Archives & Recordings – Sigur Center for Asian Studies

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[02/11/2025] NBAS: “In Search of Admiration and Respect: Chinese Cultural Diplomacy in the United States, 1875-1974”

January 28, 2025February 5, 2025Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Tuesday, February 11th, 2025

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET

Online via Zoom

In Search of Admiration and Respect examines the institutionalization of Chinese cultural diplomacy in the period between high imperialism and the international ascendance of the People’s Republic of China. During these years, Chinese intellectuals and officials tried to promote the idea of China’s cultural refinement in an effort to combat negative perceptions of the nation. Yanqiu Zheng argues that, unlike similar projects by more established powers, Chinese cultural diplomacy in this era was not carried out solely by a functional government agency; rather, limited resources forced an uneasy collaboration between the New York-based China Institute and the Chinese Nationalist government.

In Search of Admiration and Respect uses the Chinese case to underscore what Zheng calls “infrastructure of persuasion,” in which American philanthropy, museums, exhibitions, and show business had disproportionate power in setting the agenda of unequal intercultural encounters. This volume also provides historical insights into China’s ongoing quest for international recognition. Drawing upon diverse archival sources, Zheng expands the contours of cultural diplomacy beyond established powers and sheds light on the limited agency of peripheral nations in their self-representation.

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Speaker

I picture of Yanqiu Zheng looking at the camera

Yanqiu Zheng is a historian of China in the world and is the Associate Director of Asia and Pacific Programs at St. Lawrence University’s Patti McGill Peterson Center for International and Intercultural Studies. He led the China and the Global South project, supported by the Ford Foundation, at the Social Science Research Council.

Moderator

A picture of Eric Schluessel, smiling in glasses and lookin gat the camera

Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. It won the 2021 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association.

Schluessel is currently pursuing two research projects: Saints and Sojourners explores the economic history of the Uyghur region from the 1750s through the 1950s as seen from below, through the records of merchants, farmers, and managers of pious endowments. It ties changes at the village level to shifts in the global economy in places as far away as Manchester and Tianjin. Exiled Gods delves into Han Chinese settler culture and religion to illuminate the history of a diasporic community of demobilized soldiers and their descendants that spanned the Qing empire.

Thanks to grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies, Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

Schluessel previously taught at the University of Montana in Missoula and spent the 2018–2019 academic year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

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[02/05/2025] Walking the Tightrope: The Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia

January 15, 2025February 14, 2025Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

9:30 AM – 3:00 PM ET

Linder Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

In May of 1965, the “Wang Gungwu Report” caused massive protests in then-Malaysian state of Singapore by recommending that Nanyang University change its language of instruction from Chinese to English. Despite significant student demonstrations, the committee accepted the recommendations. By August 9 of that year, Singapore declared itself as an independent “multicultural” state separate from Malaysia, with English enshrined as a symbol of its pluralistic model.

Wang Gungwu, in later articles, argued that diasporic Chinese in Southeast Asia should no longer accept the label Huaqiao ‘sojourner’ since it suggested a temporary status and harbored political connotations of patriotic loyalty towards China (Wang 1994). Nor should use of English be considered an alignment with the USA, as Bilahari Kausikan reminds us. In an environment defined partly by two superpowers, and partly by their own competing local interests, diasporic Chinese in Southeast Asia find themselves deploying the symbols of language, cultural identity, and political interests to walk – and “talk” – a tightrope.

We have chosen to focus on the “Malay archipelago” broadly defined – i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Philippines and southern Thailand – as a uniquely perilous context that includes not only risky territorial claims, but one that is variously framed in “civilizational” terms that make reference to long histories of Chinese, European and Middle Eastern participation in the region. This conference seeks papers that document and analyze the diverse but often precarious practices of everyday management of linguistic and cultural identities of diasporic Chinese in the Southeast Asian region.

Topics:

Chang-Yau Hoon: “Chinese Christians in Indonesia: The Interplay of Ethnicity, Religion, and Class”

Hannah Ho Ming Yit: “The Inscrutable Voices: Subjective Writing in Transnational Anglophone Chinese Bruneian Poetry”

Charlotte Setijadi: “Dreams of Singapore: Narratives and Symbolisms of Order in Chinese Indonesian Residential Enclaves”

Chong Wu Ling: “Constrained Agency: Malaysia’s Ethnic Chinese-Based Political Parties’ Attitudes Towards Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (ICSSs) and Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)”

Ravando: “Bringing Chinese Indonesian Narratives into Indonesia’s Medical History: The Role of Chinese Indonesian Doctors in Advancing Public Health System in Colonial Indonesia”

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Featured Speaker

Dédé Oetomo is an activist, independent scholar, and educator in research, education and advocacy in the fields of language and society, the Chinese diaspora, diversity in gender-sexuality, and HIV & AIDS, mainly as Founder and Trustee at GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation (www.gayanusantara.or.id), which also hosts the Coalition for Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR; www.csbronline.org). He also serves on the Board of Indonesia AIDS Coalition. Academically, he is an adjunct senior lecturer at Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Surabaya, Widya Mandala Catholic University in Surabaya and Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, Indonesia.

Speakers

Hoon Chang Yau smiling looking into camera

Chang-Yau Hoon is Professor at the Institute of Asian Studies, and former Director of the Centre for Advanced Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He is also Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Honorary Director of Institute of Brunei Studies at Guangxi Minzu University, and Advisor of Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at South China Normal University. He was Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in 2023-2024. Additionally, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Asia in Transition book series at Springer. Professor Hoon specializes in Chinese diaspora, identity politics, multiculturalism, and religious and cultural diversity in contemporary Southeast Asia. His latest books include Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia: Ethnicity, Education and Enterprise (sole-authored, Liverpool University Press, 2023); Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (co-authored, Lexington Press, 2023); and Stability, Growth and Sustainability: Catalysts for Socio-economic Development in Brunei Darussalam (co-edited, ISEAS Publishing, 2023).

Hannah Ming Yit Ho is Assistant Professor of Literatures in English at the University of Brunei Darussalam. She is also a research associate at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Her PhD in Asian diasporic literatures was completed at the University of York, United Kingdom. She was previously a research fellow at King’s College London and University of California, Berkeley. Her current research interests include Chinese identity in contemporary literatures of Southeast Asia. Her publications in journals include Asiatic, Kritika Kultura, Southeast Asian Review of English, Science Fiction Studies (forthcoming) and The Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture. She serves as a section editor (Southeast Asia) for The Year’s Work in English Studies (Oxford University Press). She coedited Engaging Modern Brunei: Research on Language, Literature and Cultures (Springer 2021). Her forthcoming book is entitled Transnational Southeast Asia: Communities, Contestations and Cultures (2025).

Charlotte Setijadi smiling looking into camera

Charlotte Setijadi is a Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. She researches Chinese identity politics in Indonesia and Indonesian diaspora politics. Charlotte has published widely in academic journals such as the Journal of Contemporary China, Asian Survey, and Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies. Her first book Memories of Unbelonging: Ethnic Chinese Identity Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia was published by University of Hawai’i Press in 2023. She is currently working on a new book project on the migration trajectories of highly-skilled Indonesian professional migrants.

