The Asia Institute Seminar Series 2016

This collection of recent Asia Institute seminars on critical topics features some of the most important figures of our age. Please feel free to download a version from this page.

Participating scholars:

PROFESSOR HENRY ROSOVSKY 

FORMER DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

PROFESSOR DANIEL A. BELL

CHAIR PROFESSOR 

SCHWARZMAN SCHOLAR PROGRAM

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

BENJAMIN ELMAN

PROFESSOR OF CHINESE HISTORY

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

COL. (RET.) LAWRENCE WILKERSON

FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL

ALEXIS DUDDEN

PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE HISTORY

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

MICHAEL PUETT

WALTER C. KLEIN PROFESSOR OF CHINESE HISTORY

EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

PROFESSOR JOSEPH NYE

FORMER DEAN

KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

DR. RICHARD BUSH

DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR EAST ASIA POLICY STUDIES

BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

PROFESSOR FRANCIS FUKUYAMA

SENIOR FELLOW AT THE CENTER ON DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT AND THE RULE OF LAW

STANFORD UNIVERSITY.

PROFESSOR EZRA VOGEL

HENRY FORD II PROFESSOR OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES EMERITUS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The Asia Institute Seminar Series

TAI Seminar

“Endless war, climate change and the refugee crisis”

November 22, 2015

The Asia Institute held a seminar today (November 22, 2015) on the topic of “Endless war, climate change and the refugee crisis” at WCO. The seminar was attended by about fifteen people and was one of the most thoughtful discussions of contemporary issues I have attended recently. The larger implications of the massive immigration to Europe we considered in depth and the seriousness of this situation for Korea was also explored.

Dr. Lakhvinder Singh, a long term friend of the Asia Institute spoke of just how serious the problem of refugees and the endless wars going on has become and the relative ignorance that we find in Korea of the danger of losing the current economic situation that the country enjoys. He called on Korea to move beyond its indifference and promote a culture of peace aimed at the world saying that “Korea’s time has come.” Dr. Singh proposed that we start a peace movement here, and I asked him to organize regular seminars for us.

Yoojin Jung of the Asia Institute strived to maintain objectivity, asking that we be careful in our use of terms and avoid conflating the refugee crisis with the problem of climate change without more substantial research. Professor Choi Mulim of Seoul National University spoke at length about problems with Korean detachment from international issues and spoke forcefully about the need to move forward.

Dr. Seo Sangdae spoke about the serious risks for Europe of having such large numbers of people form an entirely different culture suddenly in their midst.

We were joined also by Pang Eunmi of the Asia Institute, Leslie Song, a political strategist from the United States, Sonja Glaeser, Professor Kim Hyungrul, chairman of the Asia Institute, and about six students from Sookmyung University who have been working on the issue of refugees with Professor Kim.

ASIA INSTITUTE SEMINAR

ENDLESS WAR, CLIMATE CHANGE & THE REFUGEE CRISIS:

WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT THE FLOW OF REFUGEES INTO EUROPE?

AN OPEN DISCUSSION LED BY

EMANUEL PASTREICH

DIRECTOR

THE ASIA INSTITUTE

4-6 PM

Sunday, November 22, 2015

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W Stage Seosomun

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The deadly combination of unlimited war and intensifying climate change has led to an unprecedented exodus of refugees into Europe that is causing enormous tensions. The situation may well get much worse in the months and years to come. What will we do in response to this unprecedented challenge in Korea, in Asia and around the world, and what innovative new approaches can we embrace?