studies at Seoul National University, the Institute of Japan Studies at Kookmin University, and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ).

She received a BA from the University of Tokyo, an MIA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Main Publications:

  • “Multilateral Approach to the Back End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle in Asia-Pacific?” Energy Policy Vol. 99 (2016): 158-164.
  • “Japan’s Energy Policy under Abe: Liberalization of the Energy Market and Nuclear U-turn,” Seoul Journal of Japanese Studies Vol. 4, No. 1 (2018): 103-131.
  • “Energy and Climate Change Policies of Japan and South Korea,” in Ashley Esarey, Mary Alice Haddad, Joanna I. Lewis and Stevan Harrell Eds. Greening East Asia The Rise of the Eco-developmental State (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2020).
  • “A Comparative Study of Power Mixes for Green Growth: How South Korea and Japan See Nuclear Energy Differently,” Energies Vol.14, no. 18 (2021): 5681.
  • “Japan’s Energy Security,” in Keiji Nakatsuji Ed. Japan’s Security Policy (Routledge, 2023).
  • “The Emergence of Multipolarity and the Future of Alliances: Thinking about Sustainability of the Korea-US-Japan Strategic Triangle,” Korea Europe Review No. 7. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.48770/ker.2025.no7.52.
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In 1925, the publication of The City, edited by Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, and Roderick McKenzie, marked the arrival of the Chicago School of Urban Sociology. “Community” has long been a central theme of this school. How should we comprehend and interpret “community”? 

Revisiting this classic text reveals that the concept of community can be understood across three fundamental dimensions: as an “entitative,” “processual,” and “everyday life” concept. This paper analyzes the co-governance modes of urban communities in megacities across three dimensions, drawing on field research in four Chinese megacities and their recent property management reform practices. The paper emphasizes understanding the fundamental connotation of Chinese urban communities within the context of integrated vertical and horizontal authority structures. 

Based on this, it introduces the “troika” governance framework that megacities are actively constructing under Party-building guidance, and further examines its governance mechanisms and practical logic from a meta-governance perspective. Finally, the paper argues that bringing “the school” back in—developing coherent theoretical schools of urban studies rooted in specific spatial and historical contexts—can revitalize urban scholarship, particularly as the frontier of urban research shifts from the Global North to megacities in the Global South. 

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The optimistic assumptions that shaped the wave of globalization at the turn of the 21st century have given way to geoeconomics, also known as economic statecraft, or the use of economic leverage to advance the geopolitical interests of nation-states. In this environment of "weaponized interdependence," corporations have become actors on the frontlines of the U.S.-China rivalry, the Russia-Ukraine war, China-Taiwan tensions, and other national security conflicts in which they are organizationally ill-suited to play a central role, cautions APARC Faculty Affiliate Curtis J. Milhaupt, the William F. Baxter-Visa International Professor of Law and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. 

Milhaupt, an internationally recognized expert on comparative corporate governance, delivered a keynote speech titled Corporate Governance in an Era of Geoeconomics at the Corporate Governance Conference in Milan, Italy, on February 12, 2026. He described the era of geoeconomics as representing a dramatic departure from early 2000s thinking, when capital markets were viewed as politically neutral, shareholder identity was considered irrelevant, and scholars predicted global convergence on Western corporate governance models. All three assumptions have collapsed, posing significant repercussions for firm-specific legal risks and governance challenges. Watch Milhaupt's presentation:

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Heightened Compliance Risk


The U.S.-China rivalry has created a particularly complex challenge for corporate governance, says Mihaupt. The United States has enacted multiple laws to curtail technology transfers to China, with China responding in a tit-for-tat fashion. The resulting, rapidly shifting and conflicting legal environment makes it "virtually impossible for a compliance department to comply with both U.S. and Chinese regulations."

Milhaupt introduced the concept of "ESG + G," adding geoeconomics to the Environmental, Social, and Governance framework used by investors and companies to assess a company's sustainability, ethical impact, and risk management beyond mere financial performance. Like ESG, geoeconomics involves corporations taking on roles traditionally played by governments. "I think in many respects private companies have become national security partners of their home country governments," he said.