Wu-Ling Chong (钟武凌) is a senior lecturer at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya, Malaysia. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Her areas of expertise include ethnic Chinese studies and Southeast Asian politics. She is the author of Chinese Indonesians in post-Suharto Indonesia: Democratisation and ethnic minorities (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2018). The book explores the role of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in shaping the democratization process as well as their position in post-Suharto Indonesia across business, politics and civil society. She is also the co-author of Kaedah penyelidikan dan panduan penulisan [Research methods and guidance for writing, in Malay] (Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya Press, 2016) (with Sivachandralingam Sundara Raja and Noraini Mohamed Hassan).

Ravando is a John Legge Research Fellow in the Department of History at Monash University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2023, with a thesis examining the history of Sin Po (1910–1949), the most influential and widely circulated Sino-Malay newspaper in colonial Indonesia. His research focuses on Chinese-Indonesian history, the intersection of medicine and ethnicity, and transnational health networks in Southeast Asia. He has authored five books, including his latest, Merawat Kehidupan: 100 Tahun Rumah Sakit Husada (Jang Seng Ie), which documents a century of medical care at one of Indonesia’s oldest hospitals. He is currently developing a book project based on his doctoral research.

Discussant

Margaret Scott is a journalist focusing on Southeast Asia and teaches at NYU’s Program in International Relations. She is also one of the founders of the New York Southeast Asia Network. Currently she is working on the role of Islam in Indonesian politics since 1998, and her research interests include democratic consolidation and decline, Islam, and religious actors in Southeast Asia. She writes primarily for The New York Review of Books. Scott also worked for The Far Eastern Economic Review, a magazine based in Hong Kong. She has also written for The New York Times Magazine and the Times Literary Supplement.

Moderators

Joel Kuipers is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Since 1978, he has conducted linguistic and ethnographic research in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, focusing on the relation of specialized language registers to systems of authority. He has published widely in academic journals such as American Ethnologist, American Anthropologist, Anthropological Quarterly, Anthropological Linguistics, Indonesia, Sapiens, Cultural Anthropology, Language in Society, and Anthropology Today. His first (U Penn 1990) and second (Cambridge 1998) books concerned ritual speech on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba; a third about the work of anthropologist Harold C Conklin (Yale 2007), and edited volumes on discourses of science in US middle schools (2008), and cell phone use (2018). He is currently at work on a new book project that draws on his Southeast Asian work concerning the relation between speech registers and sociocultural scale.

Janet Steele is professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She received her Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University, and focuses on how culture is communicated through the mass media. A frequent visitor to Southeast Asia, she lectures on topics ranging from the role of the press in a democratic society to specialized workshops on narrative journalism. Her book, “Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto’s Indonesia,” focuses on Tempo magazine and its relationship to the politics and culture of New Order Indonesia. “Mediating Islam: Cosmopolitan Journalisms in Muslim Southeast Asia,” explores the relationship between journalism and Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia. Her most recent book, published in 2023 by NUS Press, is called “Malaysiakini and the power of independent media in Malaysia.”

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[1/28/2025] 不亦樂乎: Foggy Bottom, Beijing, the Ways Between—and Now I’m Back?

January 14, 2025January 29, 2025Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Tuesday, January 28th, 2025

12:00 – 1:30 PM ET

Chung-Wen Shih Asian Studies Conference Room

Elliott School of International Affairs Suite 503

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

What strange paths make a life? Peter Rupert Lighte graduated from GW’s School of Public and International Affairs in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War protests. He went on to earn a PhD in Chinese history at Princeton in 1981. Doctorate in hand, his first port of call was academia and, then, perchance, banking. After postings in Beijing, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, he became the founding chairman of JP Morgan Chase Bank in China. Peter has authored several books on his adventures, including Straight Through The Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China (2022) and Host of Memories: Tales of Inevitable Happenstance (2015). Join us to learn of Peter’s views on the wisdom of taking risks, considering the lessons of the past which inform our futures, the roads we know and those we dare to take.

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Panel One

A picture of Peter Lighte, smiling and looking at the camera

Peter Rupert Lighte (BA ’69), graduated from GW’s School of Public and International Affairs (now the Elliott School of International Affairs). A sinologist by training, in the early 1970s, Peter studied Chinese culture at Princeton University and subsequently taught Chinese history and philosophy to college students. In the early 1980s, he entered the world of international finance. He continued to live abroad for almost three decades, dividing his time between London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Beijing. In Beijing, he served as the founding chairman of JP Morgan Chase Bank in China. Currently, he serves on the boards of Half the Sky Foundation and the Council on International Educational Exchange and is active in Princeton alumni affairs. He’s on the boards of Prudential Financial, the Council for International Educational Exchange, and OneSky UK. He is the author of Straight Through The Labyrinth: Becoming A Gay Father in China, Host of Memories: Tales of Inevitable Happenstance, and Pieces of China. A calligrapher, mosaicist, and needlepointer, he lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with his husband Julian Grant, a distinguished Anglo-American composer, and Fuqi, their pooch from Beijing. Their daughters, both Barnard women, are now well out in the world.

Moderater

Professor Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. It won the 2021 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association.

Professor Schluessel is currently pursuing two research projects: Saints and Sojourners explores the economic history of the Uyghur region from the 1750s through the 1950s as seen from below, through the records of merchants, farmers, and managers of pious endowments. It ties changes at the village level to shifts in the global economy in places as far away as Manchester and Tianjin. Exiled Gods delves into Han Chinese settler culture and religion to illuminate the history of a diasporic community of demobilized soldiers and their descendants that spanned the Qing empire.

Professor Schluessel previously taught at the University of Montana in Missoula and spent the 2018–2019 academic year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

[01/16/2025] The Future of U.S. Policy and the Indo-Pacific

December 17, 2024January 31, 2025Archives & Recordings, High Profile EventsLeave a Comment

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

1:00 – 4:30 PM ET

The State Room

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

What opportunities and challenges lie ahead for the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region? This two-panel event brings together experts from the United States and Asia to discuss the future of U.S. policy and the policies of key regional players, including Korea, Japan, China, and their neighbors. As we enter a new year marked by political transitions in many capitals, the speakers will assess the foreign policy challenges and domestic political dynamics that will shape U.S. engagement and broader developments across the Indo-Pacific.

This GWIKS Korea Policy Forum is organized in partnership with GW’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies, East Asia National Resources Center, Taiwan Education and Research Program, Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, and Ritsumeikan University’s Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies.

Agenda:

Panel 1: Grand Strategy (1:00 -2:30 PM)

Youngjoo Jang, Visiting Research Fellow, Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies, Ritsumeikan University
Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, The George Washington University
Drew Arveseth, Director, Korean Peninsula and Mongolia, United States National Security Council (NSC)
Bumsoo Kim, Director, Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University

Break and Networking (2:30–3:00)

Panel 2: Emerging Challenges (3:00-4:30 PM)

Inwook Kim, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Sungkyunkwan University
Ilaria Mazzocco, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Prashanth Parameswaran, Global Fellow, The Wilson Center; CEO and Founder, ASEAN Wonk Global; Senior Columnist, The Diplomat
Ann Kowalewski, Senior Non-Resident Fellow, The Global Taiwan Institute
Tashi Rabgey, Research Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Panel One

A picture of Youngjoo Jang, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Youngjoo Jang is a visiting research fellow at the Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. Her research interests include the U.S.-DPRK relations, the Japan-DPRK relations, and North Korea’s foreign policy over its nuclear development. She holds M.A. and Ph.D. in International Relations from Ritsumeikan University. Her dissertation title is “The U.S.-DPRK Nuclear Agreements through Interactions of Coercive Diplomacy from 1992 to 2012.” Her recent works appear in books (in Japanese) of New Horizons of North Korean Studies (Nakato and Choi, 2023) and External Relations of North Korea (Nakato and Mori, 2023) as a chapter, in Asia-Japan Research Institute website as a review article about North Korea (2023), and in the Ristumeikan Journal of International Studies as a journal article (2019).

