February 10th, 2012

Shin suggests balance, few changes as Lee's term ends

With less than a year before South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's term ends, Gi-Wook Shin says that Lee should maintain his current North Korea policy, and keep balanced relations with growing trade partner China and long-time ally the United States. Shin spoke recently with the Korea Times about Lee's final months in office.

• » Korea Times: What President Lee shouldn't do

February 2nd, 2012

Indonesian campaign poster symbolism and political identity

Riding around on the back of a motorcycle in 2009, Jeremy Menchik snapped photos of hundreds of Indonesian campaign posters. That number has now grown to over 5000 images, which Menchik and Colm Fox have painstakingly coded and analyzed. The initial results of their research reveal similarities between the United States and Indonesia, and shed light on the transitional democracies of the Arab Spring. Read more »

February 1st, 2012

New Asia Pacific Observatory represents unique regional partnership

The Asia Pacific Observatory of Health Systems and Policies is a new regional initiative to promote evidence-based health policymaking in the Asia-Pacific region. The Observatory represents a unique partnership of governments, development agencies, and the research community working together. Read more »

January 31st, 2012

Shin and Stanford's Korean Studies Program

Gi-Wook Shin, founding director of Stanford's Korean Studies Program (KSP), spoke with the Stanford Daily about creating a unique niche for KSP over the past 11 years, and about being a student during an era of change in Korea.

• » Stanford Daily: Gi-Wook Shin: Focusing on the future of Korea

January 30th, 2012

Signs of growth in post-Fukushima Japan, say Stanford experts

Nearly a year has passed since an earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept away entire communities on Japan's northeastern coast, leading to a series of accidents at the Fukushima nuclear complex. Masahiko Aoki and Kenji Kushida discuss post-March 11 developments, and a related conference at Stanford scheduled for February 27. Read more »

Katsunori Hirano envisions a sustainable future

South of Mount Fuji, along Japan’s central eastern coast, sits Shizuoka Prefecture. Home to green tea plantations, hot springs resorts, and Yamaha pianos and motorcycles, Shizuoka Prefecture is a vibrant agricultural, tourist, and manufacturing region. It is also home to Katsunori Hirano, a current Corporate Affiliates Visiting Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Read more »

January 25th, 2012

Now accepting Developing Asia Health Policy Fellowship applications

The Asia Health Policy Program offers the opportunity for leading health policy experts from low-income Asian countries to come to Stanford as visiting fellows for three to nine months between Sept. 1, 2012 and Aug. 31, 2013. Applications accepted until Mar. 5, 2012.

• » Developing Asia Health Policy Fellowship

January 24th, 2012

Aoki suggests a new approach to Japan's power industry

As the one-year anniversary of Japan's Great Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster approaches, Stanford economist Masahiko Aoki says now is an opportune time to restructure the country's electric power industry.

• » Asia Pathways: Urgent need to restructure Japan's electric power industry after Fukushima

January 19th, 2012

Center offers Stanford students Asia-related learning

What does China's growth mean for the international system? How does Korea interact with its key neighbors? What do healthcare systems look like in East Asia? During the winter quarter, Stanford students have the opportunity to explore such timely and globally relevant Asia-focused questions through Shorenstein APARC expert-taught courses.

• » Shorenstein APARC Winter Quarter Courses

January 18th, 2012

Kohrman to speak about cigarette factory mapping and policy

At present, the tobacco industry annually produces some six trillion cigarettes worldwide. A third of all these sticks were produced in China last year. During a Jan. 30 seminar, Matthew Kohrman will introduce the Cigarette Citadels project, an innovative application of participatory GIS, and discuss its implications for public health policy and social theory about the state and the politics of life.

• » Cigarette Citadels, Remapping Theory and Policy, Cigarette Factories in and Outside of China
  
• » Cigarette Citadels Project

Stanford's Fingar examines China's development issues

For the past two decades China has been a poster child of successful globalization. But its integration into the world economy and global trends drive and constrain Beijing's ability to manage growing social, economic and political challenges. In a YaleGlobal Online series article, Thomas Fingar looks at the global implications of China’s development challenges.

• » YaleGlobal Online: Global implications of China's challenges

Corporate Affiliates alumnus' research in China's energy sector

China possesses vast coal reserves, and coal accounts for 70 percent of the country's total energy consumption -- 3 billion tons per year. But China also consumes oil, natural gas, and an increasing amount of renewable energy. Xuteng Hu, a Corporate Affiliates Visiting Fellow Program alumnus (2007-08), discusses the energy and materials development projects he manages at PetroChina’s Petrochemical Research Institute in Beijing. Read more »

January 13th, 2012

James Ockey in residence as 2012 Lee Kong Chian Fellow

What can the strong tradition of political families in Thailand's parliament tell us about the country's contemporary political system? James Ockey, the 2012 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Distinguished Fellow, will continue his research and writing on this timely topic during his winter quarter residence at Stanford. Ockey, who specializes in the politics of Thailand, is a political science professor at Canterbury University in New Zealand.

