Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Center on Food Security and the Environment
Stanford Health Policy
The Europe Center
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Rural Education Action Program
Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education
Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies
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FacebookFebruary 13th, 2012
Menchik discusses the roots of religious intolerance in Indonesia
SEAF Op-ed: Jakarta Post on February 10, 2012The origins of intolerance toward Indonesia's Muslim-minority sect Ahmadiyah go back to the early twentieth century, says Jeremy Menchik. In a Jakarta Post op-ed, he unearths the connections between the Indonesian government and anti-Ahmadiyah sentiment, and makes suggestions for how the country can prevent future violence.
November 22nd, 2011
America pivots toward ASEAN
SEAF Op-ed: Asia Times Online on November 23, 2011At the conclusion of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, Donald K. Emmerson says that President Barack Obama's participation in the summit and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Myanmar signal a brighter future for U.S.-Southeast Asia relations.
November 21st, 2011
US, China role play for ASEAN
SEAF Op-ed: Asia Times Online on November 19, 2011While attending the 2011 ASEAN Summit in Bali, SEAF director Donald K. Emmerson wrote in the Asia Times about the balance between the respectively economic and security roles that China and the United States play in East Asia.
October 6th, 2011
Japanese policymakers struggle over nuclear power question
Japan Studies Program Op-ed: YaleGlobal Online on October 5, 2011Following March's triple disaster, Japanese policymakers are locked in a debate over nuclear power. Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, discusses the issues creating this political gridlock in the first op-ed of a two-part YaleGlobal series.
July 13th, 2011
Andrew Walder discusses China's political "holding strategy"
Shorenstein APARC, FSI Stanford, SCP Op-ed: Boston Review on July 11, 2011China's Soviet-style political system has not kept pace with the dramatic changes taking place within the country's social and economic systems, suggests Andrew Walder in a recent Boston Review op-ed. Keeping the lessons of the former Soviet Union in mind, he says, China's government has instead utilized a "holding strategy" to maintain its political institutions over the past twenty years.
March 22nd, 2011
Prepare now for possible change in North Korea
KSP Op-ed: Seoul Shinmun on March 21, 2011When major political change in North Korea will occur is difficult to predict, but it is inevitable, suggests David Straub, associate director of the Stanford Korean Studies Program. In a March 21, 2011, Seoul Shinmun op-ed, Straub urges, "Since we cannot predict exactly when or how change will come to North Korea or what its nature will be, South Koreans and their allies and friends abroad need to begin to prepare now for many possibilities." English- and Korean-language versions of the op-ed are both available. Read more »
March 8th, 2011
Peaceful protest as a means for overcoming discrimination
Op-ed: San Francisco Chronicle on March 6, 2011In a recent San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, Rafiq Dossani asks: "Why did many Muslim Indians watch [the January 25] events in Egypt unfold with a personal interest?" He suggests that despite a difference in the governments of Mubarak-era Egypt and democratic India, the peaceful protest carried out in Egypt could serve as a positive model for overcoming discrimination.
February 23rd, 2011
Donald K. Emmerson contemplates recent events in Egypt and Tunisia
SEAF Op-ed: Asia Times on February 22, 2011In light of the recent ousting of the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, Donald Emmerson, director of the Southeast Asia Forum, steps back from the continually evolving regional turbulence to consider what it may say about the future. In a February 22 Asia Times op-ed, while noting that each country's situation is unique, Emmerson argues that social networking as an aspect of globalization could trigger further transnational spread effects in years to come. Nevertheless, he warns, authoritarians will try to adapt the technology to their own purposes. Finally, noting the basically secular character of the demonstrations, he argues that the power and promise of political Islam should not be overdrawn.
January 14th, 2011
Building a more mature and equal U.S.-Japan relationship
Op-ed: Foreign Policy on January 14, 2011As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates winds down his January 2011 tour of Northeast Asia, Shorenstein APARC's Daniel Sneider suggests in Foreign Policy that the Obama administration and the Democratic Party of Japan now demonstrate better understanding of working together on improving regional security and finding a workable solution to the issue of U.S. bases on Okinawa than they did a year ago. Sneider, however, questions whether both sides can take the next step and take what they have learned so far and move forward to a more mature and . . . more equal relationship."
January 5th, 2011
Inter-Korean relations
KSP Op-ed: The Korea Times on January 4, 2011Gi-Wook Shin, director of Shorenstein APARC and Stanford KSP, speculates on what inter-Korean relations will be like after the sinking of the Cheonan and the artillery firing at Yeonpyeong island, in a column in the The Korea Times. While predicting that tension and reconciliation efforts will go side-by-side with one another in the inter-Korean relations in the next few months, Shin further contends that the Lee Myung-bak administration should take on the task of improving inter-Korean relations by diplomatic solutions, not by military means, and that this strategy should be approached in a broader context which takes into account U.S.-Korea relations and the relations among Northeast Asian countries.
January 3rd, 2011
Thomas Fingar: The view from Beijing
CISAC, FSI Stanford, Shorenstein APARC Op-ed: Foreign PolicyIn the January/February issue of Foreign Policy magazine, Thomas Fingar, the former deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, examines Chinese President Hu Jintao's assessment of the economic and political challenges his nation faces. China's "growth has bolstered national pride and earned the respect of people around the world," Fingar writes in an imagined memo from Hu. "But it has also raised expectations at home and reinforced foreign concerns about China's rise. Our successes have made it even more important to make progress on corruption, perceived injustice, and other long-standing problems." 
Read more »
November 2nd, 2010
Relations with China
Op-ed: New York Times on October 31, 2010Leif-Eric Easley, 2010-2011 Northeast Asian History Fellow at Shorenstein APARC, provided a balanced perspective on U.S.-China strategic relations in response to an October 26, 2010 New York Times article.