Robert Sutter looking ahead smiling, in suit

Professor Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University (2011-Present ). He also served as Director of the School’s main undergraduate program involving over 2,000 students from 2013-2019. He has served as Special Adviser to the Dean on Strategic Outreach (2021-present). His earlier full-time position was Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University (2001-2011).

A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, Sutter has published 23 books (four with multiple editions), over 300 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy of an Emerging Global Force, Fifth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present, Fourth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield 2022), and Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence (Lexington Books, 2024)

Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) saw service as senior specialist and director of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service, the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia and the Pacific at the US Government’s National Intelligence Council, the China division director at the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A picture of Drew Arveseth, smiling and looking at the camera

Drew Arveseth is the Director for the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). During his tenure on the NSC staff, he has engaged on U.S. policy issues ranging from extended deterrence, risk reduction, denuclearization, and Indo-Pacific regional security dynamics to civil-nuclear cooperation, regional development initiatives, economic security, transnational threats, and human rights. Drew played an integral role in preparations for the U.S.-ROK-Japan Camp David Trilateral as well as the State Visit of ROK President Yoon to the United States in 2023, which culminated in the release of the Washington Declaration. Prior to arriving at the NSC, he served as a U.S. Government analyst covering economic, political, and security developments on the Korean Peninsula and in the broader East Asia Pacific region. Before his national security career, Drew served with the Saejowi Initiative, an organization providing medical support and social services to DPRK defectors in the ROK. He received a Master’s in International Affairs from the George Washington University, where he focused on security in East Asia. He is a graduate of Utah State University, where he studied economics and international business.

Kim Bumsoo looking at the camera and smiling

Professor Bumsoo Kim received his B.A. and M.A. from the Department of International Relations at Seoul National University in 1992 and 1997 respectively, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2006. Since then, he has worked as a research professor in the BK Program of the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University and as a lecturer at Seoul National University, and since 2010, has been a professor in the College of Liberal Studies (CLS) at Seoul National University. In the College of Liberal Studies, he served as an associate dean twice (2012-2014 and 2017-2019), and since February 2023, has been serving as a Dean. At the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS), he served as a chief of External Relations Division, head of the Center for Unification Studies, and deputy director from 2016 to 2023, and since March 2023 has been serving as a director. He has also served as a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Tokyo and a visiting professor at the University of Washington, U.S.A. He has served as a vice president of the Korean Political Science Association, a research board member of the Korean Association of International Studies, a president of the Governance Research Association, and a consultant for university restructuring at the Ministry of Education. As of March 2023, he is a member of the Academic Council of Seoul National University and an advisory board member of the Overseas Koreans Foundation.

His main research interests include political theory such as theory of justice and freedom, human rights theory, peace theory, nationalism, and multiculturalism. He has published many books in Korean, including What Is Fairness in Korean Society: 7 Theories of Justice to Protect a Fair Me (Akanet, 2022); What Is Peace Studies: Genealogy and Issues (Seoul National University Press, 2022); Korea-Japan Relations: Beyond Conflict to Reconciliation (Parkmun Press, 2021). He has also published many articles in peer-reviewed journals, which include “Bringing Class Back In: The Changing Basis of Inequality and the Korean Minority in Japan,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31(5), 2008, pp. 871-898; “Are North Korean Compatriots ‘Korean’? The Trifurcation of Ethnic Nationalism in South Korea during the Syngman Rhee Era (1948-1960),” Journal of Korean Studies, 24(1), 2019, pp. 149~171; “Are the Freedom of States and International Public Laws Compatible? Kant’s Theory of Peace and the Freedom of States” Korean Journal of International Relations, 59(3), 2019, pp. 7-54. In 2009, he received the Best Article Award of the Korean Political Science Association for his article “Who Is Japanese? the Boundaries of the ‘Japanese’ in Post-War Japan,” published in Journal of the Korean Political Science Association, 43(1), pp. 177-202.

Panel Two

Professor Inwook Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Sungkyunkwan University. His main research interests include history and geopolitics of oil, politics of alliances, and the Korean Peninsula. His works have either appeared or are forthcoming in International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, Journal of Global Security Studies, Contemporary Security Policy, The Pacific Review, Foreign Affairs, and others.

Professor Kim holds a PhD in Political Science from the George Washington University where he was also a research affiliate at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies (ISCS). He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from University of Oxford and received MSc in Politics of the World Economy from London School of Economics . He is also a former recipient of Fulbright Scholarship, and previously taught at Korea Military Academy, the University of Hong Kong, and Singapore Management University.

Ilaria Mazzocco is deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has over a decade of experience researching industrial policy, Chinese climate policy, and the intersection between the energy transition and economic and national security. Prior to joining CSIS, she led research on Chinese climate and energy policy for Macropolo, the Paulson Institute’s think tank. She holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where her dissertation investigated Chinese industrial policy by focusing on electric vehicle promotion efforts and the role of local governments. She also holds master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Central European University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Bard College. She speaks Chinese and Italian.

Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran is a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, where he produces analysis on Southeast Asian political and security issues, Asian defense affairs, and U.S. foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific. He is also the CEO and Founder of ASEAN Wonk Global, a research hub that produces the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief newsletter; Senior Columnist at The Diplomat, one of Asia’s leading current affairs publications; and an Advisor at BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm focused on the Indo-Pacific region. His new book, “Elusive Balances: Shaping U.S.-Southeast Asia Strategy,” published in 2022, develops and applies an original “balance of commitment” approach to examining U.S. commitment in Southeast Asia over the past half century, along with policy recommendations for future administrations.

A political scientist by training, Dr. Parameswaran is a recognized expert on Asian affairs and U.S. foreign policy in the region, with a focus on Southeast Asia and politics and security issues. He has conducted grant-based field research across the region, consulted for companies and governments, and taught courses affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. His policy insights, research and commentary have been published widely in the United States and across the region in leading publications and journals including CNN, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, Asia Policy and Contemporary Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran has held roles across think tanks, government, media and business in the United States and in the region, including most recently the Foreign Service Institute and The Diplomat, where he served as senior editor. In those capacities, he advanced research and analysis on key Asian political and security trends using rigorous research methodologies and extensive in-country networks, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University focused on international security, international business and U.S. foreign policy, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Ann E. Kowalewski has a decade of experience in think tank, government, and private sector on Indo-Pacific policy. Annie led the Indo-Pacific portfolio as a senior professional staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she managed legislation and oversight regarding strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), US policy towards Taiwan, alliance management, and the US diplomatic and security posture in the region. She also served as an Indo-Pacific senior policy analyst on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for three years.

