2025 Shorenstein Journalism Award Open to Nomination Entries
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The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), Stanford University’s hub for the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia, invites nominations for the 2025 Shorenstein Journalism Award. The award recognizes outstanding journalists and journalism organizations for their significant contributions to reporting on the complexities of the Asia-Pacific region. The 2025 award will honor an Asian news media outlet or a journalist whose work has primarily appeared in Asian news media. Award nomination entries are due by Saturday, February 15, 2025.
Sponsored by APARC, the award carries a cash prize of US $10,000. It alternates between recipients who have primarily contributed to Asian news media and those whose work has mainly appeared in Western news media. In the 2025 cycle, the award will recognize a recipient from the former category. The Award Selection Committee invites nominations from news editors, publishers, scholars, teachers, journalists, news media outlets, journalism associations, and entities focused on researching and interpreting the Asia-Pacific region. Self-nominations are not accepted.
The award defines the Asia-Pacific region as encompassing Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia, as well as Australasia. Both individual journalists with a substantial body of work and journalism organizations are eligible for the award. Nominees’ work may be in print or broadcast journalism or in emerging forms of multimedia journalism. The Award Selection Committee, comprised of journalism and Asia experts, judges nomination entries and selects the honorees.
An annual tradition since 2002, the award honors the legacy of APARC benefactor, Mr. Walter H. Shorenstein, and his twin passions for promoting excellence in journalism and understanding of Asia. Throughout its history, the award has recognized world-class journalists who push the boundaries of reporting on Asia. Recent honorees include The New York Times' Chief China Correspondent Chris Buckley; India's long-form narrative journalism magazine The Caravan; Burmese journalist and human rights defender Swe Win; and Maria Ressa, CEO of the Philippine news platform Rappler and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
Award nominations are accepted electronically via our online entry form through Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 11:59 PM PST. For information about the nomination rules and to submit an entry please visit the award nomination entry page. APARC will announce the winner by April 2025 and present the award at a public ceremony at Stanford in autumn quarter 2025.
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 Shoresntein Award promotes excellence in journalism on the Asia-Pacific region and carries a cash prize of US $10,000. The 2025 award will honor an Asian news media outlet or a journalist whose work has primarily appeared in Asian news media. Nomination entries are due by February 15, 2025.
Martial Law in South Korea: BBC Newsday Interviews Gi-Wook Shin
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Turmoil in South Korea After Brief Martial Law: Stanford’s Gi-Wook Shin Weighs In
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Story last updated December 15, 2024
On December 3, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol abruptly declared martial law in a dramatic response to the political deadlock that has stymied his tenure, only to rescind the decision six hours later, sparking widespread protests and plunging the nation — one of the United States’ closest allies — into turmoil.
What were Yoon’s motivations? What happens now? What are the implications of the dramatic events for South Korea’s democracy?
Stanford sociologist Gi-Wook Shin, the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea and the director of APARC and its Korea Program, has written extensively about South Korea’s democratic decay and is the co-editor of the volume "South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization" (Shorenstein APARC, 2022). This news roundup highlights Shin's commentary on Korea's political turmoil, published in national and international media. We update it as this developing story unfolds.
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Elected in 2022 by a razor-thin margin of less than one percentage point over his left-wing rival, Yoon entered office as a political outsider with an unyielding approach to leadership. “He may have been a successful prosecutor, but he entered politics without much preparation,” Shin told the Financial Times. “He is completely out of touch if he thought he could run the country through martial law.”
Yoon came into power in a toxic political environment, where democratic norms have become increasingly rare. Korean politics, shaped by a winner-take-all electoral system and a dominant presidency, has further heightened the tensions between the executive and legislative branches, writes Shin in a Stanford University Press blog post, explaining the historical and sociopolitical contexts of Yoon’s martial law declaration and its aftermath.
Yoon has been a “lame duck” president since the opposition Democratic Party (DP) secured a landslide victory in the April 2024 National Assembly elections. His audacious martial law declaration was “a surprising last-ditch move to grab political power" in the face of steadily falling approval ratings, Shin told AFP and Vox. But this move “is basically political suicide” that “will only fasten the demise of his political career," Shin added.
