Date:
Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Location:
Belfer Case Study Room (S020), CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street
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Victor Cha
Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies;
Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies;
D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government, Georgetown University
Professor Victor D. Cha holds the D.S. Song-KF Professorship in Government and International Affairs
Professor Victor D. Cha holds the D.S. Song-KF Professorship in Government and International Affairs
at Georgetown University. In 2009, he was also named as Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
He left the White House in 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at
He left the White House in 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at
the National Security Council. At the White House, he was responsible primarily for Japan,
the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs. Dr. Cha was
also the Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six Party Talks in Beijing, and
received two Outstanding Service commendations during his tenure at the NSC.
He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism:
He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism:
The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press)
(winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize), and The Impossible State: North Korea,
Past and Future (Harper Collins Ecco, 2012) which was selected by Foreign Affairs as a
“Best Book on the Asia-Pacific for 2012.” His newest book is Powerplay: Origins of the American
Alliance system in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2016). He is also co-authoring a new book,
?Korea After Unification: Planning for the Inevitable to be published by Columbia University Press.
He published articles on international relations and East Asia in journals including Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Policy, International Security, Political Science Quarterly, Survival, International Studies
Quarterly, International Journal of the History of Sport, and Asian Survey. Professor Cha is a
former John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University, two-time Fulbright Scholar,
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Scholar at Columbia University, and Hoover National Fellow,
CISAC Fellow, and William J. Perry Fellow at Stanford University. He is a Fellow in Human
Freedom (non-resident) at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Cha is a dedicated teacher and academician. He holds Georgetown’s Distinguished Principal
Dr. Cha is a dedicated teacher and academician. He holds Georgetown’s Distinguished Principal
Investigator Award for 2016, the Dean’s Teaching Award for 2010 and the Distinguished Research
Award for 2011. He founded in 2012 Georgetown’s Master’s degree in Asian Studies and brought
a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant in East Asia to the University for the first time in
Georgetown’s history in 2009. He has served on every major committee assignment at the University,
including the University’s Rank and Tenure Committee as a presidential appointment.
Dr. Cha serves on nine editorial boards of academic journals and is co-editor of the Contemporary
Dr. Cha serves on nine editorial boards of academic journals and is co-editor of the Contemporary
Asia Book Series at Columbia University Press. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
and the Fulbright Association. He has been the principal investigator on nineteen major research
grant projects ranging between $40,000 and $1.6 million from private foundations and
the U.S. government.
He has testified before Congress numerous times on Asian security issues. In 2018, he joined NBC
He has testified before Congress numerous times on Asian security issues. In 2018, he joined NBC
and MSNBC as a News Contributor. Prior to joining NBC, he had been a guest analyst for various
media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The Colbert Report, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox News, PBS,
Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, and National Public Radio. His op-eds
have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Foreign
Policy, Japan Times, and Financial Times. He is a Senior Adviser to Teneo Intelligence, and works
as an independent consultant helping clients in sectors ranging from business and finance to
entertainment.
Dr. Cha received his Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University in 1994, his Master’s in International
Dr. Cha received his Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University in 1994, his Master’s in International
Affairs from Columbia in 1988, M.A. Honours in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University
(Hertford College), and A.B. in Economics from Columbia in 1979.
Chaired by Carter Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History, Harvard University
Chaired by Carter Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History, Harvard University