Prior to serving on the Hill, Ms. Kowalewski spent four years researching Indo-Pacific issues at various think tanks. As a research associate with the American Enterprise Institute, she researched, wrote, and presented on topics to include US Indo-Pacific strategy, PRC military modernization programs, and recommendations for strengthening US defense alliances in the Indo-Pacific. She was also a China research assistant for Georgetown’s Center for Security Studies and the United States Institute of Peace.

Before her career in DC, Ms. Kowalewski served in the Scottish Parliament for two years as a parliamentary assistant working on EU case law and nuclear non-proliferation issues. She received her MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University and her LLB (Hons) from the University of Edinburgh, School of Law. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Professor Tashi Rabgey is Research Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School where she specializes in statehood, authoritarianism and territorial politics, with a focus on multilevel governance and the politics of scale in the People’s Republic of China. She also works on constitutional and international legal issues relating to special status arrangements of asymmetric states and autonomous regions in comparative global contexts. Her primary regional focus is Tibet and Greater China, with a specialization in the Sino-Tibetan dispute. She is completing a long-term study of Chinese statehood, elite and institutional politics and Tibet’s rule and governance during China’s global rise.

At the Elliott School, she directs the Research Initiative on Multination States (RIMS) which convenes a Track II dialogue process with policy researchers in Beijing on state asymmetry and territorial autonomy. She is also founding director of the Tibet Governance Lab, a research platform and incubator for policy research on Tibet that provides a dynamic hub for the exchange of research, practice-driven insight and approaches to governance in contemporary Tibet.

Before joining the Elliott School, Professor Rabgey was codirector of the University of Virginia Tibet Center where she was a lecturer in contemporary Tibetan studies. She is also cofounder of Machik, a global nonprofit that has delivered strategies for Tibetan-language education, community empowerment and civic engagement in Tibet for over twenty years. She has been a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on US-China Relations, a visiting scholar at Sichuan University and visiting professor at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr in Kurdistan (Iraq). She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, as well as law degrees from Oxford and Cambridge where she was a Rhodes scholar.

Moderaters

Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

portrait of Celeste Arrington posing with arms crossed in black outfit

Professor Celeste Arrington specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research interests include law and social change, governance, civil society, social movements, policy-making processes, lawyers, the media and politics, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism.

Her first book was Accidental Activists: Victim Movements and Government Accountability in Japan and South Korea (Cornell, 2016). She has published articles in Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Law & Policy, Asian Survey, and elsewhere. With Patricia Goedde, she co-edited Rights Claiming in South Korea (Cambridge, 2021). Her current book project analyzes the legalistic turn in Korean and Japanese governance through paired case studies related to tobacco control and disability rights.

Her research has received support from numerous fellowships and programs. She is a core faculty of the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and President of the Association for Korean Political Studies. GW’s Office of the Vice President for Research awarded her the 2021 Early Career Research Scholar Award.

logos for the east asia national resource center, the gw institute for korean studies, and the sigur center

[12/03/2024] The Nexus of Political Conflict and Environmental Crisis in Myanmar

November 15, 2024December 4, 2024Archives & Recordings, Visiting Scholar RoundtablesLeave a Comment

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET

Chung-Wen Shih Conference Room, Suite 503

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Myanmar (Burma) is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and is now facing a challenge in simultaneously addressing two existential threats. Dealing with a climate crisis is an urgent need for Myanmar to survive on the one hand as the world’s second most vulnerable country to climate change while ending the prolonged and widespread civil war is a must on the other to prevent Myanmar from collapsing further. Given the current socio-political circumstances, it seems like an impossible job. However, Mr. Win would like to share his views on how environmental issues and political conflicts in Myanmar are interrelated, why it is essential to address both, and in which way this could be doable by reflecting on his thirty years of experience in environmental politics in Myanmar. He also believes that such intellectual brainstorming would be useful and relevant to other failed states like Myanmar for leaving no one behind in pursuing sustainable development goals and global climate actions.

RSVP

Speaker

Mr. Win Myo Thu with glasses on looking at camera

As a Burmese environmental activist, development practitioner, and policy advocate for climate security & justice, Mr. Win pioneered establishing a local NGO under the military iron grip in Myanmar to create a political space of participatory democracy and defend the resource rights of the local poor and ethnic minorities. He raised more than 17 million US $ of project funds to develop and manage participatory projects for community-led natural resource management and sustainable livelihoods of local people. At the national level, he assisted in developing policies and strategies related to Rural Development, Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Environmental Assessment. This helped allocate over 300 million US $ equivalent government grants reaching 10,000 villages nationwide (20% coverage of entire rural villages). Through civil
society networking, Mr.Win played a pivotal role as a civil society leader not only in mobilizing environmental campaigns for collective voices over unsustainable investment projects (Hydropower dams, Coal-fired Power Plants, Mineral Extraction, and Commercial Agriculture Plantation) but also held government agencies (State Owned Enterprises) accountable for misappropriation of 9 billion US $ natural resource revenue by enforcing the implementation process of Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Myanmar. He left Myanmar when the military staged a coup in 2021 and worked as a Visiting Research Fellow in the Earth Science Department at Oxford University, UK, until March 2024. He is now a visiting scholar at Sigur Center for Asia Studies at Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University, researching environmental federalism and climate justice.

A photo will information about the speakers, time, date, and location

[12/02/24] Taiwan Roundtable: Local Partnerships, Global Impact: U.S.-Taiwan Subnational Diplomacy

November 13, 2024December 4, 2024Archives & Recordings, Taiwan RoundtablesLeave a Comment

Monday, December 2nd, 2024

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Amidst evolving geopolitical landscapes, U.S.-Taiwan relations are developing at multiple levels, with subnational diplomacy emerging as a driving force in transforming local actions into global movements. From setting up new trade offices to developing education exchanges fostered by the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, to making major investments in semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced technologies, state and local actors in the United States and Taiwan are taking active roles in deepening social, political, and economic ties between both sides. At the same time, city and state governments and public agencies in the United States and Taiwan also face challenges in navigating sensitive policy issues, such as managing cross-Strait relations in subnational affairs and countering maligned foreign influence or interference. As local and global issues are increasingly intertwined, it is a critical moment for local actors in the United States and Taiwan to gain deeper understanding on the geostrategic importance of subnational affairs. Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a timely conversation with a group of experts and practitioners to navigate the triumphs, challenges, and opportunities in store for U.S.-Taiwan subnational relations.

RSVP

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Sara Newland is a scholar of local politics in China and Taiwan, and seeks to understand the behavior of local officials as domestic public servants and as actors in international relations. Her research on local governance and public service provision has been published in China Quarterly and Governance. Her new work focuses on subnational diplomacy, and in particular on the role that state and local officials play in the complicated relationships between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Her work on U.S.-Taiwan subnational engagement has been published in Pacific Review, and she is currently working on a book project (with Kyle Jaros) on U.S.-China subnational diplomacy in an era of rising great power competition.

At Smith, Newland teaches courses on East Asian politics, comparative politics and research design. She also runs the East Asian Politics Lab, where Smith undergraduates conduct paid research on the politics of China and Taiwan.

Newland is a member of the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group and a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Previously, she was an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and a China public policy postdoctoral fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School.

