Sir Walter Elliot, a conceited aristocrat in Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1817), takes it as a personal affront when he sees an aging face. For him, an aging face is a physical manifestation of one’s lowly breed. In his obsession with youthful and “superior” looks, the concept of aging is explicitly entangled with class. Quite unlike Sir Walter’…[Read more]

Chinese diplomacy in 2020 has been observed as moving towards a more assertive and aggressive position, which has been branded “wolf warrior diplomacy”. Wolf warrior diplomacy is geared at employing a much more proactive approach in defending the image and position of China in the international arena, whose full effects and scope are yet to be ana…[Read more]

The Taishō democracy period of early 20th century – then Imperial – Japan appears to observers today as a period, in between two imperialisms, where parties, politicians, and the Imperial Diet seemed to be on the path to becoming the dominant political powers in Imperial Japan. However, this period of “democracy” and parliamentarism was…[Read more]

This presentation aims to explore and understand the identities of the karayuki-san who became sex workers across the Pacific Rim in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, arguing that the karayuki-san were an integral part of the process and experience of modernization in Japan. The karayuki-san have been seen as both soldiers of the empire and…[Read more]

Please note that this was a presentation meant to accompany a term paper titled “The Abe-Trump Relationship” for the graduate course “Japan’s International Relations” which can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/4zj8-y725 I have edited the file to remove any personal information and updated the presentation to be more reflective of the…[Read more]

Please note that this was a presentation meant to accompany a term paper titled “Understanding the Impact of Crisis Length on Authoritarian Leaders” for the undergraduate course “Leaders in International Relations” which can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/wpnm-tf73

I have edited the file to remove any personal information and…[Read more]