On the morning following his short-lived martial law bid, members of the DP submitted a motion to impeach Yoon. “He really has two options: resign or face impeachment,” Shin said in an interview with BBC Newsday. Yoon has lost the public trust, legitimacy, and even his mandate to rule the country. “He should resign, it's better for him and the country, but I doubt that he will,” noted Shin, predicting a political ruckus over impeachment during the coming days and weeks. Watch the complete interview below:
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Should Korean citizens be worried about the future of their democracy? Yes and no, explained Shin in an interview on NPR’s "All Things Considered." In the short term, there will likely be significant political instability and societal uncertainty, with potential economic repercussions, he said. In the long run, however, Shin believes that Korea’s strong democratic institutions will ensure its democracy will prevail. He emphasized that he remains optimistic and encouraged by how swiftly and decisively the martial law attempt failed. Listen to the conversation:
Martial law was last imposed in South Korea in 1980 by Chun Doon Whan, a general who seized power through a coup after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung Hee — himself a former general who had also used martial law to crack down on student-led dissent during his rule. Chun brutally suppressed civilian protests in the city of Kwangju in May 1980. Many Korean people, including Shin, who was a student at the time, still hold painful memories of this violent episode in Korean history. Shin reflected on that period in an interview on WBUR’s OnPoint program (listen starting 35:24).
But the situation today is very different from when South Korea was fighting against dictatorship, Shin told The Washington Post. “Democracy was not given to the Korean people. It was hard fought and won,” he said. “I believe Korean democracy will come out stronger after this.”
This week’s turn of events has highlighted “both the vulnerabilities and resilience of South Korean democracy”, Shin told the Financial Times. It has exposed challenges and problems including polarization, potential executive overreach, and weakened public trust, "but the swift rejection of martial law by the National Assembly and public outcry demonstrated strong institutional checks, civic engagement, and the opportunity to reinforce democratic safeguards.”
Yoon justified the imposition of martial law as a measure to protect South Korea from the threats of North Korea's communist threat and prevent gridlock by “anti-state” forces, referring to the DP, his liberal opposition.
“I am sure North Korea will be watching the situation very closely and may issue a statement condemning the martial law [...] Other than that, I don't think they will take any immediate action,” Shin told Newsweek in the hours before Yoon reversed course, predicting that Yoon’s ploy would be short-lived as it would face fierce national resistance.
The United States, which has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, was unaware of Yoon's intention to declare martial law. The White House voiced relief over Yoon’s decision to rescind his martial law bid, emphasizing that the United States reaffirms its “support for the people of Korea and the U.S.-ROK alliance based on shared principles of democracy and the rule of law.” Shin believes the alliance is resilient enough to weather Korea’s political turmoil. "I don't think the situation will affect the alliance that much," he remarked on NPR’s "All Things Considered."
This episode is also a stern warning to the world: People should take democratic backsliding in their countries seriously. If such an event can happen in Korea [...] then it can happen anywhere that is experiencing similar democratic challenges.
Gi-Wook Shin, Journal of Democracy
A Tumultuous Road Ahead — And Lessons for Democracies Worldwide
What's next for South Korea after the martial law crisis? If Yoon does not resign, then the main opposition party will pursue impeachment. The National Assembly must vote on the motion within 72 hours after it is introduced, and the Constitutional Court has 180 days to make a ruling. A snap election would follow if impeachment is upheld, explains Shin.
The conservative People Power Party (PPP) will need to evaluate carefully the political landscape and their election prospects, and might not necessarily abandon President Yoon. “There is a difference between voting to stop martial law and voting in favor of an impeachment that would likely guarantee an opposition victory in the snap election to follow,” Shin told TIME Magazine.
While PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, once Yoon's protégé, has urged the president to resign, citing “significant risks” to the nation, impeachment poses a tough choice for the ruling party, which remains haunted by the 2017 impeachment of Park Geun Hye, Shin explains in the Journal of Democracy. Conservative leaders lost the snap election following Park's removal and faced intense political retribution under her liberal successor, Moon Jae In. History could repeat itself now, although DP opposition leader Lee Jae Myung is facing trial on multiple criminal charges. "This alternative to Yoon does not appear as promising for Korean democracy as one would hope," Shin notes.
