My Research
In pursuit of an academic career, I have worked with European, American, Russian, and Japanese higher education institutions over the last ten years while advancing research activities in Washington DC, New York, Geneva, Moscow, and Tokyo.
Based on these transcontinental experiences, my research contributes to the ongoing debate on global IR theory by drawing attention to contending perspectives on world politics. More specifically, my research focuses on theorizing the role of non-Western powers in (re)shaping international orders. Under this overarching theme, I have completed an independent research project on the power politics of regional orders (2014-2018). I am currently implementing a joint research project on rising powers and the transformation of global peacebuilding orders (2018-2021). In 2021, I intend to launch a new project on non-Western democracies and the future of the liberal world order (2021-2024).
Through these three interrelated research streams, my research contributes to the development of innovative IR theories, approaches, and methodologies that are better suited to explaining and understanding evolving realities in our increasingly multipolar world.
Based on these transcontinental experiences, my research contributes to the ongoing debate on global IR theory by drawing attention to contending perspectives on world politics. More specifically, my research focuses on theorizing the role of non-Western powers in (re)shaping international orders. Under this overarching theme, I have completed an independent research project on the power politics of regional orders (2014-2018). I am currently implementing a joint research project on rising powers and the transformation of global peacebuilding orders (2018-2021). In 2021, I intend to launch a new project on non-Western democracies and the future of the liberal world order (2021-2024).
Through these three interrelated research streams, my research contributes to the development of innovative IR theories, approaches, and methodologies that are better suited to explaining and understanding evolving realities in our increasingly multipolar world.
The Power Politics of Regional Orders
In the first research agenda, my doctoral dissertation entitled “Balance of Normative Power: Liberalism, Statism, and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Post-Soviet Eurasia, 1989–2018” investigated the processes and mechanisms of competing normative influence from Russia and Western powers in post-Soviet Eurasia, with a specific focus on the role of regional norms and organizations as an instrument of geopolitical competition. In contrast to other scholars who argue that Russia’s influence is mainly exerted by material means and subversive tactics, I showed that the power to diffuse statist ideas and norms through multilateral platforms lies at the heart of Russia’s enduring influence in post-Soviet Eurasia (and beyond). In light of this, I developed a novel concept of the “balance of normative power”, which synthesized realist and constructivist IR approaches and elucidated new insights on the geopolitics of international norms.
My dissertation also developed a new matrix-based approach (“norms matrix”) to decipher the subtle dynamics of norm contestation, through which duality/ambiguity are taken seriously as an object of investigation, rather than dismissed as mere “noises” and “inconsistencies”. I used this methodology to systematically analyze more than 300 public policy documents, complemented by around 40 semi-structured interviews conducted in Brussels and Moscow. I am currently working on a plan to transform the dissertation into a monograph with updated data.
My dissertation also developed a new matrix-based approach (“norms matrix”) to decipher the subtle dynamics of norm contestation, through which duality/ambiguity are taken seriously as an object of investigation, rather than dismissed as mere “noises” and “inconsistencies”. I used this methodology to systematically analyze more than 300 public policy documents, complemented by around 40 semi-structured interviews conducted in Brussels and Moscow. I am currently working on a plan to transform the dissertation into a monograph with updated data.
Norms, Rising Powers, and the Transformation of Global Peacebuilding Order(s)
In the second research agenda, I apply insights from global IR to investigate the role of rising powers in the transformation of global peacebuilding order(s). At the CCDP, Keith Krause, Oliver Jütersonke, and I jointly developed a joint research project entitled “Coherence or Contestation: Chinese, Japanese and Russian Approaches to the Transformation of Peacebuilding Practices”. The project investigates how Chinese, Japanese, and Russian understandings of peace, security, and order are put into practice in conflict-affected states, and how these non-Western discourses/practices interact with their Western counterparts. To date, we have undertaken thorough desk research and conducted nearly 100 semi-structured interviews in Geneva, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Moscow.
Within the context of this project, I have published a peer-reviewed article, co-authored three peer-reviewed articles, produced two draft articles on Japan and Russia, and am currently working on several new articles. Our preliminary findings have attracted a broad audience in the OECD-DAC’s International Network on Conflict and Fragility and the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development in addition to conventional academic audiences. As a part of the 2020 Geneva Peace Week, I organized a successful panel on the future of peacebuilding, which recorded more than 300 registered participants in the audience. At the ISA 2021, I co-chaired a panel entitled “Globalizing Peacebuilding: Studying Peace Operations and Conflict Management beyond the Anglo-Saxon West”.