Matt Salmon, a special advisor to Arizona State University, brings extensive experience in international affairs and national policy from his time as a five-term U.S. House of Representatives member and chair of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. At Arizona State University, he uses his deep knowledge of global relations to enhance the university’s international programs. His leadership and expertise in fostering international partnerships have made him a key asset in advancing the university’s global initiatives and reputation. He is a fierce defender of the Constitution and the freedoms we enjoy.

Wen Chyi Chiu graduated from Arizona State University, majored in Journalism and Communications. Wen Chyi Chiu’s specialties are Global Relations, Public Relations and Media Relations. As Chairwoman for Taipei Sister Cities, Taipei Sister Cities received three years in a roll, the Best Sister Cities titles in 2009-2012. Wen Chyi Chiu has been devoting, volunteering, contributing, and serving American, Asian, Taiwanese, and Chinese Communities and Phoenix Sister Cities for over 25 years to promote education, STEM/STEAM, sister schools, police and fire exchanges, youth ambassadors, global friendship, arts, culture, sports, business, solar energy, and high technology. She is the Founding Executive Board Member and President for Global Federation of Chinese Business Woman Arizona Chapter, and she is current Principal of Arizona Chinese Mandarin and Culture Academy, and Executive Director of Taipei Culture Summer Camp. Wen Chyi Chiu received many awards including the Recipient of Southern California and Arizona Outstanding Young Leader Award, US Congress Congressional Recognition for Community Service, Arizona Governor Award for Community Contributions, Outstanding Citizenship Award, Volunteer Medal International Award of Circle of Distinguish Volunteer Global Citizenship Award from Phoenix Sister Cities International, and Phoenix Sister Cities Taipei Sister Cities Volunteer of the Year, among other recognitions.

Graphic for Pulse Check on Taiwan's Democratic Resilience with pictures of speakers.

[11/18/24] Pulse Check on Taiwan’s Democratic Resilience: Institutions, Domestic Debate, and New Governance Frontiers

October 29, 2024November 19, 2024Archives & Recordings, Taiwan Conference SeriesLeave a Comment

Monday, November 18th, 2024

10:30 AM – 2:00 PM ET

The State Room

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

“Democracy is never a thing done,” wrote poet Archibald MacLeish. “Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing.” In a similar vein, Taiwan’s vibrant democracy continues to be shaped and tested by dynamic internal and external pressures. This year, Taiwan’s January elections resulted in its first divided government since 2004, with no party winning an outright majority in the Legislative Yuan. Social movements have emerged in Taiwan in response to domestic political developments, including the Bluebird Movement, which formed in protest of a set of contentious legislative reform bills and produced the largest civil society demonstration since the 2014 Sunflower Movement. At the same time, exogenous factors such as the 2024 U.S. presidential election, ongoing cross-Strait tensions, and major military exercises conducted this year by the People’s Republic of China have left indelible marks on domestic political discourse in Taiwan. All the while, cross-sector social and digital innovations, such as civic technologies designed to counter disinformation, position Taiwan as a pioneer in new forms of democratic governance. How are Taiwan’s democratic institutions adapting to this wide array of internal and external social, political, and security challenges?
Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a timely conversation with a group of multidisciplinary experts to unpack, explore, and assess the current state of domestic political discourse in Taiwan, the robustness and resiliency of Taiwan’s democratic institutions, and the newly emerging democratic frontiers confronting Taiwan and beyond.

Agenda:

Welcome Remarks: Dr. Eric Schluessel, Director, Sigur Center

Conference Introduction: Richard Haddock, Assistant Director, Sigur Center

Panel 1: Elections, Political Upheavals, and Domestic Discourse in Taiwan (10:30 AM-12:00 PM)

Dr. Chiaoning Su, Associate Professor in Communication, Journalism and Public Relations
- “Six Months In: Evaluating President Lai’s Leadership and Changing Political Dynamics”
Dr. Dennis Lu-Chung Weng, Associate Professor of Political Science.
- “Reassessing Taiwan’s Opposition: Why the U.S. and Democratic Allies Must Recognize Its Strategic Value Beyond Stereotyped Labels”
Dr. Austin Horng-En Wang, Associate Professor of Political Science.
- “Public Opinion in Taiwan and its implications to US-China-Taiwan relations”

Lunch Break (12:00-12:30 PM)

Panel 2: The Health and Future Frontiers of Taiwan’s Democratic Institutions (12:30-2:00 PM)

Dr. Li-Yin Liu, Associate Professor of Political Science
- “Strengthening Democratic Governance in Times of Crisis: Taiwan’s COVID-19 Response, State Capacity, and the Impact of Policy Design and Bureaucratic Expertise”
June Lin, Senior Program Manger for the Asia-Pacific programs
Dr. Kharis Templeman, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution
- “Making Democracy Work under Divided Government”

Panel One

Dr. Chiaoning Su is an associate professor in Communication, Journalism and Public Relations at Oakland University. She also serves as the director of the Public Relations program and the Klein Center for Culture and Globalization, as well as PRSSA’s academic advisor. Beyond OU, Su served as the 2018-2020 President of the Association for Chinese Communication Studies, and the non-resident fellow of the Taiwan NextGen Foundation.

Su received her Ph.D. in media and communication from Temple University in 2015. Her research focuses on two distinct yet interconnected research lines: journalism of crisis and journalism in crisis. While the first line examines the representation and production of crisis news, the second focuses on journalism in public life during an era of waning democracy. Her work has been published in Media, Culture and Society, International Journal of Communication, Asian Journal of Communication, and Taiwan Journal of Democracy, and Communication Review. She is the recipient of the 2020 Honors College Inspiration Award and the 2021 Teaching Excellence Award at Oakland University.

Prior to her academic career, Su worked as a communication specialist at Ogilvy Public Relations and for several political campaigns in Taiwan. Through these professional experiences she developed expertise in media pitches and crisis management. In recent years, her research attracted increasing international media attention. AlJazeera, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Asia, and Voice of America have interviewed her on U.S.-China-Taiwan relations, press freedom in East Asia, China’s wolf warrior diplomacy, and Taiwan’s nation branding. Additionally, she appeared on several Taiwanese radio programs to discuss strategic narratives to amplify Taiwan’s international visibility.

Asfandyar Mir in a suit smiling facing forward

Dr. Dennis Lu-Chung Weng joined the department of political science at Sam Houston State University in 2017. Dr. Weng’s research and teaching interests are in the fields of comparative politics, Asian Politics, political behavior, and survey research. His articles have appeared in the Electoral Studies, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, Asian Journal of Political Science, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, and several News Media in Asia.

Dr. Weng was a business consultant and journalist in Taiwan prior to his academic career. Before coming to SHSU, he taught at The State University of New York at Cortland, Wesleyan University (CT), and The University of Texas at Dallas. He is the recipient of several teaching awards from previous institutions. Weng holds degrees in Political Science (Ph.D., MA) from the University of Texas at Dallas, International Relations (MA), and Business Administration (BA) from Tamkang University (Taiwan).

Marzia Hussaini in a suit smiling and looking forward

Dr. Austin Horng-En Wang is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also an associate political scientist at the RAND corporation. He received his doctoral degree in political science from Duke University in 2018, his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 2009, and master’s degree in Public Administration in 2012 from National Taiwan University.