Yoon's doomed power grab is "a stern warning to the world: People should take democratic backsliding in their countries seriously," Shin concludes his Journal of Democracy essay. "If such an event can happen in Korea — an advanced nation long regarded as an exemplary case of the 'third wave' of democratization — then it can happen anywhere that is experiencing similar democratic challenges. This is a critical lesson for democracies worldwide."
As Shin expected, President Yoon avoided impeachment on Saturday, December 7, after PPP lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote on the impeachment motion proposed by opposition parties, despite massive public protests outside the National Assembly.
The PPP defended its decision, stating it acted to prevent "severe division and chaos" and pledged to address the crisis "responsibly." PPP leader Han Dong-hoon claimed Yoon had agreed to step down and would be "effectively excluded from his duties," with the prime minister and party taking over governance in the interim.
“I don't think Korean people have the patience to wait for this plan to work out,” said Shin in a BBC News interview. He explained that the ruling PPP is trying to buy time, but Yoon will have to go sooner or later. The opposition parties have declared their intent to file an impeachment motion against Yoon every week until it is passed. With growing public anger and mounting demonstrations, pressure on the ruling party is expected to intensify, Shin said. Watch:
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As Yoon clung to power, the National Assembly passed a bill on December 10 mandating a special counsel to investigate insurrection charges against him. The ruling party "might delay the demise of Yoon's tenure but won't prevent it — its road will be messier," Shin told AFP.
Shin is concerned that this crisis in political leadership and the resulting leadership vacuum spell trouble for South Korea on the world stage. The nation already faces mounting foreign policy challenges with President-elect Trump’s anticipated policies and a new prime minister in Japan. It’s unclear how it can effectively navigate critical issues involving the United States, Japan, North Korea, and China amidst such instability, Shin told BBC News.
While preparing for a new political leadership, Koreans can reflect on their conflict-ridden journey to democracy and turn this crisis into an opportunity for political reforms.
Gi-Wook Shin, Stanford University Press Blog
Winds of Change
On December 14, South Korea's National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, passing the motion 204-85 (including a dozen ruling party members) as jubilant crowds celebrated a triumph for the country’s democracy. Yoon's presidential duties were suspended, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will take over as acting president. The Constitutional Court now has 180 days to decide whether to remove Yoon from office or reinstate him. If he is removed, a national election to select his successor must be held within 60 days.
Shin believes the likelihood the Constitutional Court will overturn the impeachment is low, as Yoon’s constitutional violations appear quite clear. “Certainly, Yoon will go down in Korean history as a very poor political leader,” he remarked in the latest interview with BBC News, several hours after the impeachment vote.
The day after the passage of the impeachment bill, Han Dong-hoon announced his resignation as leader of the ruling People Power party, saying his position had become untenable after he backed Yoon’s impeachment. The PPP is in turmoil, attempting to buy time to be better prepared for the potential snap election that could follow than it was in the 2017 scenario, Shin explained, expressing skepticism about the PPP’s chances of success. Watch the interview:
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The crisis offers Korean people an opportunity to reflect on their tumultuous democratic journey and push for necessary reforms stymied by political calculations, Shin writes on Stanford University Press’ blog. He explains that addressing the negative consequences of the nation’s extremely powerful presidency and the winner-take-all voting system requires constitutional and electoral reforms.
“Korea’s political culture must also change,” Shin emphasizes. “Demonizing opponents, divisive identity politics, and insular political fandoms and populism have no place in a healthy democracy.”
Additional Media Commentary
- The Economist
- Politiken (Danish)
- Il Messaggero (Italian)
- Caixin Weekly (Chinese)
- Voice of America (Korean)
- Korean Media
- Fortune Korea
- The Value News (in Korean)
- Edaily News (here and here)
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Protesters demonstrate against the country's president as police stand guard on December 4, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean lawmakers voted to lift the declaration of emergency martial law announced earlier by President Yoon Suk Yeol in a televised speech.
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As political chaos plays out in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law attempt, Stanford sociologist Gi-Wook Shin, the director of APARC and its Korea Program, analyzes the fast-moving developments.