October 5th, 2010
U.S. role crucial in Northeast Asian reconciliation
KSP Op-ed: Korea Times on September 14, 2010John Roos, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, conducted a historic visit in August 2010 to Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. What is the possibility of and the implications for a similar U.S. Presidential visit? Gi-Wook Shin, director of Shorenstein APARC and the Korean Studies Program, explores this question and suggests that the U.S. must play a role in the reconciliation of World War II memories in Northeast Asia.
North Korea under Kim Jong-un: time for a paradigm shift
KSP Op-ed: Korea Times on October 5, 2010In an op-ed in The Korea Times, Gi-Wook Shin discusses North Korea’s new leadership under Kim Jong-un. He suggests that this period of transition in North Korea might offer an opportunity for the U.S. and South Korea to attempt to stabilize their relationships with North Korea and make significant headway in the North Korean denuclearization process. He contends, also, that the stability of the new North Korean regime may act as a positive element in the promotion of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole.
October 4th, 2010
Considering China's policy towards Southeast Asia
SEAF Op-ed: Asia Times on October 5, 2010For some time now, U.S. policymakers have said they hoped that China would become a "responsible stakeholder" in regional and global peace and prosperity. In an Asia Times op-ed, Donald Emmerson discusses China's claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea in the light of two recent meetings: a gathering of foreign ministers in the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi in July 2010 and a U.S.-ASEAN Summit in New York in September 2010.
June 3rd, 2010
Did Washington bring down the Japanese prime minister?
Op-ed: Slate.com on June 3, 2010On June 2, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, along with Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa, resigned due to a dispute over plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Air Station at Futenma, in the southern part of Okinawa, to Camp Schwab, in the northern part of the island. Writing in Slate.com, Daniel Sneider considers the Obama administration's role in the debacle and asks: Is this how allies should treat each other?
May 27th, 2010
Responding to North Korea, Gi-Wook Shin comments in Korean media
KSP Op-ed: Chosun Ilbo and Hangkook Ilbo (in Korean) on May 25, 2010Shorenstein APARC Director Gi-Wook Shin analyzes the shortcomings in South Korea's response to North Korea's sinking South Korean naval vessel Cheonan. In an op-ed column in the major Korean daily newspaper Hankook Ilbo, he notes that further sanctions on already heavily sanctioned North Korea are unlikely to do much more than result in further actions by Pyongyang. While war is not in prospect, he writes, the possibility of military clashes cannot be excluded and the rising tensions are causing anxiety in the international community. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, published in Chosun Ilbo, Shin forecasts a prolonged stalemate on the Korean Peninsula and the suspension of Six Party Talks and other talks with the North.
May 17th, 2010
Xueguang Zhou discusses the political consequences of recent school killings in China
SCP Op-ed: New York TimesXueguang Zhou: Details about the school attacks remain to be sorted out — whether they are isolated or copycat acts; whether they are triggered by mental illness or based on some malicious motives. But one thing is clear: these incidents reflect widespread and rapidly rising social anxieties, frustrations and tensions in the Chinese society today.
May 10th, 2010
Exit Sri Mulyani: Corruption and reform in Indonesia
SEAF Op-ed: East Asia Forum on May 9, 2010Don Emmerson: How does a corrupt government stop corruption? What if that government is democratic, and must cultivate the support of political parties that are themselves corrupt? Is fostering reform in such a political economy the equivalent of trying to make snow in hell? Read more »
May 6th, 2010
Kim Jong Il Visit to China Tests South Korean Leadership
KSP Op-ed: Korea Times on May 6, 2010Gi-Wook Shin, director of Shorenstein APARC, analyzes the diplomatic and political challenges to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak stemming from North Korea's possible responsibility for the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's just-completed visit to China.
April 21st, 2010
North Korea's radio waves of resistance
KSP Op-ed: Wall Street Journal Online (subscription required) on April 16, 2010Pantech Fellow Peter M. Beck explains that North Korea is not as isolated as many observers believe, as millions of North Koreans regularly tune in to foreign radio broadcasts. This article originally appeared as "Breaking the News to North Koreans" as part of the Shorenstein APARC Dispatch series, original articles distributed monthly to the center's friends and supporters. Read more »
February 8th, 2010
Will Japan emerge from its shell? The new government finds charting a new course not so easy
Op-ed: Yale Global Online on February 5, 2010Since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in August 2009, upsetting fifty years of conservative rule, U.S.-Japan relations have been on rocky ground. It would seem that the DPJ is upending decades old policies, hewing its own path with the United States, China, and the Asia-Pacific region. As Shorenstein APARC Associate Director for Research Daniel Sneider notes, Japan's new tack not only has caught the United States flat-footed, but also has other countries in the Asia-Pacific worried. Read more »
January 5th, 2010
Cost of Korean unification
KSP Op-ed: Wall Street Journal on January 4, 2010Peter Beck, Pantech Fellow of Korean Studies Program, estimates that Korean unification would cost at least $2 trillion over 30 years.
November 20th, 2009
Is Japan's newly elected DPJ government anti-American or simply pro-Asian? Daniel Sneider comments in Foreign Policy
Op-ed: Foreign Policy on October 13, 2009Daniel Sneider: Since the Democratic Party of Japan won in the country's August national election, Japan watchers have worried that the new government might try to upset the status quo and ease away from the United States. The DPJ is implementing a new paradigm -- but not the one people think. Read more »
August 31st, 2009
An insider's revolution
Op-ed: Washingtonpost.com on August 31, 2009Daniel Sneider: Japanese voters went to the polls on Sunday with one overriding aim -- to bring an end to more than a half-century of nearly uninterrupted one-party conservative rule. The monumental victory handed to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) marks a quiet revolution in the politics of America's most important Asian ally. Read more »
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