The limitations of what military power can achieve seem even clearer in relation to the Vatican.

**Postdoc positions** Kyoto University has opened up applications for the Hakubi Project, due May 17, 2026. This is a cream of the crop postdoc ("all fields, from basic to applied"), 5 (FIVE!) years, great research budget. Please apply or let others know! www.hakubi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/recruitme...

Professor @tongfi-kim.bsky.social moderated a panel of young professionals on 11 March. Speakers from the @ec.europa.eu, the EEAS, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the European Parliament traineeship programme shared insights into career opportunities within European institutions. #BSoG

I don't think the president started a war just to distract the public away from Epstein. If that is the motivation, why would they name it Operation Ep******? On a more serious note, the war is a good demonstration that you don't need a formal alliance to entrap another state.

Indonesia-Australia Consultation pact signed on 6 February 2026. www.dfat.gov.au/countries/in...

"This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy" I wonder how neoroyalism works with things like democracy and constitutions. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

Not sure if 85B USD can be spent in a year, but the 5th largest military spending in the world in 2024 or 2025 would be around that amount. www.npr.org/2026/01/21/n...

Today’s newsletter is about a natural experiment that happened on Bluesky yesterday. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/on-trump-a...

In our first CSDS Policy Brief of 2026, Carolin Liss and Tongfi Kim look at the consequences of the US' operation in Venezuela for American alliances and China's own strategic calculations in the Indo-Pacific. A must-read! Read csds.vub.be/publication/... @tongfi-kim.bsky.social

From 2016. "You Can't Always Get What You Want: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Seldom Improves Interstate Relations "https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/you-cant-always-get-what-you-want-why-foreign-imposed-regime-change-seldom-improves

This CSDS In-Depth Paper presents findings from a CSDS tabletop exercise conducted in November 2025, examining European decision-making during a simulated Taiwan Strait crisis compounded by Russian coercion in Europe. Give it a read! Read csds.vub.be/publication/...

A senior official in the Japanese government commented that Japan should possess nuclear weapons. It seems like a good time to post again my co-authored open access article with @doyoung-lee.bsky.social . www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... Curious about the domestic and international reactions.

❗Last Call❗ Join us on Monday, 8 December, for our event "The New Global (Dis)order: Europe, Japan and the Future of Alliances" (14:30-16:30 at the VUB): Speakers: ➡️ Masafumi Ishii ➡️ I-Chung Lai ➡️ Eva Pejsova ➡️ Niklas Swanström Register now! csds.vub.be/event/the-ne...

A recent op-ed I coauthored. www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article...

Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki, whose real name is Danylo Yavhusishyn, on Sunday became the first from his nation to win a tournament of the traditional Japanese sport.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u... "The number of international college students enrolling in their American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent this fall"

I didn't know the existence of Faroe Islands until this afternoon, but it was leading against Croatia until a few minutes ago, to qualify for men's football world cup. Where can I watch the game? The island has like 55000 people, and many of the team members are not professional football players.

On situations where Japan can militarily intervene in a Taiwan contingency, Japanese PM Takaichi on November 7 stated that "I believe it could be a case where a crisis situation threatening the nation's existence arises if it involves the use... www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

The path to the Nobel Peace prize is through Darfur, not Nigeria.

New publication! In this article, Kristin Grostad examines recent changes in Japan’s security policy, visible in its 2022 Japan National Security Strategy. “All Politics is local”: the U.S.–China balance in the First Island Chain and Japan’s defense transformation doi.org/10.1080/1479...

I just had an email exchange with a high school student headed to @bsog.be next year about my recent article with @luissimonn.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... She may have been being nice to her future academic advisor, but I'm still glad to see that open-access publications are

With Trump approving nuclear-powered (albeit not nuclear-armed) submarines for South Korea, this piece by @doyoung-lee.bsky.social seems even more relevant to policymakers. muse.jhu.edu/article/973856. Great that @tnsr.org is an open-access journal! I'm not sure if the path for ROK nuclear sub is

This CSDS In-Depth Paper by Daniel Fiott analyses the prospects and limits of Europe–South Korea defence industrial cooperation through the frameworks of the EU and NATO, and offers ten targeted policy recommendations to advance it. Read csds.vub.be/publication/...

Who in North Korea are in their epistemic community on nuclear strategy? How did they learn nuclear strategy, and how do they update their thinking on the subject? Could they have academic/scientific exchange with American counterparts?

❗New Event❗ "Responses to a Triple Korean Peninsula-Taiwan-Europe Contingency" 🗓️ 21 October 2025 ❗International Conference Hall, Seoul, ROK ⏰ 15:00-17:00 Register csds.vub.be/event/respon... #SNU #KF

I read President Trump's executive order to guarantee security for Qatar: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential.... It looks significant, but is this an alliance? @bashleyleeds.bsky.social? Maybe I just haven't seen, but it seems to be a unilateral declaration and not signed by Qatar. Alliance agreements

"Asked whether Pakistan would be obliged to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear umbrella under the pact, the official said: "This is a comprehensive defensive agreement that encompasses all military means."" www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

It looks like Australia and Papua New Guinea will sign a mutual defense treaty. I'm not familiar with the context, but I want to look at the treaty text at some point. www.pm.gov.au/media/press-...

