E-International Relations
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Dec 3 2025
Image by Jaehan Park
Jaehan Park is an Assistant Professor on the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and a Non-Resident Fellow with the Asia Program on the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His analysis pursuits embody worldwide relations idea, East Asian safety, and U.S. international coverage. Previously, Park held fellowships on the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M University, the Clements Center for National Security on the University of Texas at Austin, and the Notre Dame International Security Center, amongst others. He was additionally a David Rockefeller Fellow with the Trilateral Commission from 2020 to 2023 and consulted with numerous organizations in each the U.S. and South Korea, together with the Office of Net Assessment.
What (or who) prompted probably the most vital shifts in your considering or inspired you to pursue your space of analysis?
The before everything was my navy service. I all the time thought I’d change into a businessman. During my time within the military, nevertheless, I had the chance to journey to totally different locations aiding senior navy leaders. The world I noticed in that capability was very totally different from the world I had recognized. In specific, I used to be shocked by the truth that the idea of market which I had thought common was in actual fact an establishment standing on a really fragile premise of exterior and inner safety. In many locations around the globe, this was and nonetheless is just not a given.
So, I made a decision to vary my profession. I had the great fortune of being admitted to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) the place I spent the following decade first as a graduate scholar and later as a lecturer. Being on the coronary heart of Washington D.C., SAIS presents an distinctive academic expertise on worldwide affairs. I immersed myself in numerous theoretical and historic writings. I additionally realized easy methods to suppose and write about coverage points. Most importantly, I met great lecturers and colleagues who profoundly formed my considering on worldwide affairs. To them, I owe the whole lot.
As for the mental affect, I’d say two authors actually stand out: Thucydides and Nicholas Spykman. At the chance of sounding clich, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War is without doubt one of the deepest and richest books on worldwide affairs coping with among the most vital questions in politics maybe on account of his personal private expertise as an unsuccessful common of Athens corresponding to human nature, good governance, and conflict and peace. It can also be a profoundly misunderstood textual content. Many solely quote sure components, however omit the masters narration of the complicated interaction between human passions and broader structural forces or what adopted the notorious Melian Dialogue. Some would possibly suppose a 2,000-year outdated ebook won’t have a lot to supply for time. If you suppose so, suppose once more: Thucydides wrote concerning the affect of what we now consider was bubonic plague particularly the way it was psychological results, extra so than the mortality of the illness itself, that basically put a heavy toll on the Athenian society.
Nicholas John Spykman was a Dutch-American political scientist who wrote within the custom of what one would possibly name geopolitical realism. Presaging Kenneth Waltz, Spykman noticed the absence of a authorities as the elemental explanation for worldwide conflicts. Basing his evaluation on geography and the stability of drive, he recognized the huge littorals of the Old World stretching from Western Europe to East Asia by means of the Indian subcontinent what he would name the Rimland posthumously because the prime actual property in worldwide politics contested by land and sea powers vying for the supremacy of Eurasia. The goal of American international coverage, he argued, is to keep up the stability of energy on this zone, thereby sustaining geopolitical pluralism of the Old World and stopping the encirclement of the New World. This line of considering has a lot relevance to todays strategic setting, too. Understandably, Spykman and classical geopolitics extra broadly are making a comeback in recent times.
Could you briefly define the latest developments in East Asian politics and safety? What do you see as vital points and occasions?
Historically, the driving drive within the worldwide relations of East Asia was the Sino-Japanese rivalry. Most systemic wars within the area have been between the 2 main land and sea powers in Asia: the Imjin War (1592-1598), the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), and the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). This primary construction persists with a twist. We all know China has change into the hegemonic contender within the japanese flank of Eurasia. At sea, the United States has changed Japan as Asias dominant offshore energy in our time. Hence, the area shall be outlined largely by the U.S.-China rivalry.
What Beijing and Washington do respectively, due to this fact, shall be of utmost significance to the area. Other massive gamers, corresponding to Japan and Russia, or flashpoints, just like the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan, shouldn’t be neglected. One ought to be aware, nevertheless, the increasing geographic scope of their competitors departing from the standard focus of the Sino-Japanese rivalry on East Asia. The Belt and Road Initiative, as an illustration, seeks to attach the Chinese mainland with totally different useful resource facilities throughout the Eurasian landmass and shops to the Indian Ocean. It isn’t a surprise that the Department of Defense re-named the Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command. Washington can also be creating an internet of smaller, functionally oriented teams alongside the putative Island Chains. In this context, nations throughout the area should re-define their strategic visions and international coverage roles.
The article you co-authored in 2019argued that geopolitical tensions have been the first cause behind the deteriorated relationship between Seoul and Tokyo. How would you describe the present state of this relationship and what developments do you foresee within the coming years?
It is true that (and we made this argument) Seoul and Tokyo have totally different strategic priorities due primarily to their places and neighbors that’s, geography. Also, South Korea has deep financial ties with China which is considered a serious strategic problem by Japan.
However, Seouls stance on Beijing has been evolving over time. There are a number of structural causes. The first and most frequently cited cause is Chinas response to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or extra generally often called THAAD. This is just not the one cause. Younger generations are extra cautious of Beijing, particularly concerning non-traditional points, corresponding to cultural appropriation or air pollutions. Also, South Koreas investments in know-how and capital-intensive capabilities to compensate for its shrinking inhabitants will happen largely within the air and sea domains. This will provoke Beijings response. My colleague and I madethis casein 2022.