Milhaupt's review of the disclosures of risk factors in the securities filings of public companies in the United States over the past 20 years shows the dramatic shift in corporate risk perception. Mentions of geopolitical risks related to export controls, the China-Taiwan conflict, and supply chain vulnerabilities have spiked sharply since 2020, with a particularly dramatic increase following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Despite these challenges, corporations appear to be unprepared for the exploitation of the vulnerabilities created by economic interdependence in the era of geoeconomics. Only 5% of Russell 3000 companies disclose information on how they monitor geopolitical risk, Milhaupt finds. Among those that do, most provide no details about their strategies. Meanwhile, the expertise necessary for geopolitical risk assessment is declining as a percentage of S&P 500 boards of directors.

Divergent Governance Paths


In the era of globalization, corporate governance systems worldwide largely converged around the liberal vision of shareholder primacy. In today’s geoeconomic era, however, a different kind of convergence may be emerging: one shaped less by market ideology and more by the shared political values and strategic priorities of the home governments of globally active firms. Thus, we are witnessing increasing concern with the national identity of corporations and their shareholders, Milhaupt observes. "The standard legal tests for corporate national identity – jurisdiction of incorporation, or the real seat doctrine – are in danger of being overriden by political determinations such as the one that was applied to TikTok in the United States."

At the same time, Milhaupt argues, we may be witnessing the beginning of a movement in the opposite direction to the Western model of corporate governance: "the spread of what might be thought of as state capitalism in the West." To illustrate this trend, Milhaupt cites the case of the U.S. government's "golden share" in U.S. Steel as a condition for allowing its merger with Japanese company Nippon Steel.

While Milhaupt recognizes the necessity of government actions to protect national security in the corporate sector, he warns against ad hoc informal interventions in the private sector. "I don't think that these are really the answer to competition with Beijing," he said. "I'm particularly concerned about the impact of these government interventions on global investment, which relies on a predictable legal regulatory enforcement regime."

Milhaupt concludes that the era of geoeconomics is "the new normal," and both companies and governments must adapt to a world where economic and national security concerns are inextricably linked.

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Corporate Governance in an Era of Geoeconomics

Corporate Governance in an Era of Geoeconomics
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Blogs

The Political Economy of Global Stock Exchange Competition [ Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance]

Global stock exchanges today operate in a transformed environment. They remain commercial enterprises competing for listings, but they are also strategic assets deeply embedded in state policy and geopolitical rivalry.
The Political Economy of Global Stock Exchange Competition [ Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance]
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No longer insulated from statecraft, corporations have been thrust onto the front lines of geopolitical rivalry, while governance structures have not caught up, cautions Stanford Law Professor Curtis Milhaupt in a keynote speech delivered at the 2026 Corporate Governance Conference.

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At a recent seminar hosted by APARCʼs China Program, Professor Jessica Chen Weiss, the David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, presented findings from her forthcoming book, Faultlines: The Tensions Beneath China's Global Ambitions (under contract with Oxford University Press), which examines how domestic politics and regime insecurity shape China’s foreign policy ambitions, prospects for peaceful coexistence, and the future of international order. Drawing on research and fieldwork in China, Weiss argued that understanding Beijingʼs behavior on the world stage requires looking beyond ideology to the contested priorities and political calculations that drive decision-making within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Weiss proposed a framework centered on three pillars that have sustained CCP legitimacy since the late 1970s: sovereignty (nationalism), security (civility), and development. Her analysis reveals that China's objectives are not static but moving targets shaped by competing domestic interests, leadership priorities, and international pressures.


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The Sovereignty-Security-Development Paradigm
 

At the heart of Weissʼs argument is the recognition that the CCPʼs foremost concern is domestic survival. In the face of the collapse of most communist regimes, the Party has remained vigilant against what it calls “peaceful evolution” and democratic contagion.