Shorenstein APARC 2023–24 Annual Report
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Shorenstein APARC's annual report for the academic year 2023-24 is now available.
Learn about the research, publications, and events produced by the Center and its programs over the last academic year. Read the feature sections, which look at the historic meeting at Stanford between the leaders of Korea and Japan and the launch of the Center's new Taiwan Program; learn about the research our faculty and postdoctoral fellows engaged in, including a study on China's integration of urban-rural health insurance and the policy work done by the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL); and catch up on the Center's policy work, education initiatives, publications, and policy outreach. Download your copy or read it online below.
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The 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections: High Stakes for Asia
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The November 2024 U.S. presidential election is projected to have profound implications for the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, the outcomes and subsequent policy priorities could significantly change global alliances and the region’s geopolitical and economic landscape. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump offer substantially different approaches to bilateral and multilateral cooperation that would have divergent impacts on trade relations, security partnerships, and diplomatic ties with Washington at a time in which U.S.-Asia engagement remains crucial for regional security, economic development, humanitarian assistance, technological innovation, and climate action.
Join a panel of experts on democracy, international relations, human rights, trade, and development to explore the potential opportunities and risks the next U.S. administration’s policies may pose for the Asia-Pacific and how stakeholders in the region look at their future with the United States.
This event is part of APARC's Contemporary Asia Seminar Series, which hosts professionals in public and foreign policy, journalism, and academia who share their perspectives on pressing issues facing Asia today.
Panelists:
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a faculty member of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). He is also Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy, and a professor (by courtesy) of Political Science. Dr. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His book Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, was published in 2018. His latest book, Liberalism and Its Discontents, was published in May 2022.
Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation and of the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. Department of State. From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-2010 he was Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
Kiyoteru Tsutsui is the Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at Shorenstein APARC, the Director of the Japan Program and Deputy Director at APARC, a senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and Professor of Sociology, all at Stanford University. Tsutsui received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kyoto University and earned an additional master’s degree and Ph.D. from Stanford’s sociology department in 2002. Tsutsui’s research interests lie in political/comparative sociology, social movements, globalization, human rights, and Japanese society. His most recent publication, Human Rights and the State: The Power of Ideas and the Realities of International Politics (Iwanami Shinsho, 2022), was awarded the 2022 Ishibashi Tanzan Award and the 44th Suntory Prize for Arts and Sciences.
Gita Wirjawan is a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy and formerly a visiting scholar at APARC. His public service has included positions as Indonesia’s minister of trade, chairman of its Investment Coordinating Board, and chair of a 159-nation WTO ministerial conference in 2012 that focused on easing global trade barriers.
As an investment banker, he has held key appointments at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, where he led many mergers, corporate restructuring, corporate financing, and strategic sales involving leading companies in Southeast Asia. Having established a successful investment business in Indonesia, the Ancora Group, he created the Ancora Foundation, which has endowed scholarships for Indonesians to attend high-ranked universities worldwide and has funded the training of teachers at hundreds of Indonesian kindergartens serving underprivileged children.
Gita hosts the educational podcast “Endgame” to promote Southeast Asia’s growth and prosperity. His degrees are from the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), Baylor University (MBA), and the University of Texas at Austin (BSc).
Moderator:
Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea, a professor of sociology, and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. At Stanford, he has also served as director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center since 2005 and as founding director of the Korea Program since 2001. His research concentrates on nationalism, development, and international relations, focusing on Korea/Asia.
Shin is the author/editor of more than 25 books, including South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization; The North Korean Conundrum: Balancing Human Rights and Nuclear Security; Global Talent: Foreign Labor as Social Capital in Korea; and One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era. Shin’s latest book, The Four Talent Giants, a comparative study of talent strategies of Japan, Australia, China, and India, will be published by Stanford University Press in 2025.
In Summer 2023, Shin launched the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), which is committed to addressing emergent social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political challenges in Asia through interdisciplinary, problem-oriented, policy-relevant, and comparative studies and publications. He also launched the Taiwan Program at APARC in May 2024.
Shin previously taught at the University of Iowa and the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a BA from Yonsei University and an MA and PhD from the University of Washington.
