Dave Kang
@daveckang
Followers
7K
Following
21K
Media
222
Statuses
7K
Going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm! (Also: USSF "National B" license, when "A" was as high as it went.) https://t.co/grLZJpfY8O
Los Angeles, CA
Joined August 2009
I truly don't understand how US calls for "rules based order" and then ignores said order whenever we want. Do we really think anybody else is fooled? . Brussels incensed as US spurns global trade rules (yet again)
101
380
1K
My students have no idea that we once thought that Japan was the most obvious peer competitor to the United States.
“Japan today cannot even ride the waves of technological and industrial innovation, let alone create them,” says Kazuto Ataka. What a contrast with the 1980s @Urbandirt . via @financialtimes
23
91
408
Lots of discussion about how to move beyond "greatest hits" of European history. The key element, though, is to provide alternative cases and events that illuminate existing - and new - aspects of international relations. @StephanHaggard and I gathered.
7
119
335
IR theorizing has been profoundly, shaped by the Western experiences of the Westphalian order and often assumes that the Western experience can be generalized to all orders. Recent scholarship on historical East Asian orders challenges these notions.
4
103
320
1/(Warning - rambling thread): I like that magazines like FP are asking about racism and Eurocentrism in IR. But almost all the scholars - while POC - are from US/European countries. How about asking some scholars from the actual non-West as well? How about asking some who teach.
11
84
276
Yeah, I'm an area specialist. I am, in fact, proudly an area specialist. I know more than you about East Asia. You got a problem with that?.
11
17
265
Super excited. We hope this will be out by late summer! 화이팅!!!
11
37
267
Why, oh why, do we view China through a military lens??? It is such an own goal. China has deepened economic ties with other Asian countries since the beginning of its trade war with the U.S. in 2018 via @WSJ.
17
43
257
So it's finally published! Makes a great "back to school" gift! Mom will love it! Run, don't walk, to your nearest bookseller and stock up now before they're gone!!!
7
32
255
To follow up a recent tweet, here are the problems of using non-Western cases in journal articles: 1: reviewers almost never know the material, so it takes twice as long to describe and defend the cases. This leaves far less room for drawing causal or theoretical insights. .
3
48
244
Concessions so far, as far as I can tell --.North Korea:.1. missile test moratorium.2. nuclear test moratorium.3. Punggye-ri.4. Sohae.5. KIA remains returned. USA:.1. canceled one war game. NK is unlikely to move much farther without the US making a move first.
16
139
214
In find really interesting the "Japan is back, baby!" crowd totally ignoring the population decline in Japan by about 30% and the "China is doomed, baby!" crowd crowing ignoring that a 30% decline by China will still be about 10x the size of any country in East Asia. .
21
33
229
Western dominance and white privilege permeate the field. It’s time to change that. When I first started teaching "intro to IR", I used Asian and not European examples. The eye-rolls and pushback I got were epic.
4
59
165
Over 99% of the analysis I read about Taiwan is about military options. There is an almost complete lack of focus on diplomatic or pragmatic actions that could be taken.
30
28
162
@jaycaspiankang This is a bit outdated (2019), but this pattern has held up over time. I first started doing this about 20 years ago: Fortune 500 CEO colleges.
12
15
159
We ignore this at our own peril. The world is moving on while we aspire to a mythical Cold War military response to China.
Wow – China just built more offshore wind capacity, in 2021 alone, than the rest of the world had managed in the last 5yrs put together. Its 26GW now accounts for half of the world's 54GW total. Also, it added twice as much in 2021 as IEA had forecast in…December 2021
1
52
153
American media and pundits - Please please PLEASE focus on the Moon-Kim summit. It's going to happen. It's going to be substantive. And it's a huge step forward. The herd mentality of our obsessive focus on the perils of a Trump-Kim summit is not helping any. .
6
76
151
I am baffled by the avalanche of whining about the Moon-Kim summit. Real steps in the right direction: how possibly is this not a good thing?.