His research and teaching interests focus on voting behavior, East Asia, and political psychology. His dissertation examines the relationship between temporal discounting and political participation through survey and experiments in the U.S., Taiwan, and Ukraine. His ongoing and sponsored research projects explore the long-term effect of political repression and attitude toward war in East Asia.

His research articles had published in several journals such as Political Research Quarterly, Electoral Studies, Asian Survey, and Social Science Research. He also has written book chapters about voting advice application and party politics in Taiwan. His comments on Asian politics had appeared in Washington Post, The National Interest, and Huffington Post, among others.

Panel Two

A picture of Ambassador Said Jawad looking at the camera

Dr. Li-Yin Liu received her B.A. in Public Management and Policy and MPA from Tunghai University in Taiwan. She then received her Ph.D. degree in Political Science from Northern Illinois University, where her first field was Public Administration with specialization in public policy and nonprofit management.

Liu’s research interests are centered around science-intensive public policies, including environmental sustainability and COVID-19 policies. Her current research focuses on environmental nonprofit organizations’ influence in policy-making and citizen engagement in environmental policy implementation. In light of the COVID-19 public health crisis, she also participates in several collaborative research teams, examining the institutional determinants of COVID-19 policy configurations and the Taiwanese government’s comprehensive response to COVID-19.

In addition to her primary research interests, Liu is also committed to advancing gender equity through her collaborative projects. She has been recognized for this focus and was selected as a Gender Equity Research Fellow for the 2023-24 academic year at the University of Dayton.

Liu’s teaching interests are in advanced/introductory public administration theory, public policy, nonprofit management, research methods, program evaluation and environmental governance and policy.

Prior to joining the University of Dayton, Liu was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Northern Illinois University, and she worked for the Legislative Yuan (Congress) and non-governmental organizations in Taiwan before moving to the United States.

A picture of Dr Sebastein Peyrouse looking at the camera

June Lin is the senior program manager for Asia-Pacific programs at National Democratic Institute (NDI), overseeing the institute’s Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Asia-Pacific regional programs to counter China’s illiberal influence. With over eight years of experience in the non-profit sector in the US and Taiwan, Ms. Lin began her endeavors in the democracy, rights, and governance sector as an activist in the 2014 Taiwan Sunflower Movement. In 2016, Ms. Lin moved to the United States and joined the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) as a policy expert focusing on US-Taiwan relations. Before joining NDI, she worked at Freedom House and the International Republican Institute (IRI), focusing on supporting civil society actors in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Uyghur communities. In her personal capacity, Ms. Lin also serves as the Board Secretary of the Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), and as an advisor to Doublethink Lab (DTL).

Naheed Sarabi smiling with her arms crossed

Dr. Kharis Templeman is Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region. He is also a Lecturer at the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University.

From 2013-19, he was a social science research scholar in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where he was the program manager of the Taiwan Democracy and Security Project (TDSP) in the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC). (Prior to fall 2017, the TDSP was known as the Taiwan Democracy Project and was part of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law).

Outside of Stanford, he is a member of the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, and he was a 2019 National Asia Research Program (NARP) Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). He has also served since 2012 as a contributor to the Varieties of Democracy project, and from 2016-18, he was the coordinator of the Conference Group on Taiwan Studies (CGOTS), a Related Group of the American Political Science Association.

He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. from the University of Rochester.

Moderaters

Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. It won the 2021 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association.

professional portrait of Richard Haddock

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

A graphic for "At the Edge of Empire" with the location, date, time, and picture of the speaker

[11/8/24] NBAS: “At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China”

October 21, 2024November 19, 2024Archives & Recordings, New Books in Asian StudiesLeave a Comment

Friday, November 8th, 2024

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

The son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, DC, Edward Wong grew up among family secrets. His father toiled in Chinese restaurants and rarely spoke of his native land or his years in the People’s Liberation Army under Mao. Yook Kearn Wong came of age during the Japanese occupation in World War II and the Communist revolution, when he fell under the spell of Mao’s promise of a powerful China. His astonishing journey as a soldier took him from Manchuria during the Korean War to Xinjiang on the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he made plans for a desperate escape to Hong Kong.

When Edward Wong became the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, he investigated his father’s mysterious past while assessing for himself the dream of a resurgent China. He met the citizens driving the nation’s astounding economic boom and global expansion—and grappling with the vortex of nationalistic rule under Xi Jinping, the most powerful leader since Mao. Following in his father’s footsteps, he witnessed ethnic struggles in Xinjiang and Tibet and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. And he had an insider’s view of the world’s two superpowers meeting at a perilous crossroads.

Wong tells a moving chronicle of a family and a nation that spans decades of momentous change and gives profound insight into a new authoritarian age transforming the world. A groundbreaking book, At the Edge of Empire is the essential work for understanding China today. Copies of the book will be sold at the event.

Speaker

Edward Wong is a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times. In twenty-five years at the Times, he has reported from scores of countries and served as a war correspondent in Iraq and as the Beijing bureau chief. He is the winner of the Livingston Award for international reporting and was on a team of Pulitzer Prize finalists. He has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and a visiting professor at Princeton University and U.C. Berkeley. He has done fellowships at the Wilson Center and the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School. Wong speaks on global issues to television and radio outlets, including CBS, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, and BBC. He lives with his family in Washington, DC.

Moderator

Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. It won the 2021 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association.

[11/15/24] New Books in Asian Studies: The Conscience of the Party: Hu Yaobang, China’s Communist Reformer

October 17, 2024November 19, 2024Archives & Recordings, High Profile EventsLeave a Comment

Friday, November 15th, 2024

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

and Online

Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and former intelligence analyst Robert L. Suettiner to discuss the definitive story of a top Chinese politician’s ill-fated quest to reform the Communist Party. When Hu Yaobang died in April 1989, throngs of mourners converged on the Martyrs’ Monument in Tiananmen Square to pay their respects. Following Hu’s 1987 ouster by party elders, Chinese propaganda officials had sought to tarnish his reputation and dim his memory, yet his death galvanized the nascent pro-democracy student movement, setting off the dramatic demonstrations that culminated in the Tiananmen massacre.

The Conscience of the Party is the comprehensive, authoritative biography of the Chinese Communist Party’s most avid reformer and its general secretary for a key stretch of the 1980s. A supremely intelligent leader with an exceptional populist touch, Hu Yaobang was tapped early by Mao Zedong as a capable party hand. But Hu’s principled ideas made him powerful enemies, and during the Cultural Revolution he was purged, brutally beaten, and consigned to forced labor. After Mao’s death, Hu rose again as an ally of Deng Xiaoping, eventually securing the party’s top position. In that role, he pioneered many of the economic reforms subsequently attributed to Deng. But Hu also pursued political reforms with equal vigor, pushing for more freedom of expression, the end of lifetime tenure for CCP leaders, and the dismantling of Mao’s personality cult. Alarmed by Hu’s growing popularity and increasingly radical agenda, Deng had him purged again in 1987.

Historian and former intelligence analyst Robert L. Suettinger meticulously reconstructs Hu’s life, providing the kind of eye-opening account that remains impossible in China under state censorship. Hu Yaobang, a decent man operating in a system that did not always reward decency, suffered for his principles but inspired millions in the process.