Our anticipation has largely born out. The newly president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, selected Tokyo because the vacation spot for his first abroad journey, even earlier than paying a go to to Washington D.C. By all accounts, the assembly between President Lee and Prime Minister Ishiba was collegial, persevering with the earlier administrations cooperative relationship with Japan.
More importantly, the competitors between the United States and China is intensifying with the world being divided into two competing blocs led by the 2 powers. This pattern has been accelerating since Russias invasion of Ukraine and was on full show in the course of the latest victory parade in Beijing to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of World War II. Notwithstanding the persistence of a number of delicate points and uncertainties surrounding home politics of Japan and Korea, due to this fact, I count on the 2 nations to collaborate nearer a minimum of within the foreseeable future.
Given ongoing U.S.China rivalry, the strategic significance of East Asia for Washington stays excessive. What choices might the present U.S. administration undertake to strengthen its affect within the area?
There could be many alternative methods throughout a number of useful areas. I’ll give attention to one side, nevertheless: strategic geography. It is true that East Asia stays a key theater containing two flash factors: the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan. However, the arc of competitors between the United States and China is considerably wider in our time as I’ve talked about earlier. From Beijings standpoint, the 2 putative flash factors are lined by the Northern Theater Command and the Eastern Theater Command, respectively. The remaining two theater instructions the Southern and the Western cowl bigger geographic areas rife with potential risks. Also, Chinas financial safety depends to an important extent on the openness of the Strait of Malacca. To wit, China has many tender spots the place the United States can apply strain. And it is a key theme of my ongoing analysis venture.
How would the newly imposed U.S. tariffs shift political and safety panorama in East Asia?
Im not an professional on worldwide political economic system, however it appears that evidently the results of tariffs are a lot much less pronounced than what many analysts anticipated on the Liberation Day. Perhaps the shift in Americas immigration coverage has a bigger affect. For occasion, the latest detention of South Korean staff or the rise in H-1B visa software payment will make America a a lot much less engaging vacation spot for Asian companies and skills. Most importantly, the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China will drive the area to begin choosing a aspect.
What are you at present engaged on?
There are a number of totally different tasks. First, I’m finishing my ebook manuscript, which is tentatively entitled The Geographical Pivot of Empires: Explaining Where Rising Powers Expand. It develops a idea of how nice powers decide their geographical orientation and assessments it in opposition to three historic circumstances: Japans, Russias, and the United States involvement within the Far East between 1895 and 1905 a essential decade in East Asian historical past demarcated by the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). There is an unmistakable (albeit incomplete) parallel between Russias Trans-Siberian Railway and Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. It was additionally a interval of fast modifications in know-how and the broader stability of energy in world politics. Theoretically, it’s an try and carry again classical geopolitics to the International Relations scholarship.
The second venture I’m engaged on attracts insights from my ebook venture. It seems at Chinas strategic geography, particularly its entry routes to the surface world. While many analysts are understandably centered on the maritime area (particularly Taiwan), China has land borders longer than coastlines and its sea strains of communication (SLOC) stay weak. Not surprisingly, its historic entry routes, particularly when it was underneath duress, lay totally on land.
The third venture is lower from the identical material however considerably totally different. It examines Koreas place in world politics from a geo-historical perspective. It argues that whereas Korea was the primary focus between competing land and sea powers within the area for hundreds of years, its relative significance has been diminishing over time as a result of increasing geographic scope of their rivalry.
Finally, I’m turning a category I’ve taught at each the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) right into a ebook: Geography and Foreign Affairs. I take a look at how geography influences international coverage. Specifically, the category is organized thematically that’s, how geography influences the ends (e.g., geography and energy) and means (e.g., strategic domains, corresponding to land, sea, and air) of statecraft, and human components influencing these relationships (e.g., know-how, tradition, and so forth.). The ebook itself can have a couple of chapters on newer points, corresponding to cyber, undersea, nuclear, and the like.
What is a very powerful recommendation you could possibly give to different early profession or younger students?
I’m not certain if I’ve a lot (if any) knowledge to provide correct and substantive profession recommendation to my youthful colleagues, so I’ll give attention to one thing extra tactical: a actuality examine. Pursuing a profession in worldwide affairs is just not simple. There are usually not many related positions within the non-public sector. Foreign providers or multilateral organizations recruit solely a small variety of individuals. Serving ones nation in armed forces is rewarding but probably harmful. So is changing into a conflict correspondent or an support employee. Academic job market is a dead-end. It will solely worsen with the event of applied sciences, corresponding to Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). The risk-to-reward ratio by way of monetary {and professional} compensations is just not very excessive. Also, you’ll have to maneuver round loads, which makes it tough to be near your family members a lot much less begin a household.
But it may also be a really stimulating and rewarding one, particularly if youre curious concerning the world and need to make an affect by means of the facility of concepts. If youre one among them, I’ve just one recommendation. As Winston Churchill mentioned, Never give in by no means, by no means, by no means.
Further Reading on E-International Relations
- Interview Timothy S. Rich
- Interview Tom Le
- Interview Tomohiko Taniguchi
- Interview Tuong Vu
- Interview Nayan Chanda
- Interview Kei Koga
Editorial Credit(s)
Kihyun Kim
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ChinaEast AsiaJapanSecuritySouth KoreaUnited States