14
62
149
Criticisms of our Eurocentric IR discipline can only be overcome with better scholarship from elsewhere. Here I highlight themes, scholarship, and ideas from East Asian history that have fundamental implications for the IR discipline.
On #FirstView @daveckang explores international orders of historical East Asia, highlighting important new research in non-Western settings, helping move past the Eurocentric origins of IR theory. @USC_SIR @USCDornsife @USCeasc @UscCis @uscpoir.@USCKSI
6
56
150
Seeing lots of new pubs on the "liberal international order," or LIO. Call me crazy, but I think it's a "Western liberal order." LIO implies neutral, abstract, and value-free. But we know it was made for and by the West (ahem, US). I may threaten to write something on this. .
10
11
139
I had an important debate with John Mearsheimer about whether the US should contain China. I argue no. I made three main points: 1) as a baseline, EA is more stable and peaceful today than it was 50 years ago. The region is getting more stable, not less.
18
32
144
North Korea is not a problem to be solved. It is a country we have to live with. We are not going to "solve" the Korea problem.
7
47
138
The lead article in the latest issue of @IntOrgJournal? Of course I'm going to brag! 😀😎 We think this paper and the forthcoming book that expands the argument to Vietnam and elsewhere is going to be a big, big hit!
10
17
145
Given the amount of angst I heard for the past year about the possibility of a war, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the loads of skepticism towards diplomacy. It's almost as if people think being a pessimist makes them look smart! I think this is an important path to explore.
9
48
133
Again -- Vietnam's occasional interactions with the U.S. are dwarfed by the flurry of high level visits with China. just pointing this out that the US press and the DC Blob does not know nor want to hear this more nuanced story of a Vietnam that is managing all its relations.
Vietnam PM Pham Minh Chinh visits China and attends China-Asean Expo in Nanning 16-17 Sept. So soon after VN and the US signed comprehensive strategic partnership. Chinh just visited China in June. Vice PM Tran Luu Quang was in Yunnan in Aug and Truong Thi Mai in Beijing in Apr.
4
33
135
My 8 year old daughter: “ having a dad who is a North Korea/East Asian studies professor is a very boring topic to hear about every day:”.
2
7
123
I have been tweeting out a bunch of stuff about Korean president Yoon and his relationship with China. When he got elected, two things happened: a collective sigh of relief from the DC Blob because finally we have a conservative who will think the way we do! It is systematic. .
5
29
120
A few thoughts on the summit as we approach H-Hour. nah just kidding. I got nothing new to say that hasn't been tweeted/said/written by everyone and their cousin in the past 24 hours.
5
20
119
Delighted that Chin-hao Huang (Yale-NUS) and I have a new paper, “State Formation in Korea and Japan, 400-800 CE: Emulation and Learning, not Bellicist Competition,” coming out in @IntOrgJournal, pre-version here:.
4
27
105
North Korea is not a problem to be solved. It is a country we have to live with. All the criticism over normalizing/legitimizing NK miss this point.
6
58
98
Just published! Sure to be provocative! I argue East Asia is more stable now than in decades; future depends on smart US choices.
9
38
101
Although some who think the Pelosi visit was a win for the US, the resounding proclamations from around the region endorsing the "One China" policy (VN, SNG, IND, THA, MAL). there is no containment coalition against China. That is the lesson we need to take from Pelosi's visit.
13
17
101
if we ignore the rules whenever we don't like them, we're not building a rules-based order. E.g., the retort that "we follow UNCLOS but don't ratify it and also ignore it when it serves our interests" to be so obviously insincere, but people still say that with a straight face. .
It is fast becoming a joke for the USG to be championing the so-called rules-based order while it violates so many elements of it in the name of a grossly inflated definition of national security. XJP’s CN is providing an easy target but still, very sad.
3
15
101
The State of Florida's "hunt for Chinese communists has come up empty handed, with the state unable to cite a single company owned or controlled by the Communist Party of China.".
8
34
79
"All too often, we let our data and methods dictate the questions that we ask. when we would be better served by acknowledging the ways our toolkit is incomplete and seeking to expand it." I really hope they walk the walk.
