Kevin Wei Luo

Comparative Politics Needs Area Studies, and Area Studies Needs Comparative Politics If you were a graduate student in political science between 1990 and 2010 or so, you probably experienced some heated debates about the future of area studies and its role in the discipline. This w…

One casualty in the Trump administration’s war on higher education is federal funding for area studies. This harms students, scholars, and U.S. national security.

It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!

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thanks! I guess a US-focused piece would likely be too centered on the Michigan & Harvard mafias lol

is there a piece out there that outlines the role of academics in US-China relations? I've been wanting to assign something like this to my students

This was a lot of fun! Thanks so much, @warontherocks.bsky.social!

Contested Taiwan Where statehood is contested, questions of identity and territory define the political landscapeDespite maintaining de facto sovereignty, states like Taiwan ...

@lnachman32.bsky.social Lev’s new book hot off the press uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

Second leg of APSA2025. Presenting joint work on geopolitics and democratization in Taiwan Saturday 2pm, and then book roundtable Sunday 10am for @lnachman32.bsky.social and his new book “Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation.” Hope to see you there!

The unintended consequence, as ex-minister Lin mentioned in the op-ed in the first post, is that the PRC unwittingly lent fuel to the populist anti-China backlash post 2016 in TW, and as a result ended with no productive results for its grand plans for reunification in the past decade. 6/6

I think it's unlikely things would have turned out that differently given the partisan dynamics in TW, but this moment in 2016 was an important moment of foreshadowing: the PRC's personalistic cooptation of KMT politicians, as well as the complete stonewalling of the DPP 5/6

a timely discussion given the recent recall campaigns directed against KMT legislators, which is going to somewhat damage the KMT's credibility in cross-strait relations. The other question is whether there was a 'lost opportunity' for the Tsai admin in terms of cross-strait policy 4/6

台灣政客為私利「阻止兩岸破冰」？恐怖內幕曝　他點1警訊：實在十分無奈 | 即時 前海基會董事長李大維卻在新書中爆料，蔡英文曾有機會讓兩岸破冰，卻因部分「前政治人物」基於私利從中作梗而破局，引起各界高度關注；對此中華戰略學會資深研究員張競指出，李大維此舉恐「毀其清譽惹來是非」。疑遭台灣政客攪局　蔡英文「兩岸破冰」無望李大維在近日出版的新書《和光同塵：一位外交官的省思》中透露，前總統蔡英文2016年就職時的兩岸論述，獲得中方智庫正面反饋、甚......

This revelation is sourced from a recent memoir published by former TW rep to the US Lee Da-wei, who mentioned that he was told this by a 'retired friend from American intelligence.' Lee is widely considered to be more of a career diplomat and not very partisan 3/6

www.storm.mg/lifestyle/11...

In addition to the debates within the PRC's Taiwan affairs system, think tanks, and nat sec circles, one recent revelation is that 'several former politicians' from the Taiwan side lobbied Beijing to not accept Tsai's olive branch. The speculation is that these were folks from the KMT camp. 2/6

interesting retrospection on cross-strait relations lately. from Lin Chong-pin, ex deputy defense minister of the ROC: The Tsai admin's proposal to re-initiate cross strait talks early in her presidency was quasi rebuffed by Beijing, due to a combo of interpersonal relations behind the scenes. 1/6

A social media post from Michael Bennet Enjoyer shows a stylized map of New York City's five boroughs colored in two distinct schemes - Staten Island and the Bronx appear in teal/blue, while Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are shown in orange and brown tones. Positioned on the left side of the map is a formal portrait of Andrew Cuomo in military dress uniform with ornate decorations and medals. The post text reads: "BREAKING: Cuomo has fled the NYC mainland following its fall to socialist Zohran Mamdani. Sources say he will establish a new govt on Staten Island with the goal of eventually reclaiming the entire city. Mamdani has promised to purge all remaining Cuomintang on the mainland." Borough labels visible on the map include "Bronx," "Manhattan," "Queens," and "Staten Island." (ALT Text by Claude AI)

LOL

A great service to anyone who will want to work with this data down the road. A big thank-you to whoever did this.

Doing the lord’s work. Back on the syllabus next semester!

Disclaimer: I contributed nothing of substance as an audience member! But congrats on getting this out.

a meticulous revisiting of Yuhua Wang's 2022 APSR piece by @linsantu.bsky.social on Song dynasty kinship networks and state building. Bookmarked.

wgntv.com/news/pope-le...

South Side!

consider, they picked whichever Pope would piss off Vance the most

NOVA KNICKS

BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV

surprisingly smooth democratic transition at the Vatican

Thanks for coming Jeff! I can't believe we forgot to take a group photo at dinner, but here is a nice shot of you with Ann:

as a former Wilson Center grant recipient and beneficiary of its resources, I have some strong feelings about its dismantling. My gloomy prediction though is that there will never be a strong enough bipartisan consensus to take Asia (and China) seriously, until actual disaster strikes.

quote: "It’s rare that in retrospect US foreign policy failures turn out to be the result of listening too carefully to area specialists. Avoiding rule by experts doesn’t imply destroying all expertise, nor does pursuing efficiency require gutting valuable institutions for a pittance of savings."

training for his lungs!

YouTube video by MrOldMajor 毛主席暢游長江 Chairman Mao Swims in the Yangtze ― 賈世駿 Jia Shijun (1968年) | ⦇EN CC⦈

Chairman Mao swims in the Yangtze River: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xf...

It's the 10 year anniversary of this post about another leader trying to talk with was out of and into a stock market crisis.

goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...

I have never watched "The White Lotus" but I'm glad American TV is finally paying attention to this anti-Qing Buddhist revolutionary movement.

Gave a talk to our PhD students today, and feeling appreciative of all the recent methods work on improving common practices. Thanks to all the authors who work to make their work accessible, especially on social media.

A few articles we discussed:

South Korea survived this democratic challenge. What’s next? The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol is a critical first step in reversing the country’s authoritarian slide.

South Korea survived this democratic challenge. What’s next?

The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol is a critical first step in reversing the country’s authoritarian slide.

goodauthority.org/news/south-k...