On November 19th, Professor @jeffreyding.bsky.social from The George Washington University received the prestigious Lepgold Book Prize at the Mortara Center. This award recognizes the best book in international relations published in 2024. Photo credit: @georgetown-sfs.bsky.social

Japan’s new prime minister faces big foreign policy challenges. Can Sanae Takaichi keep Washington close – and navigate regional threats? William & Mary's @eunajo.bsky.social discusses here: goodauthority.org/news/sanae-t...

What a delight to attend @kbclarke.bsky.social’s book launch at the fully packed @mortaracenter.bsky.social tonight! Such thought-provoking and insightful scholarship and engaging discussion @laiabalcells.bsky.social

We have a new article in @cpsjournal.bsky.social theorizing founding leader personality cult emergence in Vietnam, China and Indonesia. It'll be part of a special issue "Imagining Nations" w/ @eunajo.bsky.social, @deandulay.bsky.social, @jiyoungko.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

U.S. political scientists, are any of your depts *not* admitting new PhD students this year (esp. for international applicants)? I'm gathering info to help students know where to reconsider applying. Applications are not cheap and they're despairing. Appreciate any details.

So happy to see this out! We caution against excessive optimism that the opposition will restore countries back to their democratic trajectories after electoral victory. Weakened institutions and the memory of repression makes it tempting to continue rather than buck the trend of autocratization.

In my latest for @goodauth.bsky.social, I write about why boundary-keeping is just as important as developing inclusive narratives for democracy

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More information about my new book which will be published by the Cambridge University Press on 11 December: www.cambridge.org/ie/universit...

I’m happy to share this paper in @cpsjournal.bsky.social on democracy and national narratives, with insights from South Korea and Taiwan. It is part of a special issue on postcolonial narratives with @paulschuler.bsky.social, @deandulay.bsky.social, + others. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

So over the next few days I want to tell you a little bit about my new @oxfordacademic.bsky.social book about looted art. The book is about art so there are many great pictures! A very short, mini-thread 👇

Deadline (7/25) is approaching. If you're interested in a year-long (but w/ light commitment) experience of talking about politics of Korea in a safe online community, this is a great opportunity. While priority is given to junior scholars, ANYONE is encouraged to apply.

We live in an era of democratic backsliding. But the terminology of "backsliding" isn't up to the task of making sense of the deep crisis of liberal democracy around the world. I've just finished a working paper that lays out what I think is going on. tl;dr it's about the state and society 🧵

With LDP's defeat today (and a sharper turn to the right in Japan's domestic politics), trade negotiations are about to get even more complicated. Some thoughts on @goodauth.bsky.social about what Trump's tariffs might mean for Japan and South Korea: goodauthority.org/news/trumps-...

Please share widely! IR Theory Colloquium (IRTC) 2025-2026 Call for applications / Due July 31 IRTC is a monthly, 90-minute Zoom workshop for early career researchers, aimed at improving theoretical arguments and expanding the IR Theory community. More info below:

Deadline is now July 25th! @textvulture.bsky.social @jennargibson.bsky.social @edwardgoldring.bsky.social

Deadline is today! If you’ve got a paper on Korea, consider applying to the fourth cohort of the Korean Political Studies Colloquium (KPSC): textvulture.github.io/presentation...

The @duckofminerva.bsky.social is a International Relations blog with a focus on theory, teaching, and research. I founded it in 2005. It quickly grew to become a cooperative endeavor. It's gone from multiple pieces a day to maybe an article every 2 weeks. But it's still alive and publishing.

In South Korea, protest is a ubiquitous and essential form of political expression. Against Abandonment is at once a chronicle of the life-and-death character of protesting precarity in South Korea and a searing examination of repertoires of solidarity for upending injustice www.sup.org/books/as...

I made an explorer for some data I OCRd on Chinese organization work and management to '97, largely drawn from《党的组织工作大事记》(1990,1993,1999). mthompsonbrusstar.shinyapps.io/zuzhirenshi/ Might be of interest to the Chinese political science crowd, sinologists interested in the state / party, etc.

LIVE NOW | 1:10–2:20 PM ET Panel 2: The Next Generation: The Future of Trilateral Cooperation 🔹 Derek Mitchell 🔹 Adam Farrar 🔹 @eunajo.bsky.social 🔹 @rosenbergerlm.bsky.social 🔹 Ayumi Teraoka 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVnb...

Gender polarization in SK in one pic. Blue is progressive. Red is conservative. Orange is splinter-conservative.

South Korea's snap election is tomorrow. It's been an intense 2 months since Yoon's impeachment was finalized. I share some thoughts on what to expect + hope for.

I can't stop thinking about this figure.