On issues touching core sovereignty concerns – Taiwan, Hong Kong, and maritime territorial claims – China has been “hyperactive” in making demands, even when doing so invites international censure. Weiss explained that the more central an issue is to CCP domestic legitimacy, the harder it becomes to make concessions, and the more likely international pressure is to backfire.

Yet tensions exist between competing priorities. China has compromised on certain border disputes to shore up domestic security, while its evolving stance on climate change reflects a shift from viewing carbon limits as threats to growth to recognizing the greater threat environmental catastrophes present to the nation’s stability.

Beyond the Monolith: China's Internal Contestation
 

Weissʼs research demonstrates that authoritarian China is far from monolithic. Different geographic, economic, institutional, and even ideological interests shape policy debates, even if most actors lack formal veto power. Local governments can resist central directives, as evidenced during the COVID-19 outbreak, when local officials initially withheld information about human-to-human transmission from the central government to prevent panic from disrupting important political meetings.

This pattern of center-local tension extends to China's international commitments. Local officials often game environmental regulations to juice growth and secure promotions, undermining Beijingʼs pledges on carbon emissions. On issues ranging from Belt and Road investments to export controls, implementation frequently diverges from stated policy as local actors pursue their own interests.

Weiss’s framework distinguishes among issues that are both central and uncontested (such as Taiwan), those that are central but contested (like climate change and trade policy), and peripheral issues where Beijing has shown greater flexibility (such as demonstrated by many UN peacekeeping initiatives). This helps explain why international pressure succeeds in some domains but fails spectacularly in others.

"The more central an issue is domestically, the more pressure the government faces to perform, and the harder it is to defy these domestic expectations," Weiss said. As a result, international pressure on these central issues is more likely to backfire, forcing the government to be seen as defending its core interests. She underscored that "even on these central issues, there's often tension with other central priorities, and managing these trade-offs comes with a number of different risks. It also means that sometimes an issue that touches on one pillar of regime support can yield to another."

Nationalism as Constraint and Tool
 

Weiss described nationalism as both a pillar of the CCPʼs legitimacy and a potential vulnerability when the government’s response appears weak. While large-scale anti-foreign protests have become rare, nationalist sentiment remains active online and shapes diplomatic calculations.

During Speaker Nancy Pelosiʼs 2022 visit to Taiwan, Chinese social media erupted with calls for the PLA to shoot down her plane. One interlocutor told Weiss his 14-year-old son and friends had stayed up past bedtime to watch Pelosiʼs plane land, illustrating nationalismʼs penetration into Chinese society.

Survey research reveals Chinese public opinion is quite hawkish, with majorities supporting military spending and viewing the U.S. presence in Asia as a threat. The government often refrains from suppressing nationalist sentiment to avoid backlash, even when doing so creates diplomatic complications. Weissʼs public opinion survey experiments, however, reveal that tough but vague threats can provide the government with wiggle room for de-escalation, although disapproval emerges when action is not sufficiently tough.

China's activities are making autocracy more viable and, to the extent that China is succeeding, making China's example more appealing as a consequence. But its strategy doesn't hinge on defeating democracy around the world.
Jessica Chen Weiss

Regime Security Without Ideological Crusade
 

Weiss pushed back against arguments that China is bent on global domination or that ideology drives conflict with the West. While the CCP seeks a less ideologically threatening environment, it must balance this against development and market access.

This pragmatic calculus explains China's constrained support for Russiaʼs war in Ukraine — Beijing fears secondary sanctions more than it values autocratic solidarity. Rather than exporting revolution, China has worked with incumbents of all political stripes in the service of its national interests.

Chinaʼs strategy focuses on making autocracy viable at home, not on defeating democracy globally. This suggests room for coexistence if both sides can reach a détente on interference in internal affairs.

