As part of RECONNECT's new Global Webinar Series "Democratic and Rule of Law Backsliding: Causes, Consequences and Prospects from around the World", in this first lecture, Prof. Haggard and Prof. Kaufman gave insights on recent developments based on their newly published book: Backsliding: Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World.

As part of the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies' Distinguished Lecture Series, Professor Stephan Haggard and Professor David C. Kang discuss East Asia in the World: Twelve Events That Shaped the Modern International Order, an innovative volume that provides an introduction to twelve seminal events in the international relations of East Asia prior to 1900: twelve events that everyone interested in the history of world politics should know. The East Asian historical experience provides a wealth of new and different cases, patterns, and findings that will expand horizons from the Western, Eurocentric experience. Written by an international team of historians and political scientists, these essays draw attention to the China-centered East Asian order - with its long history of dominance - and what this order might tell us about the current epoch.

When Kim Jong Un disappeared from public view recently, there was rampant speculation of what would occur were he to die or become incapacitated. His return to the scene does not answer the question. On this panel, we tap some top analysts of the North Korean political system to discuss what we know about the top leadership, the political system more generally and the prospects for political change.

“Queer” Koreans have historically been ignored, minimized and erased in narratives of their modern nation. This interdisciplinary book project—just published in the U.S. and soon to be translated into Korean—challenges such marginalization through critical analyses of non-normative sexuality and gender variance in Korea. Chapters range over a variety of topics, from shamanic rituals during the colonial era and B-grade comedy films under Cold War dictatorship to toxic masculinity in today’s South Korean military and transgender confrontations with the resident registration system. Todd Henry (editor and author) explained how the project arose and some of its key findings. Jin-kyung Lee (discussant) elaborated on the significance of the volume and its reception, to be followed by questions and answers.

[Smart Q&A] U.S.-China Trade War: What Are the Prospects for a Deal?

April 27, 2019: Professor Stephan Haggard on Negotiating with North Korea

The concept of the developmental state emerged to explain the rapid growth of East Asia in the postwar period. Yet the developmental state literature also offered a heterodox theoretical approach to growth. Arguing for the distinctive features of developmental states, its proponents emphasised the role of government intervention and industrial policy as well as the significance of strong states and particular social coalitions. Comparative analysis explored the East Asian developmental states to countries that were decidedly not developmentalist, thus contributing to our historical understanding of long-run growth. Prof. Haggard provides a critical but sympathetic overview of this literature and ends with a look forward at the possibilities for developmentalist approaches, in both the advanced industrial states and developing world.

Stephan M. Haggard is the Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Graduate School of International Relations and is the director of Korea-Pacific Program (KPP). He is the editor of the Journal of East Asian Studies and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Haggard has written extensively on the political economy of North Korea with Marcus Noland, including Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform (2007), Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea (2011), and "Hard Target: Sanctions., Inducements and the Case of North Korea" (2017). Haggard maintains the "North Korea: Witness to Transformation" blog and has a regular column with the Joongang Daily.

Previews of Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements and the Case of North Korea: University of California Berkeley (2015)

An overview of the UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korea (2015)