Speaker

Bob Suetteinger in suit looking straight ahead

Bob Suettinger is a historian with more than forty-five years of experience studying Chinese politics. Formerly an intelligence analyst and manager for the CIA and the US State Department, he was Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. He is the author of Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of U.S.-China Relations, 1989-2000.

Discussant

David Shambaugh looking straight ahead in suit

David Shambaugh is an internationally recognized authority and award-winning author on contemporary China and the international relations of Asia. He is the Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science & International Affairs, and the founding Director of the China Policy Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Professor Shambaugh previously served in the Department of State and on the National Security Council staff during the Carter administration (1977- 1979), was also a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at The Brookings Institution from 1996-2016. Prior to joining the Elliott School and GWU faculty he was a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader in Chinese Politics at the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) from 1987-1996, where he also served as Editor of the prestigious journal The China Quarterly. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Advisory Board of the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), East-West Center Fellowship Board, is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and member of its Board of Studies, has been a participant in the Aspen Strategy Group, the Asia Society Task Force on U.S. China Policy, and other public policy and scholarly organizations. An active public intellectual and frequent commentator in the international media, he also serves on numerous editorial boards, and has been a consultant to governments, research institutions, foundations, universities, corporations, banks, and investment funds.

Professor Shambaugh has been selected for numerous awards and grants, including as a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a Senior Fulbright Scholar (in residence at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). He has received research grants from the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, German Marshall Fund, Hinrich Foundation, the British Academy, and U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He has also been a visiting scholar or professor at universities in Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, and he has lectured all over the world.

Moderator

Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University (2011-Present ). He also served as Director of the School’s main undergraduate program involving over 2,000 students from 2013-2019. He has served as Special Adviser to the Dean on Strategic Outreach (2021-present). His earlier full-time position was Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University (2001-2011).

A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, Sutter has published 23 books (four with multiple editions), over 300 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy of an Emerging Global Force, Fifth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present, Fourth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield 2022), and Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence (Lexington Books, 2024)

[10/30/24] The Future of Regionalism: Afghanistan, South, and Central Asia

October 3, 2024November 19, 2024Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Wednesday, October 30th, 2024

1:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Can regional cooperation effectively address the traditional and non-traditional security challenges facing Afghanistan and its neighboring countries? Leading experts, scholars, and practitioners will examine these challenges and analyze regional frameworks for addressing critical issues such as climate change, education, drug trafficking, and terrorism. This discussion will also identify obstacles and explore potential strategies for advancing and enhancing collaboration in the region.

Agenda:

Registration (1:00-1:45 PM)

Welcome and Opening Remarks (1:45-2:00 PM)

Panel 1: Afghanistan’s Regional Complexities: Historical Context, Present-day Rivalries, and Key Transnational Challenges (2:00-4:00 PM)

Objectives: The objective of this panel is to examine overarching issues faced by Afghanistan and the surrounding region. The panel will analyze the historical context for current rivalries, the challenges facing each nation’s prospects for stability and prosperity, and the impact of regional powers’ interests and geopolitical strategies on Afghanistan’s internal dynamics. Specific transnational challenges will be explored, including water resource management, drug trafficking, refugees, climate change, and overall security dynamics. The audience will be invited to participate in a robust question-and answer session aimed at separating fact from assumptions and long-held beliefs about this dynamic region.

Panel 2: Search for Solutions: Security Cooperation, Economic Cooperation and Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention (4:00-5:50 PM)

Objectives: The objective of this panel is to identify political challenges that hinder regional cooperation. It will discuss existing regional platforms aimed at enhancing security and economic cooperation in the region, along with the associated challenges. The panel aims to explore effective security cooperation measures to address common threats such as terrorism and transnational crime, thereby fostering stability and mutual trust. Discussions will also focus on promoting economic cooperation through trade facilitation, infrastructure development, and investment initiatives to stimulate regional growth and prosperity. Additionally, the panel will examine potential regional mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution, aiming to enhance regional resilience against geopolitical tensions and internal conflicts.

Closing Remarks (5:50-6:00 PM)

Refreshments

Panel One Speakers

A picture of Nader Nadery looking at the camera.

Mr. Nader Nadery is a seasoned leader with 22 years’ experience. His background spans civil society, private sector, institutional building, government and research. He is an internationally known advocate for human rights and justice, and has firsthand experience in peacebuilding, having participated in UN peace talks for Afghanistan in 2001, track 1.5 peace processes for number of years and the 2020/21 peace talks between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Nadery has served as a commissioner of the Independent Human Rights Commission, Chairman of Civil Service Commission, senior advisor to the Afghan president on strategic affairs and human rights. He also served as chief of party to the work of NPWJ in Libya to promote rule of law and justice in 2012. He is an associate fellow with Asser Institute, center for international and European law and fellow with Hoover Institution of Stanford University. Nadery’s views and writings regularly appears in major media outlets including New York Times, WSJ, Washington Post, BBC, CNN and others. He has received numerous accolades, including being named an “Asian Hero” by Time magazine, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and received the Reebok Human Rights Award. Nadery holds a LLB from Kabul University, a MA in international relations from George Washington University and has studied leadership at the Kennedy School of Government. He speaks English, Pashtu, Dari/ Persian, Baluchi, Urdu and basic Dutch.

A picture of Michael Kugelman looking at the camera

Mr. Michael Kugelman, the Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, is a leading specialist on Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan and their relations with the United States. The editor or co-editor of 11 books, he has written for The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and other publications, covering topics ranging from U.S. policy in Afghanistan to terrorism to water, energy, and food security in the region.

Dr. Asfandyar Mir is a Senior Expert in the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace. Previously, Dr. Mir held various fellowships at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His research interests include the international relations of South Asia, U.S. counterterrorism policy and political violence — with a regional focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dr. Mir’s research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, such as International Security, International Studies Quarterly and Security Studies. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago and a master’s and bachelor’s from Stanford University.

Marzia Hussaini is a PhD scholar at Georgetown University, pursuing research in Water Security and Sustainable Development, and a PhD candidate at the National University of Iran (Shahid Beheshti University). She has served as a Water Diplomacy Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and has experience as a university lecturer in Kabul. Her research focuses on water security, hydro-diplomacy, and regional conflicts, particularly in South and Central Asia. Marzia has published several articles on water policy and transboundary water conflicts and actively contributes to discussions on Afghanistan’s regional challenges and sustainable development

Fatemeh Aman is a non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. She has written on Iranian, Afghan, and broader Middle Eastern affairs for over 25 years. She has worked and published as a journalist, analyst, and previously as an Atlantic Council non-resident senior fellow. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications including Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Jane’s Intelligence Review. Fatemeh has advised the US government and non-governmental organizations on Iranian regional policies. Fatemeh was a TV writer, producer, and anchor at Voice of America (VOA), and prior to that a correspondent with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty since 1999.

Ambassador in a suit looking at the camera

Ambassador Mohammed Ashraf Haidari is the Director-General of the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), and concurrently serves as the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Sri Lanka. He was the Director-General of Policy and Strategy of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan from 2015-2018. Prior to this, he served as Afghanistan’s Deputy Chief of Mission (Minister Counselor) to India for three years, before which he was Afghanistan’s Deputy Assistant National Security Advisor for Policy and Oversight. Haidari also served more than two terms at the Embassy of Afghanistan in the United States in various capacities including: Chargé d’Affaires, Deputy Chief of Mission, Political Counselor, and Acting Defense Attaché. Moreover, he formerly worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Program (WFP) in Afghanistan and Switzerland.