Shin and Izatt article explores Korean views of America

U.S.-Korea relations are stronger than ever, but there has not always been support in Korea for Americans or for the alliance. As Korea has both general and presidential elections this year whose outcome might affect U.S.-Korea relations, it is important for U.S. policymakers to appreciate the complexity of Korean sentiments. A recent article by Gi-Wook Shin and Hilary Izatt in Asian Survey sheds new light on anti-American and anti-alliance sentiments of the 1990s and early 2000s.

• » Anti-American and Anti-Alliance Sentiments in South Korea

January 11th, 2012

Stanford publications contextualize China's development

After 10 years of rapid growth, China will undergo a major leadership transition later this year. Two recent Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center edited volumes -- Going Private in China and Growing Pains -- put China’s development into context as the country prepares for the next decade of its future.

• » Going Private in China: The Politics of Corporate Restructuring and System Reform
• » Growing Pains: Tensions and Opportunity in China's Transformation

January 10th, 2012

Documentary looks at media coverage of Nixon's visit to China

Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China reshaped the global balance of power and opened the door to U.S.-China relations. The media coverage of this event is as important as the details of the diplomacy, and is brought to life through the new documentary: Assignment: China. Shorenstein APARC will screen the film on Feb. 7, followed by commentary from the film's reporter and narrator Mike Chinoy. Read more »

Predoctoral fellowship and undergraduate/graduate internship opportunities

Are you a Stanford student studying Asia? Shorenstein APARC offers fellowship opportunities for predoctoral students studying contemporary East Asia, and internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students interested in gaining firsthand work experience in East Asia this summer. Now accepting applications.

• » Shorenstein APARC/Takahashi Predoctoral Fellowship
• » East Asia Internship Program

January 9th, 2012

Straub discusses North Korean leadership succession

Since Kim Jong Il's death, North Korea has a young new leader: Kim's 28-year-old son Kim Jong Un. David Straub, who attended the seventh U.S.-Korea West Coast Strategic Forum in Seoul just days before Kim’s death, shares highlights from the Forum and offers insight into the current North Korea situation. Read more »

January 6th, 2012

Rowen discusses the next decade of China's politics and economy

China's economy has averaged an impressive 9 percent annual growth over the past 30 years. In a recent Policy Review article, Henry S. Rowen says that as a result of this growth major political and economic changes are possible in China before 2020.

• » Policy Review: China: Big changes coming soon

December 20th, 2011

After Kim Jong Il's death, Stanford experts consider North Korea's future

Since news broke of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's death, the world is waiting to see what will happen next with the country's leadership, policy toward the United States and South Korea, and nuclear program. Shorenstein APARC Korea experts Gi-Wook Shin, Daniel Sneider, and David Straub weigh in. Read more »

December 19th, 2011

Stanford's Shin on Kim Jong Il's death and what's next for North Korea

As the world reacts to the death of Kim Jong Il, Stanford’s Gi-Wook Shin talks about the transition of power in North Korea. He discusses what’s in store for relations between Pyongyang and Washington, and what to expect of what is perhaps Kim’s most troubling legacy: his nuclear weapons program. Read more »

December 15th, 2011

Stanford expert: Asia's year in review

The past year unfolded with Japan’s unprecedented triple disaster and closed with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s historic trip to Myanmar. Political scientist Phillip Lipscy discusses the events in Asia that defined the year and looks ahead to 2012. Read more »

Getting to the roots of the tobacco industry

Tobacco now kills 90 times more people each year than HIV/AIDS in China. China's tobacco industry is closely tied to the global industry, and the Asia Health Policy Program is working to establish a new field of research on its history, beginning with a Mar. 2012 conference at the new Stanford Center at Peking University. Robert Proctor, a Stanford historian and author of a groundbreaking new book on the global tobacco industry, will take part.

• » Stanford Report: Tobacco industry dying? Not so fast, says Stanford expert

December 11th, 2011

Engineering education, finance, and policy in BRIC countries

Between 2008 and 2009, approximately 25 new private engineering colleges opened in India every week -- adding 2500 schools in only two years. Engineering education is also on the rise in the other so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, and China). But does quantity guarantee quality? And what should government policymakers keep in mind to ensure that their higher education investments pay off? Senior research scholar Rafiq Dossani speaks about a leading-edge research project that addresses these and other questions. Read more »

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan discusses the Okinawa base issue

The presence of U.S. Marines in Okinawa is a longstanding friction point between allies the United States and Japan. Michael H. Armacost, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 1989 to 1993, spoke with the Asahi Shimbun about this issue, and about the alliance in recent years.

• » Asahi Shimbun: Ex-U.S. ambassador questions having Marines in Okinawa