Gi-Wook Shin
Francis Fukuyama
Kiyoteru Tsutsui
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teru@stanford.edu
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Professor of Sociology
Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Kiyoteru Tsutsui is the Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), the director of APARC and of the Japan Program at APARC, co-director of the Southeast Asia Program at APARC, executive director of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, co-director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and professor of sociology, all at Stanford University.
Prior to his appointment at Stanford in July 2020, Tsutsui was professor of sociology, director of the Center for Japanese Studies, and director of the Donia Human Rights Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Tsutsui’s research interests lie in political/comparative sociology, social movements, globalization, human rights, and Japanese society. More specifically, he has conducted (1) cross-national quantitative analyses on how human rights ideas and instruments have expanded globally and impacted local politics and (2) qualitative case studies of the impact of global human rights on Japanese politics. His current projects examine (a) changing conceptions of nationhood and minority rights in national constitutions and in practice, (b) populism and the future of democracy, (c) experimental surveys on public understanding about human rights, (d) campus policies and practices around human rights, (e) global expansion of corporate social responsibility and its impact on corporate behavior, and (f) Japan’s public diplomacy and perceptions about Japan in the world.
His research on the globalization of human rights and its impact on local politics has appeared in American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Problems, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and other social science journals. His book publications include Rights Make Might: Global Human Rights and Minority Social Movements in Japan (Oxford University Press 2018), and two co-edited volumes Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalizing World (with Alwyn Lim, Cambridge University Press 2015) and The Courteous Power: Japan and Southeast Asia in the Indo-Pacific Era (with John Ciorciari, University of Michigan Press forthcoming). He has been a recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, National Science Foundation grants, the SSRC/CGP Abe Fellowship, Stanford Japan Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship, and other grants as well as awards from American Sociological Association sections on Global and Transnational Sociology (2010, 2013, 2019), Human Rights (2017, 2019), Asia and Asian America (2018, 2019), Collective Behavior and Social Movements (2018), and Political Sociology (2019).
Tsutsui received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kyoto University and earned an additional master’s degree and Ph.D. from Stanford’s sociology department in 2002.
Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC)
Director, Japan Program at Shorenstein APARC
Co-Director, Southeast Asia Program at Shorenstein APARC
Executive Director, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
Co-Director, Center for Human Rights and International Justice
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Gita Wirjawan
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Visiting Scholar at APARC, 2022-24
Gita Wirjawan joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as a visiting scholar for the 2022-23 and 2023-2024 academic years. In the 2024-25 year, he is a visiting scholar with Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy. Wirjawan is the chairman and founder of Ancora Group and Ancora Foundation, as well as the host of the podcast "Endgame." While at APARC, he researched the directionality of nation-building in Southeast Asia and sustainability and sustainable development in the U.S. and Southeast Asia.
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KFAS-Stanford Sustainable Democracy Roundtable 2024 Conference Report
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In partnership with the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL) at Stanford University presented the second installment of the “Sustainable Democracy Roundtable” series at the SKMS Institute in Icheon, South Korea, where experts diagnosed the current state of democracy, its threats, and possible prescriptions for democratic prosperity. The goal of the roundtable is to create a necessary platform and opportunity for scholars of various disciplines and ranks to identify core issues and propose unique solutions to globally pertinent policy issues.
The roundtable series is part of SNAPL's Democratic Crisis and Reform research track.
The roundtable was made possible thanks to the generous support and partnership with the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS).
This report summarizes the discussions held at the roundtable using a modified version of the Chatham House Rule, only identifying speakers by their country of origin.
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2024 KFAS-Stanford Sustainable Democracy Roundtable
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Liberal democracy is hard-earned but sometimes even harder to guard. The foundations of liberal democracy are being seriously challenged, leading to political decay and public distrust of democratic systems and their values. With democratic backsliding threatening old and new democracies, Western democracies no longer serve as guiding light.
Jointly hosted by APARC and the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS), the second annual Sustainable Democracy Roundtable is meant to foster conversations among scholars of all ranks of seniority, diverse research backgrounds, and regional experience to evaluate current trends facing liberal democracy worldwide. The sessions also serve as platforms for scholars to jumpstart collaborative projects.
