East Asia is experiencing one of the most consequential periods of transformation in decades. Global power shifts, the second Trump administration, China’s rise to superpower status, and Russia’s military and strategic aggression have put tremendous stress on the region, affecting its geopolitics, internal politics, economy, and society. At the same time, East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific/Indo-Pacific region have become sites of global importance, increasingly shaping global power structures, conflicts, and recalibrations. How East Asian democracies and autocratic states deal with external and internal stress, pressure, and threats will have different effects and repercussions that will affect the rest of the world in the medium and long term. This conference seeks to shed light on the rapidly evolving dynamics of destabilization, strategic adjustments, and resilience in China, Japan, Korea, and beyond by bringing together diverse perspectives and disciplines.

The conference will include panels on securitization and military build-up, democracies under pressure, climate change and energy politics, demographic changes and migration, statecraft and labor markets.

Confirmed participants: Monika Arnoštová, Eric Ballbach, Georg Blind, Guibourg Delamotte, Jörn-Carsten Gottwald, Stefan Heeb, Obert Hodzi, Myung Jin Hwang, Axel Klein, Gracia Liu Farrer, Andreas Löschel, Hyung-Gu Lynn, Hannes Mosler, Rachel Murphy, Nele Noesselt, Alexandrea Sakaki, Miranda Schreurs, Gunter Schubert, Hyun Bang Shin, Markus Taube, Myungji Yang, Zhao Suisheng

Download of the conference program (coming soon)

Download of the conference poster