1
16
95
Trigger warning, Monarchists: This is not about you. This is about the blatantly biased ways we view Asians (North Koreans in this case) v Westerners. Can you imagine if we wrote "Why do they cry? Is it genuine? Are they brainwashed? Why floods of tears" when the Queen dies.
0
23
92
I do wish we would stop listening to "defectors" as much as we do.
10
12
88
Super proud of my former student, Dr. Jiun Bang, who just accepted a tenure-track position at Colorado College! This, during a pandemic! . 축하해 지은아!!!! 수고 많이 했어!.
5
0
85
Tomorrow, a new thread on why we care that the word "Korea" is a derivation of the name of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392): 고려 (高麗). And, much more importantly, Goryeo's name itself was a derivation of Goguryeo (57 BC-668 CE) -- 고구려 (高句麗). Even back in 918, a sense of. .
4
21
85
Was chatting with my father; he lived through the Korean War. He said “If the US hadn’t come to our aid, both you and I would be calling him 김정은동지.” (I.e., “Comrade Kim Jongun”) Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every US and multinational vet who served in Korea.
5
4
84
He flew on a Chinese plane. I doubt they’re that worried about losing influence on the peninsula.
9
28
83
Delighted to announce that Chin-hao Huang (@yalenus) and I have signed a contract with @CambridgeUP to publish “State Formation through Emulation: the East Asian model.” It builds on our forthcoming @IntOrgJournal piece that explores Japan and Korea. ….
5
16
78
Asia absolutely is understudied in political science. And, in faculty appointments, and in classes offered. Do not overlook this in the BIPOC critiques of a Western/Eurocentric discipline, please.
Asia (south, east, and southeast) is *extremely* under-studied by political scientists, esp relative to US, Europe, and Latin America. That is one takeaway from this very interesting review paper on single-country studies in polisci:
0
25
79
The DC Blob engaged in lots of performative sighs of relief in 2022 when Yoon was elected president: "revitalizing the alliance" was a common title of policy papers at the time. As if under progressive govts, the US-ROK alliance was in tatters, which is most surely was not. .
2
23
85
This is a great book: "relatively transient successes by small European polities are too often portrayed as epochal triumphs, whereas mighty, long lived Asian empires are characterized as merely failures waiting to happen."
0
21
79
1/ I'm doubling-down on my take: so many are going berserk over one type of sub from one ally or another. the huge story last week was China's application to TPP. Alex Lin's thread is being overlooked:
Going to pick up on this point. This is a thread on why China formally applying to join the CPTPP should be a key thing to consider moving forward. 1/n.
3
31
78
This is the key point from the entire roundtable: "South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia have all declared that they have no intention to side with the United States in the US–China competition. Even Japan has begun to hedge." (Ross, 152).
1
40
78
A stimulating and much-needed debate about China. John is an old friend and very smart. He comes to the question from a top-down theoretical perspective. I'm an area specialist who knows the region, and bring a bottom-up view. I'm so reasonable! 😀.
Debate: Should the U.S. Seek to Contain China?
8
16
74
when probably one of the most fundamental scholarly questions we should ALL be asking is: what is similar about different parts of the world? What is different? Why? To simply posit those questions, and then conclude that yes, some things are actually, astonishingly different. .
2
9
73
11/my bottom line: to ignore China's growth and how much the region is changing is to miss the real dynamism of the region. It's not ideal, it's not perfect, it never will be. The real action is not military, it's economic, diplomatic, and social. We miss this at our own peril.
3
15
71
Regarding the kerfuffle over the DC "blob," and whether there is a groupthink: on NK policy it is unthinkable to propose that we live with a nuclear North Korea and manage the problem. Yet, the reality is that is exactly what we are doing.
6
22
70
Here is something I tell my grad students each year: you can be a China expert and at the top of the academic world without speaking Chinese. But to be at the top of the academic world, you absolutely must be fluent in English, no matter whether you're from China, Korea, etc. .
3
9
65
Readings derived from the European experience dominate graduate syllabi. 29% use examples solely draw from Europe, 0% solely draw from Asia. This influences the standards US academics evaluate “general knowledge” or “core IR scholarship.” .