“China's activities are making autocracy more viable and, to the extent that China is succeeding, making China's example more appealing as a consequence. But its strategy doesn't hinge on defeating democracy around the world,” argued Weiss. This implies, to her view, that “there is more room for coexistence between autocracies and democracies if these different systems can find or reach a potential détente in the realm of ideas about how countries govern themselves, and importantly, they need to pull back their efforts in other societies across boundaries.”

Interdependence and Future Trajectories
 

Weiss concluded by outlining how her framework suggests different engagement strategies depending on where issues fall within the centrality-contestation matrix. On central but uncontested issues like Taiwan, pressure proves counterproductive, and reciprocal restraint may be most promising. On central but contested issues like currency, multilateral pressure can influence certain Chinese constituencies against others. On peripheral issues, such pressure is most effective unless powerful domestic constituencies subvert implementation.

Addressing questions about U.S.-China decoupling, Weiss noted that both sides recognize there are interdependencies that don’t have quick solutions. Even in a critical area like minerals, diversification will take at least a decade, and Chinese processing will still dominate globally. The goal of diversification should be to preempt coercion, not to achieve true decoupling.

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China studies expert Jessica Chen Weiss of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies reveals how the Chinese Communist Partyʼs pursuit of domestic survival, which balances three core pillars, drives Beijingʼs assertive yet pragmatic foreign policy in an evolving international order.

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  • Chinaʼs foreign policy is driven by three domestic pillars: The CCPʼs pursuit of sovereignty, security, and development creates competing priorities that shape Beijingʼs assertiveness on core issues like Taiwan, while allowing flexibility on peripheral concerns such as UN peacekeeping.
  • International pressure often backfires on central issues: The more important an issue is to CCP domestic legitimacy, the harder it becomes to make concessions, meaning external pressure regarding Taiwan or territorial disputes tends to strengthen rather than moderate Beijingʼs position.
  • China is not monolithic: Local governments, industries, and different Party factions contest policy implementation, creating gaps between Beijingʼs stated commitments and actual behavior on issues ranging from environmental regulations to trade.
     
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Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) is pleased to invite nominations for the 2026 Shorenstein Journalism Award. The award, which carries a cash prize of US$10,000, recognizes outstanding journalists and news media outlets for excellence in covering the complexities of the Asia-Pacific region. The 2026 award will honor a Western news media outlet or a journalist whose substantial body of work has primarily appeared in Western news media. APARC welcomes award nomination submissions from news editors, publishers, scholars, news outlets, journalism organizations, and entities focused on researching and analyzing the Asia-Pacific region. Entries are due by February 15, 2026.

The award defines the Asia-Pacific region broadly as including Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Australasia. Both individual journalists with a considerable body of work and news media outlets are eligible for the award. Nominees’ work may be in traditional forms of print or broadcast journalism and/or in new forms of multimedia journalism. The Award Selection Committee oversees the judging of nominees and is responsible for selecting honorees.

An annual tradition since 2002, the award honors the legacy of Mr. Walter H. Shorenstein, APARC's benefactor, and his twin passions for promoting excellence in journalism and understanding of Asia. Throughout its history, the award has recognized world-class journalists and news media who push the boundaries of coverage of the Asia-Pacific region and champion press freedom and human rights.

Recent honorees include Netra News, Bangladesh's premier public interest journalism outlet; Chris Buckley, the New York Times' chief China correspondent; The Caravan, India’s esteemed magazine of long-form journalism; Emily Feng, then NPR's Beijing correspondent; and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, CEO and president of the Philippines-based news organization Rappler. Visit the award page to learn more.

Award nominations are accepted electronically through Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 11:59 PM PST.  Visit the award nomination entry page for information about the nomination procedures and to submit an entry.

APARC will announce the winner by May 2026.

Please direct all inquiries to aparc-communications@stanford.edu.

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Sponsored by Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the annual award recognizes outstanding journalists and news media outlets for excellence in covering the Asia-Pacific region. News editors, publishers, scholars, and organizations focused on Asia research and analysis are invited to submit nominations for the 2026 award through February 15, 2026.

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