Lee Ok-sun, a survivor of the Japanese military‘s wartime sexual slavery system known as “comfort women,” has died at the age of 97. Her death leaves only six registered survivors of the officially recognized victims.

It's publication day! Take a look if you are curious about the narrative modes through which states pursue world heritage recognition

APSA's travel grants are open NOW and close May 1st! If you are planning to go to APSA, I *highly* encourage you to apply so that you can hopefully offset some costs of attending for yourself. apsa.secure-platform.com/a/solicitati...

South Korea survived this democratic challenge. What’s next? The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol is a critical first step in reversing the country’s authoritarian slide. goodauthority.org/news/south-k...

What a relief it was to hear such clear common sense, rather than some twisted legal logic. "As the president, he violated his duty to unite the society beyond those who support him."

이런 선한 마음이 모여 지금까지 이 나라를 올바르게 지탱해 왔다고 생각한다

U.S. academia is all about pedigree. Where you get your PhD determines largely where you can get a job - even at senior level. Many places will hire an Ivy PhD without publications over a non-Ivy with several publications, even though the latter had much fewer resources during PhD period.

New voices join Good Authority! We welcome nine political scientists to our team of experts in our latest cohort of Good Authority fellows. Learn more here: goodauthority.org/news/new-voi...

Please spread the word: Reminder that, together with @emmylindstam.bsky.social and Joan Ricart-Huguet, we are organising a pre-EPSA workshop on Culture on June 25th at IE University. The deadline to submit papers is next week (Feb 15th). More details here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Our inaugural report is live! acf.sais.jhu.edu/getting-chin... @jonasnahm.com @gwbstr.com @pstasiatech.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social @marygao1969.bsky.social @saranewland.bsky.social @apiavote.bsky.social Tune in today: video.ibm.com/channel/BvDQ... Full agenda: acf.sais.jhu.edu/getting-chin...

Delighted that my first book was awarded the 2025 Francesco Guicciardini Prize for Best Book in Historical International Relations! Many thanks to the prize committee and to my friends and colleagues in the Historical IR section at ISA!

I wrote about what are & are not climate emergencies today, connecting to @jodemocracy.bsky.social piece with @nomiclairelazar.bsky.social. Also began discussing some of the challenges that @triofrancos.bsky.social posed in her comment about China's planning and the energy transition. Lot's here!

cannot overstate the degree to which i am negatively polarized against nimbys. like, if you go to a public meeting to speak against lower cost housing i think the city should eminent domain your house and your house specifically

We found it surprising at how little was written on Emotions and Global Governance, so @jittipm.bsky.social and I wrote this essay for the Oxford Handbook on Emotions and IR (edited by @simonkoschut.bsky.social & @andrewagross.bsky.social) :)

Here it is: a tribute to Emma Hutchison, my amazing wife and research collaborator. I hope it does justice to the brilliant scholar and the remarkable person she was. Sorry it took me a while after Emma’s passing to gather enough strength to honour her. www.rolandbleiker.com/tribute-to-e...

In this short reflection article for the Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, I focus on the impact of the New Right and election conspiracies among the Korean far right on Yoon's decision to declare martial law. 1/ apjjf.org/2024/12/engel

For @newyorker.com, I wrote about Xiao Gongqin, the architect of Chinese “neo-authoritarianism." I discuss its origins, Xiao's views of American politics, and what lessons his theory holds for America's current predicament. www.newyorker.com/news/the-wee...

@pkrugman.bsky.social taking zero prisoners. You love to see it. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/america-th...

The 2010s were and outstanding time for public facing scholarship. But that probably depended on legacy social media platforms that, by default, served the public function of amplifying scholarship. What is the future for public-facing scholarship when those platforms don't do that? 1/

Please join us in congratulating @thaliagerzso.bsky.social. Thalia's article "Judicial resistance during electoral disputes: Evidence from Kenya" has won the Alexander L. George Award and received an Honourable Mention for the Best Article in African Politics. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I would even Q the premise of this article: did the US-KOR grow 'closer' with Yoon as prez? When a partner says yes (& beyond) to all everything, we have to ask if those deals are ever tenable. That's *not* getting close. What happens from now will be a recovery from unsustainable abnormality.

So, I've just published a book, if I haven't told you already. And I am promoting it so that I could donate more, because that's where everything I make from sales goes. Also, be kind to me, please, if you can. Thank you.

Stunning stats. Of course no one should expect free credit. But it’s also true that the current system creates loads of moral hazard among creditors and LMIC borrowers alike, and should be dismantled.

Aerial view of the protests in South Korea

Seeing some takes that South Korea’s victory today is thanks to defections within the ruling party. Of course there is some truth to this—but it should not be the main lesson. Without the public pressure for accountability, would they have showed up + voted their conscience?