Following the Roundtable, a conference report will be published and accessible through this page.
The report from this conference is now available for download.
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Day 1: June 18 (Korea Time)
6:30-7:30pm Keynote: “Ukraine War and the U.S. Election”
Keynote Speaker: Michael McFaul, Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for Int’l Studies (FSI), Stanford University
Moderator: Jiewuh Song, Professor, Political Science & Int’l Relations, Seoul National University
7:30pm Reception & Dinner
Day 2: June 19 (Korea Time)
9:00-10:00am Opening Remarks and Keynote Speech
Byung-il Choi, President of KFAS; Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University
Gi-Wook Shin, Director of Shorenstein APARC; Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
Keynote Speaker: Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow at FSI and Hoover Institution; Professor (by courtesy) of Sociology and Political Science, Stanford University
Moderator: Jiyeoun Song, Professor, Graduate School of Int’l Studies, Seoul National University
10:00-12:00pm Session 1 “Institutions”
Presenters:
Hye Young You, Associate Professor, Department of Politics; School of Public and Int’l Affairs, Princeton University
William Dobson, Coeditor, Journal of Democracy
Moderator: Francis Fukuyama, Professor of (by courtesy) Political Science; Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, FSI, Stanford University
Discussants:
Hyeonho Hahm, Assistant Professor, Department of Policy Studies, Hanyang University
Joan Cho, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies and (by courtesy) Government, Wesleyan University
12:00-1:00pm Lunch Break
1:00-3:00pm Session 2 “Media and Democracy”
Presenters:
Dong Hoon Ma, Professor, School of Media & Communication, Korea University
Tim Martin, Korea Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal
Moderator: Sang-hun Choe, Seoul Bureau Chief, The New York Times
Discussants:
Joon Seok Yang, Assistant Professor, Political Science & Diplomacy, Sungkyunkwan University
Michelle Lee, Tokyo Bureau Chief, The Washington Post
3:00-3:30pm Break
3:30-5:30pm Session 3 “Performance: Economic/Social Sides of Democracy”
Presenters:
Seongsoo Choi, Associate Professor of Sociology, Yonsei University
Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Director of Japan Program; Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
Moderator: Jong-Wha Lee, Professor of Economics, Korea University
Discussants:
Sanghoon Ahn, Senior Fellow, Korea Development Institute
Aram Hur, Kim Koo Chair in Korean Studies; Assistant Professor of Political Science, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
6:30pm Dinner
Day 3: June 20 (Korea Time)
8:30-10:15am Student Session
Presenters:
Kyu Yeong Kim, Seoul National University
Jeongin Lee, Ewha Womans University
Eugene Rhee, Yonsei University
Sana Sugita, Stanford University
Marco Widodo, Stanford University
Moderator: Byungjoon Yoo, Seoul National University
Discussants:
Jeong Won Lee, Ewha Womans University
Seong Jae Hong, Seoul National University
10:15-10:30am Break
10:30-12:30pm Session 4 “Leadership: Strongman Politics and Democracy”
Presenters:
Shang-eung Ha, Professor of Political Science, Sogang University
Veronica Anghel, Assistant professor, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
Moderator: Sunhyuk Kim, Professor, Department of Public Administration, Korea University
Discussants:
Hannah Kim, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Int’l Studies, Sogang University
Gidong Kim, Korea Program Postdoctoral Fellow, APARC, Stanford University
12:30-12:45pm Wrap-up
Day 4: June 21 (Korea Time)
KFAS 50th Anniversary Public Event
8:20-8:30am Welcome and Congratulatory Remarks
Byung-il Choi, President of KFAS; Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University
Dukgeun Ahn, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
8:30-9:30am Keynote: “Century of Liberal Democracy”
Keynote Speaker: Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow, FSI; Director, Ford Dorsey MIP Program, Stanford University
Moderator: Byung-il Choi, President of KFAS; Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University
9:30-10:50am Session 1: “US Presidential Election and its Global Implications"
Panel:
Michael McFaul, Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University
Shang-eung Ha, Professor of Political Science, Sogang University
Hye Young You, Associate Professor, Department of Politics; School of Public and Int’l Affairs, Princeton University
Veronica Anghel, Assistant Professor, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
Moderator: Jiyeoun Song, Professor, Graduate School of Int’l Studies, Seoul National University
10:50-11:10am Break
11:10-12:30pm Session 2: “How Can We Save Our Democracies?”
