Projects

In order to contextualize my publications and ongoing works in the "Research" page, this page shows the bigger picture of my interests.

How do countries exert influence in the international order, and in international institutions in particular? Although China's rise and its rivalry with the United States have caught attention regarding whether there is a "revisionist" momentum in the liberal international order, all states, first and foremost, pursue their national interests, regardless of the consequences they may bring to the international arena.

In probing such state-centric views in international institutions, I am especially interested in the following topics.

(i) The norm-initiating behavior of major powers in existing institutions, which deals with the questions of power, coalitions and sovereignty.

My first book project (full manuscript completed) addresses the drive of power in the resolution-making behavior of China in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This book, Embedded Blueprints for Power: China’s Draft Resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly, covers a wide area of UNGA resolutions, from economic cooperation to arms race in outer space. It sheds light on the importance of sugarcoated norms and how it reflects calculations about material power benefits.

For my second book project, I am focusing on whether and how rising powers become constrained by bilateral relationships when creating norms at the multilateral level, particularly in the area of economic liberalization. Empirically, I focus on Japan (1970s-1990s) and China (late 2010s-present), and include institutional ideas that did not fully materialize as the "phantom" cases of international organizations.

While all of the above emphasize China and Japan as "major powers", the so-called "smaller powers" that coalesce with these countries are also essential. One of my publications talks about how the question of governmental recognition relates to the coalitional politics between China and the developing countries and their rhetoric on "sovereignty". Meanwhile, I am also interested in how state-centricity can extend within international organizations, such as through international bureaucracy.

Keywords:

East Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan)
Group of 77 (G77), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
norms
power, coalitions, sovereignty, international bureaucracy
UN (UN General Assembly)
economic liberalization

(ii) The ambiguous positionality of countries from East and Southeast Asia in existing and new institutional ideas, wihch deals with the questions of power and legitimacy.

My broader interest lies in shedding light on the behaviors of East and Southeast Asian countries in international organizations, which have often been seen as exogonous actors in global governance, and have not been fully incorporated into the theories on international organizations. One of my ongoing papers dives into Japan's position between the American leadership and Asian-African visions of the international order between the late 1950s to the early 1960s. I am also interested in how Asia-specific issue areas are taken up in international organizations, such as in the field of disaster risk reduction in the contemporary world.

Keywords:

East Asia (Japan, China, Taiwan)
Southeast Asia (particularly Indonesia)
Bandung Conference, Non-Aligned Movement
disaster risk reduction, earthquakes
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

I also co-author/ collaborate with wonderful colleagues around the world on this matter, and some of the topics we have covered include the following;

Global South diplomacy by China and India (Politics surrounding the "Global South")
Summit diplomacy of Japan and Africa
Japan–Africa relations regarding economic sanctions
Science diplomacy of China
Internet governance of China
Defeated country status of Japan and Germany regarding the UN

Methodologically, I have conducted statistical analyses (with original datasets/ regressions and network
analysis in particular), case studies/ historical analysis (with multilinguistic archives/ documents) and interviews. Although I work on generalizable theories/ hypotheses, I have empirically focused on China, Japan and the Global South (with an emphasis on Southeast Asia).

Projects in Detail

(i-1) Power-Gap Calculations

I investigate how major powers care about their relative power position vis-à-vis its rivals when initiating [de]regulatory norms in the fields of military and economic matters. Empirically, I have focused on China's co-sponsorship behavior in the United Nations General Assembly.

(i-2) Coalition Politics

Besides power-driven calculations, any country needs supporters to have their voices heard in international institutions. I investigate how deferential major powers can be to their coalitions. Regarding China, I take up the Global South (G77/ NAM) countries in the United Nations General Assembly.

(i-3) Sovereignty and Non-Interference

Besides power-driven calculations, any state will incur the so-called "sovereignty cost", where they possess less discretionary power and cede to the decision-making of international institutions. As sovereignty remains to be the anchor of international relations, many states strategically use the rhetoric on the respect for sovereignty to get around non-desired norms. I investigate how the [de]regulatory content of norms can change according to such rhetoric.

(ii) International Bureaucracy

Besides initiating norms, sending nationals to international institutions as their staff is seen as another path to exert influence, but is this really the case? I investigate whether or not this actually works depending on the perception of the bureaucrats.

(iii) East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Global South

East Asia and Southeast Asia are often seen as exogenous actors in international organizations. However, their pragmatic approaches to international institutions are holding sway today. This project does not examine these countries/regions from critical theories that emphasize marginality; rather, it takes a positivist approach to develop theory through empirical data and cases that span from the Cold War era to the present.