Northeast Asia History Working Group

The Northeast Asia History Working Group provides a platform for a fresh framework for understanding Northeast Asia, using new sources, translations, and perspectives on the geopolitical challenges of the area—both past and present. The geopolitics of Japan and the Korean peninsula in the Northeast Asian region remind us simultaneously of the continuing importance of the ideas defining liberal societies, as well as those defining illiberal societies, together with the importance of a commitment to understanding the sources of war and peace. This working group will explore such topics as US-ROK-JP trilateralism; the authoritarian solidarity nexus (China-DPRK-Russia); and democracy and its challenges in Japan and Korea. 

 The Northeast Asia Working Group will also collect, preserve, and make available important materials concerning the political, social, and economic changes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Northeast Asia. Our forthcoming Northeast Asia Oral History Project is a cornerstone initiative. By collecting and making accessible overlooked voices and sources, the Working Group aims to serve as a platform for a vibrant community of scholars, policy makers, and the broader public who are interested in the meaning and role of history in this region.