1
25
68
Boy that AUKUS deal: no boats until 2040, maybe not ever from the US. And this is the big win that the China hawks are crowing about? "Australia almost no chance to buy any submarine from current US building program, experts say"
8
20
65
So I grew up in California, even in the 1970s the pastor at our church said "Call me Roger" to my friends and me. My father's one look, being a Korean man, made it obvious that would never happen. To this day, I call my parents' friends "Mr. XYZ" or "Mrs. XYZ." /1.
9
8
66
I should have titled this: "Hegemony and hierarchy beyond Eurocentrism and Sinocentrism". but please read my latest! I review the "state of the art" on historical East Asian international relations.
Check out our latest Winter 2020 Issue! Includes the works of @C_J_Schneider @J_L_Tobin @daveckang @jkertzer @jessicalpweeks @YarhiMilo @KerimKavakli @patmkuhn @ProfPaulPoast and more!.
0
11
68
China is not a 1st-order existential threat to attack the U.S. It is not a 2nd-order threat to invade and conquer our allies. At best, it is a 3rd-order challenge at the margins of the territorial grid over uninhabited rocks in the middle of a massive ocean.
8
9
63
North Korea will respond to an American attack and many people will die.
7
25
61
I'm for stabilizing and reducing conflict on the peninsula. I'd caution us not to get stuck with tunnel vision about denuclearization, which is part of but not the only element to this larger goal. Some may care only about denuclearization and not about the peninsula, so be it.
2
31
67
We all suffer if the field of IR is parochial. @USCKSI @USC_SIR @uscpoir @TheDapperChef @stephrschwartz .@USCDornsife .
0
24
64
People who favor pressuring NK are so naive: "Pressure didn't work. Let's use MORE pressure!" We have seven decades of evidence that NK meets pressure with pressure of its own. But those folks don't appear naive, bc favoring containment seems tough. Tough, but ineffective. .
5
19
59
. to try to live with China. This president is no different. Conservative Park Geun-hye went to the WWII celebration with Xi and Putin, etc. etc. etc. I wish the Blob would recognize this fundamental reality of Korean politics.
4
6
63
2: a common reviewer response is "East Asia has changed so much that there are no lessons, not even by analogy" while simultaneously spouting the "lessons of history" from the Peloponnesian War. 3: I still often get derided for being an "orientalist" whatever that means --.
2
5
64
This. We are so obsessed with our own anxieties about China that we ignore what the region is telling us, clearly, again and again.
1) Top 3 challenges facing the region: Covid, economic recovery, and inequality, NOT great power politics (e.g. SCS flashpoints). These issues are also where the US has little leverage or credibility. Guess where reg supply chains (econ+health) vulnerabilities lie?
1
19
61
Truly, the avalanche of DC Blob articles about some type of war in East Asia/tabletop/simulation/fantasy is just amazing. Virtually zero articles about trying diplomacy and figuring out a way to avert it.
3
9
66
. while other things are similar, to me is the basis of social science. To simply preclude this inquiry through abstract name-calling ("orientalist!") strikes me as boundary protection or arrogance, to be honest. It is simply not possible to do anything rigorous or systematic. .
1
2
58
This is absolutely my view as well. Our excessive focus on hypothetical military clashes have totally overlooked that the business of East Asia over the last half century has been. business.
A theme of my forthcoming book—the US might still be the global economic hegemon, but in Asia it’s ceded that position to China. Much folly and wasted political capital has followed from proceeding as if that wasn’t true.
3
9
56
Our Asia policy -- obsessed with China to the exclusion of any real leadership, and devoid of any substantive economic or diplomatic initiatives -- is a mistake.
President Biden just announced that he's skipping the East Asia Summit and U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Indonesia. This is a major own goal. It raises questions about whether the United States has a two-tiered approach to Asia. A quick thread. (1/5).
2
16
56
Great article from @Robert_E_Kelly on the basic stability in Northeast Asia. And I say that not just because he gave me a nice shout out!.