Panel:
Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, FSI; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; Professor (by courtesy) of Political Science and Sociology, Stanford University
Daniele Caramani, Professor, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
Sunhyuk Kim, Professor, Department of Public Administration, Korea University
Joan Cho, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies and (by courtesy) Government, Wesleyan University
Moderator: Gi-Wook Shin, Director, Shorenstein APARC; Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
12:30-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-2:50pm Session 3: “Future Democracy for Next Generation”
Panel:
Aram Hur, Kim Koo Chair in Korean Studies; Assistant Professor of Political Science, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Hyeonho Hahm, Assistant Professor, Department of Policy Studies, Hanyang University
Marco Widodo, Student, Stanford University
Seong Jae Hong, Student, Seoul National University
Kyu Yeong Kim, Student, Seoul National University
Moderator: Joon Mo Ahn, Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Korea University
This event is held in Korea from June 18 through June 21, in Korea Time.
Invitation-only closed roundtable, June 18-20, SKMS Institute, Icheon
Public Session, June 21, KFAS Conference Hall (B3 Floor), KFAS, Seoul
For registration information, please click here.
Conferences
The Legacies of Militarization: Norman Joshua Writes a Social and Cultural History of Indonesian Authoritarianism
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Indonesia’s “New Order,” the authoritarian military regime led by General Suharto from 1966-1998, originated following the kidnapping and killing of six Army generals on September 30th-October 1, 1965. The conventional narrative often depicts this regime change as a sudden event, but historian Norman Joshua, APARC's 2023-24 Shorenstein postdoctoral fellow on contemporary Asia, challenges this view. Joshua’s research explains why the civil-military relationships and social militarization that emerged in Indonesia from the period under Dutch colonial rule in the preceding decade allowed the New Order to solidify power in 1965.
In a recent seminar hosted by APARC’s Southeast Asia Program, “Militarization Overlooked: Rethinking the Origins of Indonesia’s New Order, 1950-1965,” Joshua shared his insights into the complex phenomenon of militarization within Indonesian society, spanning from the tumultuous post-independence era to the present day. Through a historian's lens, he traces the origins of militarization and its far-reaching impacts on political, social, and cultural dynamics in Indonesia.
An Environment Conducive to Militarization
At the heart of this narrative lies the period following Indonesia's revolutionary struggle and independence from Dutch colonial rule. Scholars have portrayed the 1950s favorably as a time when Indonesia embarked on an experiment with liberal and constitutional democracy. Joshua, however, argues that, instead of heralding an era of stability and democratic governance, “the post-revolutionary landscape was fraught with underdevelopment, persistent conflict, and political instability.” This environment provided fertile ground for the gradual militarization of Indonesian society, as the military sought to quell armed groups and revolutionary violence.
"In essence, my current project is an endeavor to write a social and cultural history of Indonesian authoritarianism," Joshua explains. He frames this process as militarization, wherein civil society organizes itself for the production of violence.
Joshua's scholarly curiosity about Indonesian authoritarianism stems from his deep-seated interest in the country's post-revolutionary period. He is particularly drawn to the oft-overlooked years of the 1950s and 1960s, which he deems pivotal in comprehending Indonesia's authoritarian trajectory. He was also drawn to the topic by a family member’s involvement in the revolutionary and Communist movements, leading to their exile from Indonesia after the 1965 massacres, “which sparked my interest in studying ‘those who were on the wrong side of history,' so to speak.”
Joshua sheds light on the role of armed revolutionary factions like the Gerombolan, whose lingering presence posed a challenge to the nascent Indonesian government's efforts to establish control and maintain order, even bearing responsibility for the murder of Yale professor Raymond Kennedy and Time-Life reporter Robert Doyle.
"Militarization produced a militarized society that was regimented and conditioned towards the use of violence," Joshua asserts. His analysis reveals how militarization permeated various facets of Indonesian society, from the adoption of military symbolism to the normalization of violence in everyday life.
