EVENTS

Recent American unilateral, self-centered, and at times predatory behavior has revealed that the United States, under “Trump 2.0” is no longer the country that the world used to know. It is no longer acting as a hegemonic stabiliser, but primarily as a hysterical contender with China. It is no longer perceived as a reliable patron and security bulwark, but as a cumbersome partner who tries to extract disproportionate benefits from its allies and partners. It has increasingly come to be viewed as non-reliable, and intrusive. As a result, East Asia’s cognitive dissonance of the US has become severely aggravated under Trump 2.0. Partnership with the US is now being seen as less as an asset, and more as a liability and a model to be avoided. The old order is seemingly being destroyed by its own creator, while a new order is yet to be born. It is in this interregnum that East Asian countries have begun to deliberate on the idea of ‘East Asia without the US,’ which was once considered unthinkable. The 3^rd Gargi & V.P. Dutt Memorial Lecture will address the convoluted dynamics of the new narratives from an East Asian — specifically, South Korean — perspective.

Speaker

Chung-in Moon is James Laney Distinguished Professor at Yonsei University and Vice Chairman of Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (APLN). He is also Krause Distinguished Fellow at School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego, and Editor-in-Chief of Global Asia, a quarterly journal in English. He was a special advisor to the President of Republic of Korea (ROK) for foreign affairs and national security (2017-2021). He was Chairman of the Sejong Institute (2021-2023) and Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University. He served as Ambassador for International Security Affairs of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative, a cabinet-level post. Dr. Moon was a special delegate to Korean summits in 2000, 2007 and 2018 held in Pyongyang. He served as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Intelligence Reform and a member of the Presidential Commission on Defense Reform. He was an advisor to various agencies of the South Korean government, including the National Security Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Unification, and the National Intelligence Service. He served as Chairman of the Asia Research Fund and the Korea Peace Forum. He was also Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Korea of the World Economic Forum. He is a recipient of the Public Policy Award (Woodrow Wilson International Center), the Lixian Scholarship (Beijing University), the Pacific Leadership Fellowship (University of California, San Diego), and the Global Neighbours Fellowship (Vienna).

He has published over 60 books and 300 articles in edited volumes and scholarly journals. His recent publications include Why American Foreign Policy is Failing (Medici Media, 2025, in Korean), Rethinking World and the US: Contending Perspectives (PCI Press, 2025, edited), Understanding Kim Jong-un’s North Korea: Regime Dynamics, Negotiation, and Engagement (Lexington Books, 2022, co-edited with Robert Carlin),Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Asia-Pacific (APLN, 2022, co-edited with Peter Hayes et al.), Moon Chung-in’s Future Scenario: Covid-19, US-China New Cold War, and South Korea’s Choice (Chunglim Publisher, 2021, in Korean), Bridging the Divide: Moon Jae-in’s Korean Peace Initiative (2019, co-edited with John Delury), Routledge Handbook of Korean Politics and Public Administration (2019, co-edited with M. Jae Moon), The Future of East Asia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), What Does Japan Think Now? (2013, in Korean; 2017, in Chinese), The Sunshine Policy: In Defense of Engagement as a Path to Peace in Korea (Yonsei University Press, 2012), Exploring the Future of China (2010, in Korean; 2012, in Chinese), East Asia Community: Ideas and Debates (Keio University Press, Japanese and Korean editions, 2010), and The United States and Northeast Asia: Debates, Issues, and New Order (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, co-edited with G. John Ikenberry). He also served as President of the Korea Peace Studies Association and Vice President of the International Studies Association (ISA) of North America.

Chair

Alka Acharya is the Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies and former Professor and Chairperson at the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Please register for the lecture here