Sigur Center for Asian Studies
At the Elliott School of International Affairs
David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the China Policy Program at GW, discussed the cycles of Chinese politics and analyzed current as well as potential future trends of Chinese domestic politics and foreign policy. Professor Shambaugh was interviewed by University of Virginia Professor Brad Carson on “Jaw-Jaw,” the newest addition to the War on the Rocks family of podcasts. Listen to the full interview here!
Robert Sutter, Professor of International Affairs and Director of GW’s B.A. Program in International Affairs, was quoted in an article by The National Interest titled “What Does Growing U.S.-China Rivalry Mean for America’s Allies in Asia?” In the article, Professor Sutter discusses the evolving view U.S. policymakers have toward China in historical context. Read the full article here!
Current Sigur Center Fulbright Visiting Scholar Aqab Malik was interviewed as a discussant on Think Tank Central, a segment of i24NEWS, to analyze cross-border tunnel issues. In it, he discusses Pakistan’s experiences in recent decades.
Former Sigur Center Visiting Scholar Catherine Craven recently released a free publication in the SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research. The article, titled “Critical Realism, Assemblages and Practices Beyond the State: A New Framework for Analysing Global Diaspora Engagement,” proposes a unique perspective on global diaspora engagement and explores how this view can provide insight into the political struggles within.
In their latest issue of Education About Asia, the Association for Asian Studies included an article stemming from its workshop held in March 2018 at the Elliott School of International Affairs and supported by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies! The article, titled “Leaving North Korea: My Story,” is about the experiences of a North Korean defector whom spoke at the workshop, and has requested anonymity.
Dr. Michael Yahuda, current non-resident scholar with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Professor Emeritus of International Relations from The London School of Economics and Political Science, participated in a panel discussion about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Beijing and the current status of China-Japan relations. This discussion aired on CGTN America’s The Heat, hosted by Mike Walter on October 26, 2018.
Thursday, November 1, 2018 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Chung-wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies invite you to a discussion with Ms. Julia Lau – former lecturer at Georgetown University, The Catholic University of America, and McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. – to discuss her research into war memory in Southeast Asia and China.
Light refreshments will be available. This event is public, but off the record and not for attribution to allow for candid discussion of Ms. Lau’s research.
About the Event:
This lecture examines questions and themes on war memory pertaining to Japanese Imperial Army actions in World War II on the Pacific front, including the Nanjing Massacre and the Occupation of Singapore. Building on book research and the speaker’s personal and field visits to war memorials and sites, museums, and other commemorative locations in China and Singapore, as well as the examination of a small selection of history textbooks for school children of both countries, the lecture focuses on the primary puzzle of why war memory differs in its tenor and expression in China and Singapore, despite similarities in the deprivations and suffering of their civilians during the war. A secondary question is how this affects Sino-Japanese relations and Singapore’s bilateral ties with Tokyo today. Some new directions might be emerging with regard to how younger citizens of China (including the Chinese diaspora) and Singapore who have no direct or received experience of the war or Occupation are finding ways to reconcile their views on Japanese actions in WWII, while juggling conflicting tensions between nationalism and pacifist globalism or regionalism.
Specific sites of war memory discussed include the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Wanping, China; the Japanese Cemetery in Singapore; Yasukuni Shrine and the Yushukan War Museum in Tokyo, and various other war-related sites and memorials. This lecture also draws upon working papers that the speaker has presented at past conferences, including the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies and its regional conferences.
About the Speaker:
Julia M. Lau is now an independent scholar and writer based in Phoenix, AZ. A native of Singapore, she attended the National University of Singapore and Georgetown University, and has graduate degrees in law, security studies, and government. She has taught as a lecturer at Georgetown University, The Catholic University of America, and McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. Her current research interests include war memory in Southeast Asia and China, and gender politics. She is also a member of the American Political Science Association’s status committee on Contingent Faculty, advocating for better working conditions and understanding of contingent and adjunct faculty in the political science profession.
About the Moderator:
Professor Ronald Spector received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins and his MA and Ph.D. from Yale. He has served in various government positions and on active duty in the Marine Corps from 1967-1969 and 1983-1984, and was the first civilian to become Director of Naval History and the head of the Naval Historical Center. He has served on the faculties of LSU, Alabama and Princeton and has been a senior Fulbright lecturer in India and Israel. In 1995-1996 he was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Strategy at the National War College and was the Distinguished Guest Professor at Keio University, Tokyo in 2000. At the Elliott School, Spector offers undergraduate and graduate courses on US-East Asia Relations, World War II, and the Vietnam War as well as a graduate seminar on Naval history and one on strategy.
Image above: The Civilian War Memorial, Singapore, by moonlight. Original photo.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the GW Institute for Korean Studies invite you to a discussion with Dr. Woondo Choi – currently a Visiting Scholar with the Sigur Center – to discuss Korean strategic and historical perspectives regarding the US-Japan post-war settlement.
Light refreshments will be available. This event is public and open to the media.
About the Event:
In several aspects, the Korea-Japan friendship is constrained by the mutual lack of confidence whose root originates from the history. This relationship breeds negative impacts on the tri-lateral cooperation among the US, Korea and Japan. Understanding the beginning of the US-Japan relationship would make current Japanese foreign policy more transparent, deepen the historical reconciliation between Japan and Korea, and provide clues for the US role in improving the relationship between the two allied partners. For that purpose, we will look into the three frequently-mentioned factors in the US Post-war settlement with Japan: 1) strategic interests, 2) decision-making participants’ view on Japan and 3) safety assurances vis-a-vis Japan’s military resurgence. This research will deal with the period starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor until the end of the Occupation and San Francisco Peace Treaty.
About the Speaker:
Woondo Choi is a research fellow at the Institute of Korea-Japan Relations at Northeast Asian History Foundation, Seoul, Korea, at which he has been working since 2008. He received his B.A. from Yonsei University in 1987 and Ph.D. from University of Colorado, Boulder in 1997. For 1 year between 2011 and 2012, he stayed in Japan as a Visiting Professor, at Nagasaki University, Japan, and in 2018, at the Sigur Center of the George Washington University as a Visiting Scholar. He has published more than 50 articles and book chapters on Japanese foreign policy, US-Japan security relations, territorial disputes, and historical reconciliation. His recent works include “East Asian Community, the Japanese Policy Suggestion: Tracking the Changes in Japan’s Regional Perception.” (2012), “Japan’s Right for Self-Defense: Concept, Interpretation, and Constitutional Revision” (2013) “Abe’s Visit to Yasukuni Shrine and the Impact on East Asian Regional Security” (2014.), “Korean Independence and 70 Years Thereafter: Japanese Colonial Rule and Post-War Settlement” (2015).
Moderated by:
Benjamin D. Hopkins – Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
Professor David Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science & International Affairs and the Director of the China Policy Program, was quoted in an article by the South China Morning Post about the Trump Administration being the first American administration explicitly labeling China as a “strategic competitor” in national security documentation. He also noted that the areas of competition between the United States and China “now far outweigh the areas of cooperation,” but that the United States would cooperate when it can on select issues. His comments were included in the article originally published on October 10th, titled “FBI chief tells US Congress that China poses bigger security threat than Russia.”
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