An Enduring Legacy of Militarization
Joshua cites the continuing role of the military and police in post-1998 Indonesian society. The Army—and the Police, which is in many ways a constabulary force—have retained their territorial organization, and former and active-duty military and police often participate in non-security affairs. He also highlights the important role of security forces in facing domestic challenges such as the ongoing insurgency in Papua.
Joshua considers militarization from a cultural standpoint, including the fetishization of uniforms, marches, and militia-like organizations. Militarization, he notes, is often manifested in slogans, songs, ceremonies, and indoctrination programs. For example, the slogan "Ganyang Malaysia," originating from Sukarno's call to "crush" Malaysia, became emblematic of Indonesian nationalism and militarism.
Challenges for Democracy
Despite the downfall of the New Order regime, Joshua underscores the implications of the enduring legacy of militarization in contemporary Indonesia. Just two months ago, Indonesian voters elected Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander with a controversial history, as their next president. Expressing apprehensions about the potential for further militarization, Joshua points to the ascendancy of leaders like Prabowo. "Militarization under Prabowo would be evident in two ways," he cautions, citing increased military budgets and an expanded role for the military in non-security affairs. “While we have yet to hear about the shape of Prabowo’s cabinet, I believe that we will see an increasing role for the military and police—whether active-duty or retired—in non-military affairs,” he said.
“This trend started during the Jokowi administration and will continue under Prabowo, and has invited concerns from civil rights organizations and human rights groups. Ultimately, I think Prabowo’s election is a test for Indonesia’s democratic values and how resilient the civil society is.”
Assessing the health of Indonesian democracy, Joshua notes fluctuations that warrant concern. "Indonesian democracy is still working well, especially compared to neighboring countries," he observes. “I think the election of Prabowo shows the robustness of Indonesian democratic procedures, as the 2024 Presidential Election was conducted peacefully and with relatively minor complaints of voting fraud or irregularities.” However, he highlights potential challenges ahead. “It appears that Indonesian democracy will face a great challenge in the next four years, and we will see if the guardrails of democratic procedure will hold or not.”
An Interdisciplinary Scholar Community
As a Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow, Joshua connected with APARC scholars to further his research. “I work mostly with Southeast Asia Program Director Don Emmerson and am glad to be connected with APARC faculty Stephen Kotkin, who I found as an inspiration for my work,” he notes. Engaging with Lee Kong Chian Fellow on Southeast Asia Soksamphoas Im, who works on authoritarian politics in Cambodia, with fellow scholar Yuya Ouchi, and Visiting Scholar Gita Wirjawan, who is an expert practitioner of Indonesian politics, has also been an enriching experience, Joshua says. conversations with .”
Delving into the Hoover Institution archives, Joshua examined the papers of Guy Pauker, an Indonesianist and “Cold Warrior” in the 1960s, and his engagement with Indonesian poet, writer, and scholar Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, who was a fellow at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
“I am grateful to have spent my postdoctoral fellowship at APARC, as it allows me to spend more time working on my dissertation toward transforming it into a monograph,” said Joshua.
“The interdisciplinary nature of APARC is particularly helpful for a young scholar like me and helped the process of refining my arguments, especially in terms of engaging with people outside of my field and academic discipline."
After his time at APARC, Joshua will serve as the Hoover History Lab’s Research and Teaching Fellow at the Hoover Institution under Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Kotkin.
Joshua’s research provides a comprehensive exploration of the nature of civil-military relations within Indonesian society. By tracing its historical roots and examining its contemporary manifestations, he provides valuable insights into how militarization has shaped Indonesia's political, social, and cultural milieu.
His analysis of the militarizing process offers scholars insights into an understudied period in Indonesian history and helps us better understand the origins of authoritarian military regimes worldwide. As Indonesia continues to navigate its path forward, grappling with the legacies of its militarized past will undoubtedly remain a complex and pressing challenge.
“I believe that history serves as more than just a chronicle of the past,” Joshua reflects. “It serves as a vital lens through which we can comprehend and contextualize the events that are still unfolding in our contemporary world.”
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Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow Norman Joshua examines how state-society interactions in Indonesia produced an authoritarian political culture, tracing the implications of the country’s enduring legacy of militarization.