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u... "Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead...the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead"

Happy to have met a couple of alumni today. They seem to be doing very well. Their family must be proud, and I'm also proud to have played a small role in their education.

I came across this article about Rwanda and DRC www.wsj.com/world/africa..., and it reminded me of my article with @luissimonn.bsky.social on wedge strategies. doi.org/10.1080/1352.... I have no expertise on the region, but it seems to make sense for Rwanda to engage in internal wedging against DRC.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the state of Japan-South Korea relations lately. Of course, there are many landmines that someone can step on any time, but that is always the case. President Lee's shift in his stance toward Japan is important, but public opinion in both countries are also very

"Voices unmuted: Youth shaping the future of internet governance" Register for this BIG IDEAS dialogue, where @ntjahj.bsky.social will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Prof. Sawako Shirahase to discuss the dynamic role of youth in Internet governance. 💻 Online ⏰ 11:00 CEST | 18:00 JST 🗓️ 21 August

I enjoyed reading this thoughtfully-designed survey experiment paper (OPEN ACESS) by @yasukikudo.bsky.social and @ncviethung.bsky.social : "Does the US Really Embolden its Allies? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Japan." doi.org/10.1177/0022.... The paper shows that US signals of security

This is an interesting article. But I would like to add a few important details from the US-ROK mutual defense treaty. www.chosun.com/english/nati.... The treaty doesn't cover just anywhere in the Pacific (unlike a broader interpretation of the US-PH MDT...

Here is my brief take on the new president of South Korea. ➡️ What factors determined Lee Jae-myung's election? ➡️Who is the new president? ➡️What can the election results mean for South Korea’s domestic politics and its foreign policy? 👉 pism.pl/publications...

❗New Korea Chair Explains❗ "President Lee Jae-myung: the United States’ Perspective", by Henry Haggard for CSDS. Read🔸 csds.vub.be/publication/...

❗New Korea Chair Explains❗ "The Election of President Lee Jae-myung and China", by Maximilian Ernst for CSDS. Read🔸 csds.vub.be/publication/... @maximilianernst.bsky.social

❗New Korea Chair Explains❗ "New South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Japan", by Tongfi Kim for CSDS. Read🔸 csds.vub.be/publication/... @tongfi-kim.bsky.social

I enjoyed and learned much from Dr. Gideon Rose's talk at CSDS today. On the question of pushback from other actors, I wondered about the differences from the so-called soft-balancing during the George W. Bush administration. Different US policies, and different responses. Curious about both what is

In this thread @tongfi-kim.bsky.social summarises superbly our latest article for @cspjournal.bsky.social

🚨New article online How do states seek to weaken a competitor externally or internally for negative balancing purposes? @tongfi-kim.bsky.social & @luissimonn.bsky.social provide a novel framework for analysing wedge strategies. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @csds.bsky.social

Open Access Article in @cspjournal.bsky.social by @luissimonn.bsky.social and me. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... THREAD. Many people who see this post (well, not so many) are probably familiar with wedge strategies, “a state’s attempt to prevent, break up, or weaken a threatening or blocking

Many thanks to @cspjournal.bsky.social for a smooth process. Happy to have written this with my @unileiden.bsky.social teammate William Lippert. It was a new substantive and methodological journey for me!

Long in the making, I am delighted to share my latest peer-reviewed publication -- in @internatltheory.bsky.social -- on non-aggression pacts. A short thread.

Here's how it works: 1. DOGE fires everybody at USIP. 2. A DOGE guy from GSA gets installed USIP's acting president. 3. That guy agrees to transfer USIP's $500 million headquarters back to GSA—for free. www.wired.com/story/doge-t...

❗Last Call for Scholarships❗ Are you a Japanese student with a passion for deepening Europe-Japan ties? Then we are offering scholarships for you to study in Brussels! You have until 15 April 2025 to apply! Apply now🔸 csds.vub.be/scholarships... #日本人学生のための奨学金

2025年秋入学向けの奨学金申請の締め切り後になりますが、6月15日の欧州留学フェアに 関西会場で参加予定なので、対面でもご相談ください。　 studyinbelgium.be/en/agenda/eh...

My latest article, on trilateral space cooperation between the US, Japan, and South Korea (special thanks to @kazutosuzuki.bsky.social for sharing his insights with me when I interviewed him). Below is the link for the first 50 free online copies. Much has changed www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NVVGI...

One acceptance and one conditional acceptance in several days, and the weather has been very good. The spring has come!