The limitations of what military power can achieve seem even clearer in relation to the Vatican.

**Postdoc positions**

Kyoto University has opened up applications for the Hakubi Project, due May 17, 2026.

This is a cream of the crop postdoc ("all fields, from basic to applied"), 5 (FIVE!) years, great research budget.

Please apply or let others know!

www.hakubi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/recruitme...

Professor @tongfi-kim.bsky.social moderated a panel of young professionals on 11 March.

Speakers from the @ec.europa.eu, the EEAS, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the European Parliament traineeship programme shared insights into career opportunities within European institutions. #BSoG

I don't think the president started a war just to distract the public away from Epstein. If that is the motivation, why would they name it Operation Ep******? On a more serious note, the war is a good demonstration that you don't need a formal alliance to entrap another state.

Indonesia-Australia Consultation pact signed on 6 February 2026. www.dfat.gov.au/countries/in...

Opinion | This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy

"This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy" I wonder how neoroyalism works with things like democracy and constitutions.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

How ICE grew to be the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency ICE's budget hovered around $10 billion for years. But President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are taking the agency's funding to unprecedented levels.

Not sure if 85B USD can be spent in a year, but the 5th largest military spending in the world in 2024 or 2025 would be around that amount. www.npr.org/2026/01/21/n...

On Trump, Anarchy, and a Natural Experiment My latest co-authored essay for Foreign Affairs.

Today’s newsletter is about a natural experiment that happened on Bluesky yesterday. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/on-trump-a...

In our first CSDS Policy Brief of 2026, Carolin Liss and Tongfi Kim look at the consequences of the US' operation in Venezuela for American alliances and China's own strategic calculations in the Indo-Pacific. A must-read!

Read
csds.vub.be/publication/...

@tongfi-kim.bsky.social

You Can't Always Get What You Want: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Seldom Improves Interstate Relations In recent decades, the United States has attempted to overthrow the regimes of several other countries in the hopes that the new regimes will be friendly toward Washington. Does foreign-imposed regime...

From 2016. "You Can't Always Get What You Want: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Seldom Improves Interstate Relations
"www.belfercenter.org/publication/you-cant-alw...

This CSDS In-Depth Paper presents findings from a CSDS tabletop exercise conducted in November 2025, examining European decision-making during a simulated Taiwan Strait crisis compounded by Russian coercion in Europe. Give it a read!

Read
csds.vub.be/publication/...

Continuity and changes: the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine on Japanese and South Korean nuclear-weapons discourse This article examines the continuity and changes in Japanese and South Korean discourses on nuclear weapons since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While Japan experienced s...

A senior official in the Japanese government commented that Japan should possess nuclear weapons. It seems like a good time to post again my co-authored open access article with @doyoung-lee.bsky.social . www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... Curious about the domestic and international reactions.

❗Last Call❗

Join us on Monday, 8 December, for our event "The New Global (Dis)order: Europe, Japan and the Future of Alliances" (14:30-16:30 at the VUB):

Speakers:
➡️ Masafumi Ishii
➡️ I-Chung Lai
➡️ Eva Pejsova
➡️ Niklas Swanström

Register now!
csds.vub.be/event/the-ne...

Op-ed: Why Europe should build ships with Indo-Pacific allies As Washington deepens industrial ties with Japan, South Korea and Australia, Europe risks being left out unless it partners with its Asian allies.

A recent op-ed I coauthored. www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article...

Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win sumo tournament The 21-year-old won the Kyushu tournament after a tie-breaking victory over grand champion Hoshoryu from Mongolia.

Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki, whose real name is Danylo Yavhusishyn, on Sunday became the first from his nation to win a tournament of the traditional Japanese sport.

New International Student Enrollments Plummeted This Fall, Survey Finds

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u... "The number of international college students enrolling in their American schools for the first time decreased by 17 percent this fall"

Faroe Islands: The part-time players with World Cup dreams The Faroe Islands could still qualify for their first World Cup with one qualification game remaining. BBC Sport looks at the impossible mission and dreams of a team full of part-timers.

www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

I didn't know the existence of Faroe Islands until this afternoon, but it was leading against Croatia until a few minutes ago, to qualify for men's football world cup. Where can I watch the game? The island has like 55000 people, and many of the team members are not professional football players.

中国の大阪総領事「その汚い首は斬ってやるしかない」　高市首相の台湾有事巡る答弁に投稿 中国の薛剣（せつけん）駐大阪総領事は8日、朝日新聞デジタル速報席がX（旧ツイッター）に投稿した記事「高市首相、台湾有事『存立危機事態になりうる』　認定なら武力…

Reported reaction from the Chinese Consul-General in Osaka to the PM's statment: "That filthy neck that barged in uninvited—I'll cut it off without a moment's hesitation. Are you prepared?" www.sankei.com/article/2025...

but it is not clear how we can determine if a ship is civilian or not in such as situation.

the measure. For example, do Chinese Coast Guard ships or maritime militia ships not count as warships even if they are armed? The PM also mentioned that she doesn't believe "lining up civilian ships to obstruct passage [for maritime blockade] constitutes a situation threatening national survival,"

addition for deterrence: "The government will make a comprehensive judgment based on all available information, tailored to the specific circumstances of the actual situation that arises." Clarity can sometimes enhance extended deterrence, but it also allows the opponent to circumvent

...of warships and the exercise of force.” (in reference to "Survival-Threatening Situations/crisis of national existence" which allows Japan to engage in collective defense). This part will receive a lot of attention, but the following part seems to be a crucial

高市首相、台湾有事「存立危機事態になりうる」　認定なら武力行使も：朝日新聞 高市早苗首相は7日の衆院予算委員会で、台湾有事について、安全保障法制で集団的自衛権を行使できる「存立危機事態」にあたるかを問われ、「戦艦を使って、武力の行使も伴うものであれば、存立危機事態になりうる…

On situations where Japan can militarily intervene in a Taiwan contingency, Japanese PM Takaichi on November 7 stated that "I believe it could be a case where a crisis situation threatening the nation's existence arises if it involves the use... www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

The path to the Nobel Peace prize is through Darfur, not Nigeria.

“All Politics is local”: the U.S.–China balance in the First Island Chain and Japan’s defense transformation This article examines recent changes in Japan’s security policy, visible in its 2022 Japan National Security Strategy. It finds that the underlying driver for Japan’s military investments is a new ...

New publication! In this article, Kristin Grostad examines recent changes in Japan’s security policy, visible in its 2022 Japan National Security Strategy.
“All Politics is local”: the U.S.–China balance in the First Island Chain and Japan’s defense transformation

doi.org/10.1080/1479...

reaching readers of diverse backgrounds. I have fond memories of photocopying academic articles at libraries, but students today have much better access to knowledge.

Levels of division: How wedge strategies shape international and domestic politics States often seek to undermine their competitors in order to obtain a favorable balance of power. Yet, the literature on how they actually do that remains sparse and disconnected. We focus on how a...

I just had an email exchange with a high school student headed to @bsog.be next year about my recent article with @luissimonn.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... She may have been being nice to her future academic advisor, but I'm still glad to see that open-access publications are

smooth at all, but even US backtracking from it would still have important effects.

With Trump approving nuclear-powered (albeit not nuclear-armed) submarines for South Korea, this piece by @doyoung-lee.bsky.social seems even more relevant to policymakers. muse.jhu.edu/article/973856. Great that @tnsr.org is an open-access journal! I'm not sure if the path for ROK nuclear sub is