Haidari is a writer and TV and radio commentator on Afghanistan, regional, and international affairs. He has held senior research and visiting fellowship-positions at the New America (NA) in Washington-DC; the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) in Kabul; the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Delhi Policy Group (DPG) in New Delhi, as well as the Institute of National Security Studies of Sri Lanka (INSSSL) in Colombo. He is a member of the editorial board of the Diplomatist Magazine in New Delhi and a blog-contributor at the Center for Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California.

Haidari holds a Master of Arts in security studies (international security and development) from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations from Wabash College in Indiana. In both of his degree programs, focusing on international security and development, he extensively studied, researched, and wrote on environmental security and the adverse impact of climate change on sustainable development at the regional and global levels. During 2002-2003, Haidari was a Fellow in Foreign Service at the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Haidari is the recipient of many public and academic awards, including: The Fredrick J. Urbaska Civic Service Award, National Association of Wabash Men (NAWM), Indiana, 2011; The Fellowship in Foreign Service Award; Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2002; and The F. Michael Cassel Award; Wabash College Political Science Department, Indiana, 1999. The life and achievements of Haidari have been publicly recognized and featured in numerous international publications.

Alongside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Haidari serves on the board of the Louis and Nancy Hatch Dupree Foundation. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Biruni Institute, and previously served on the board of the Roots of Peace. In addition, he formerly served as a trustee of the Afghan Education Peace Foundation.

Panel Two Speakers

Ambassador Said T Jawad is a senior diplomat and corporate/nonprofit executive. He has served as Chief of Staff to the President of Afghanistan (2001-2003), Ambassador to the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia & Argentina (2003-2010), Ambassador to the UK & Ireland (2017-2020), Ambassador to Russia (2020-2022), the CEO of Capitalize LLC, a US strategic advisory firm (2010-2017), Chairman of the Foundation for Afghanistan, a non-profit organisation (2004-2014); and Global Political Strategist & Senior Counselor at APCO Worldwide (2010-2017).

He has served as Diplomat-in-Residence at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (2010-2015), & Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy Project at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (2010-2011).

Dr. Sebastien Peyrouse, PhD, is the Director of the Central Asia Program and a Research Professor at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. He is also a Researcher at EUCAM (Europe-Central Asia Monitoring) in Brussels. His expertise spans political systems in Central Asia, economic and social issues, Islam and religious minorities, as well as Central Asia’s geopolitical relations with China, India, and South Asia. He has authored, co-authored, and edited several books on the region, and his work has been published in Europe-Asia Studies, Nationalities Papers, Problems of Post-Communism, Eurasian Geography and Economics, China Perspectives, Religion, State & Society, and the Journal of Church and State.

Naheed Sarabi is a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development, housed within the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution, Washington D.C. She is also a director and co-founder of the Institute for Development and Economic Affairs (IDEA), a U.S.-based think-tank for the Afghan diaspora. Sarabi is a development practitioner with over 15 years of experience in development policy and planning. She served as the deputy minister for policy at the Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan from 2017 to 2020, the highest-ranking professional woman at the Ministry in the pre-Taliban administration. She has also worked as senior coordination and partnership advisor for Afghanistan’s Independent Directorate of Local Governance, the agency responsible for subnational governance, giving her hands-on experience with governance issues at all levels of public administration. Sarabi has a strong background in core issues of development strategy and the challenges of turning conceptual frameworks into operational policy, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected states where core systems are contested or underdeveloped and levels of aid dependency tend to be very high. Her experience is not limited to the government. She is an advisory board member of Rawadari, an Afghan human rights organization. She served as a board member of Open Society Afghanistan before the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. After leaving the government, Sarabi served as assistant resident representative for the United Nations Development Program in Kabul.

Sarabi holds a bachelor’s in political science from the Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi University, India and a master’s degree in development management from Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. Sarabi is a recipient of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship and the Fulbright scholarship. She received her second master’s, in applied economics, from Western Michigan University, U.S.

A picture of Dr Ahmad Farid Tookhy looking at the camera

Dr. Ahmad Farid Tookhy holds a PhD in politics from Georgetown University and has taught at the universities of Georgetown and Ottawa. Dr. Tookhy’s research and intellectual interests include modern political formations, international relations, politics and religion, political sociology, and Middle Eastern history and politics. Previously, he served with the United Nations in Afghanistan, Sudan and South Sudan on electoral and political affairs.

Cecile Fruman in a suit looking to the front

Cecile Fruman is Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region (SAR) at the World Bank Group. She is responsible for fostering collaborative activities amongst SAR countries and managing partnerships and engagements with SAR and global development partners. Previously, Cecile was Senior Manager for Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs) and Partner Relations in the Development Finance Vice-Presidency (DFi) where she oversaw a portfolio of FIFs that disbursed in the order of $6 billion a year in grants for key global development priorities to multiple implementation agencies and coordinated the World Bank’s strategic engagement with development partners.

Cecile has dedicated her career to international development with a focus on private sector solutions. She was a Director in the World Bank Group’s Trade & Competitiveness (T&C) Global Practice, a joint practice of IFC and World Bank, leading a $5 billion lending portfolio and a vibrant portfolio of analytical and advisory work and trust funds. She was also a manager in the World Bank Group Investment Climate Department for several years, leading new business in the areas of climate change, infrastructure, PPPs, health and education, e-Government solutions, and competition. She has deep experience in strategy development, knowledge management, results measurement, portfolio management, partnerships and donor relations. Cecile served as Manager of the World Bank Change Team in 2013.

A French national, Cecile started her career in microfinance and SME development, spending four years in Mali managing a rural microfinance institution and several years working on a World Bank global research program (Sustainable Banking with the Poor). She has also worked on higher education, community driven development, and poverty reduction programs. Cecile holds an MBA from ESCP Europe, one of France’s top business schools, and furthered her studies at the University of Osaka in Japan.

A picture of Hassan Abbas in a suit looking to the side

Dr. Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the National Defense University in Washington DC. He serves as a senior advisor at Harvard University’s Divinity school project on Shiism and global affairs. His current research work focuses on building narratives for countering political and religious extremism & rule of law reforms in developing states.

Earlier he served as the Distinguished Quaid i Azam Professor at Columbia University. He held various fellowships including at Harvard Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies Program & Program on Negotiation; the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; Asia Society in New York as Bernard Schwartz fellow.

He appeared on various television news shows on CNN, Fox News, etc as analyst on security related issues. He has also testified before the Foreign Relations Committee, US House of Representatives on “Women fighting for Peace: Lessons for Today’s Conflicts”, and before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Congress on “Protecting Houses of Worship and Holy Sites”. He delivered many keynote addresses in conferences and seminars including in Australia, China, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Germany, France, Turkey, UAE, Oman, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and United Kingdom.

His publications include The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan – Afghanistan Frontier (Yale University Press, 2015); Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb: A Story of Defiance, Deterrence and Deviance (Oxford University Press, 2018), The Prophet’s Heir: The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib (Yale University Press, 2021) and most recently The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan After the Americans Left (Yale University Press, 2023).