Within the context of this project, I have published a peer-reviewed article, co-authored three peer-reviewed articles, produced two draft articles on Japan and Russia, and am currently working on several new articles. Our preliminary findings have attracted a broad audience in the OECD-DAC’s International Network on Conflict and Fragility and the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development in addition to conventional academic audiences. As a part of the 2020 Geneva Peace Week, I organized a successful panel on the future of peacebuilding, which recorded more than 300 registered participants in the audience. At the ISA 2021, I co-chaired a panel entitled “Globalizing Peacebuilding: Studying Peace Operations and Conflict Management beyond the Anglo-Saxon West”.
Non-Western Democracies and the Future of the Liberal World Order
Building on my first and second research projects, I am currently developing a new project which will theorize the role of non-Western democracies in (re)shaping the liberal world order. The project will systematically investigate the nature of evolving partnerships between non-Western democracies and the “challengers” to the liberal order – Russia and China.
The project will precede three steps. First, I will build a new database which will code Russia’s and China’s respective diplomatic relationships with democracies for 2014-2021. My preliminary Russia dataset (based on the Freedom House Index) shows that there are currently 51 democracies with a population of more than one million. Among them, 20 democracies have positive or rather positive relationships with Russia, 15 have neutral relationships with Russia, and 17 have negative or rather negative relationships with Russia. The dataset shows a clear geographical divide: almost all Asian, African, and Latin American democracies have positive /rather positive relationships with Russia, while almost all Western (NATO/EU) democracies have negative /rather negative relationships with Russia. Second, I will conduct two qualitative case studies on Russia’s and China’s respective relationships with neighboring non-Western democracies (Japan, India, and South Korea). Third, the insights gained in the first and second stages will be applied to analyze specific thematic cases of international security issues, such as sanctions and the Syrian conflict. For instance, Western sanctions against Russia between 2014 and 2021 have remained largely ineffective because Japan, India, and South Korea have developed counteracting “positive sanction” schemes (such as Japan’s “Eight-Point Cooperation Plan to Make Russia a Great Power of High Quality Life”), which have enabled Russia to withstand Western pressure.
In light of these insights, the research project seeks to demonstrate that the future of the liberal international order very much depends on the positionality of “non-Western” democracies, which often act as a kind of “swing states” in determining the overall viability of Russia's and China's challenges to the liberal order.
The project will precede three steps. First, I will build a new database which will code Russia’s and China’s respective diplomatic relationships with democracies for 2014-2021. My preliminary Russia dataset (based on the Freedom House Index) shows that there are currently 51 democracies with a population of more than one million. Among them, 20 democracies have positive or rather positive relationships with Russia, 15 have neutral relationships with Russia, and 17 have negative or rather negative relationships with Russia. The dataset shows a clear geographical divide: almost all Asian, African, and Latin American democracies have positive /rather positive relationships with Russia, while almost all Western (NATO/EU) democracies have negative /rather negative relationships with Russia. Second, I will conduct two qualitative case studies on Russia’s and China’s respective relationships with neighboring non-Western democracies (Japan, India, and South Korea). Third, the insights gained in the first and second stages will be applied to analyze specific thematic cases of international security issues, such as sanctions and the Syrian conflict. For instance, Western sanctions against Russia between 2014 and 2021 have remained largely ineffective because Japan, India, and South Korea have developed counteracting “positive sanction” schemes (such as Japan’s “Eight-Point Cooperation Plan to Make Russia a Great Power of High Quality Life”), which have enabled Russia to withstand Western pressure.
In light of these insights, the research project seeks to demonstrate that the future of the liberal international order very much depends on the positionality of “non-Western” democracies, which often act as a kind of “swing states” in determining the overall viability of Russia's and China's challenges to the liberal order.
Work in Progress
● “Consolidation Dilemma in International Order Transformation: Explaining the Rise and Fall of Liberalism, 1989-2019.”
● “A Time-Series VAR Analysis of Russian Executive Approval Ratings, 1999-2019.”
● “The Freedom from Hegemony? Neo-Democratic Theory and Global International Relations.”
● “Norm Cooptation: How Russia (Ab)Uses Liberalism to Challenge Western Hegemony.”
● (with Stefanie Ortman) “Foucault in Tokyo: Political Genealogy of Regime Type.”
● (with Xinyu Yuan) “Multilateral Talk vs Bilateral Action? Comparing Asian and European Regional Cooperation in Global Health Crises.”
● “A Time-Series VAR Analysis of Russian Executive Approval Ratings, 1999-2019.”
● “The Freedom from Hegemony? Neo-Democratic Theory and Global International Relations.”
● “Norm Cooptation: How Russia (Ab)Uses Liberalism to Challenge Western Hegemony.”
● (with Stefanie Ortman) “Foucault in Tokyo: Political Genealogy of Regime Type.”
● (with Xinyu Yuan) “Multilateral Talk vs Bilateral Action? Comparing Asian and European Regional Cooperation in Global Health Crises.”