1
28
57
Absolutely. They can start a war anytime they want. This is deterrence.
community who thinks NK is 'begging for war.' Good grief. If they wanted that, they could have started 1 long ago when they might have won.
1
22
50
“Whine”.“Not enough of a concession”.“They would have done it anyway “.“They can always change their minds”.Wah .
6
23
59
Also, that East Asian history is nothing like European history. Please can we stop using European history to explain Asia's future??
Our basic point? Internal challenges often more dangerous than external threats.
5
17
51
The South Korean diplomats have spent years thinking about and planning for dealing with North Koreans. Does anyone really think they got "carried away" from too much booze and forgot how important this is? Give them some credit. Worst thing would be for them to over-react. .
4
21
54
I swear to God, it's like people are purposefully misrepresenting this. They are talking to us. We should listen: "Unless the South Korean army takes any military action against our state, it will not be regarded as a target of our attack." .
6
11
55
"Beyond Power Transitions: The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations" is up on the Columbia University Press website! Published August 2024! More soon! .
3
17
56
5
19
54
If there's one good thing that comes out of this, I hope it's the obliteration of the myth that online teaching is as good as in-person teaching.
3
7
51
So honored to be installed as Maria Crutcher Professor of International Relations. So wonderful to share this time with great friends! (It’s an actual chair - pretty cool.)
2
2
54
1/ The best analogy for China-East Asia today is US-Mexico. I've heard so many attempts at analogies: is it Germany 1914? The cliche of Athens/Sparta? Germany under Bismarck? No, no, and no. MX may not like what the US is doing, but it has no plans to fight it.
2
19
54
USC is hiring! Many, many positions! Come one, come all! IR! Comparative! American! Open with respect to field and rank! Dazzle us! .
1
28
51
I just can't. what the. .
3
10
51
2/in China, Korea, Singapore? Or Brazil, or Senegal, or wherever? How do they learn/use/write scholarship? One thing I have often said is that we need to offer the alternatives, not just point out the problems. And that requires showing how the CW is pointing us in the wrong. .
1
4
45
Thank you! A wonderful honor and so happy to share that moment with all of you!.
KSI Director, Professor David Kang @daveckang was officially installed as the Maria Crutcher Professor in International relations at the @USCDornsife Chair Installation Ceremony on 2.27.19. Congratulations!
6
0
53
14/final point: Most of all, I am from/write about East Asia -- the richest, most "sophisticated" or whatever non-Western region! And the problems are there. Imagine how hard it is to do serious work from regions/countries that are so much poorer. END.
2
2
49
Both are way over-determinist. Demography, geography, economy -- none of that is deterministic. So everybody pipe down, on both sides. .
4
1
51
I am a bit baffled by the cries of "balancing is back, baby!" because of a few Aussie subs. It's not like they weren't going to have subs and now they are; it's not like they were building them with China and now they switched to the US. they switched from one ally to another. .
2
11
51
I'm an expert? Maybe? I totally think this is a good move. Less than 12 months earlier many of us were worried that the sky was falling and a war would break out. We should be enthusiastically supporting steps in the right direction.
3
23
49
Pressure on North Korea didn't work before. You know what we should try now? Mooooore pressure! (I think this time they'll cave). Perhaps too snarky? But, I can't help watch what's going on and think "here we go again.".
2
10
51
The meeting showed how many ostensibly impossible things are not nearly so -- why shouldn't a US president visit North Korea? Why shouldn't they meet more frequently, like Xi or Abe or Moon, precisely so they can find ways to move forward?.
3
15
51
Japanese and Chinese defense spending, 1990-2015, in constant US$.
2
82
47
I think the biggest impact of the past few months of summitry and diplomacy is to significantly challenge the caricatures -- and they were caricatures -- about a "reclusive" "erratic" North Korea and leader. It's a real country. With real people.
3
21
43
. that fundamentally, all Korean administrations have to live with China. That the ROK -- even those who lean to the US/etc./etc. -- shares some, but not all, American priorities. And that no ROK president is going to antagonize China needlessly. All ROK presidents are going. .
1
7
45