About

I am Executive Director and Senior Research Fellow at the East Asia Institute in Seoul. I specialize in International Relations and U.S.-China relations. My research focuses on maritime security with a regional focus on the Asia-Pacific.

My dissertation, supported by the Fulbright Graduate Ph.D. Scholarship, the Hans. J. Morgenthau Fellowship, the Charles Koch Foundation U.S. Foreign Policy Dissertation, and the Stand Together Trust U.S. Foreign Policy Dissertation Grant, examines the immediate conditions under which the leading sea power shows a greater resolve to use military force over a certain area, but not other areas, in its peripheral theaters in response to a challenger’s power projection during a naval arms race.

Prior to joining the East Asia Institute, I taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Government Department at the College of William & Mary in the fall of 2024. I was also an instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Military History at Korea Military Academy from 2013-2016 and a Hans. J. Morgenthau Fellow from 2022-2023. I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston College, an M.A. in International Relations, and a B.A. in Political Science from Seoul National University.