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Expert Bio
Joshua Kurlantzick is senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is the author, most recently, of Beijing's Global Media Offensive: China's Uneven Campaign To Influence Asia and the World. Kurlantzick was previously a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he studied Southeast Asian politics and economics and China's relations with Southeast Asia, including Chinese investment, aid, and diplomacy. Previously, he was a fellow at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy and a fellow at the Pacific Council on International Policy. He is currently focused on China’s relations with Southeast Asia, and China’s approach to soft and sharp power, including state-backed media and information efforts and other components of soft and sharp power. He is also working on issues related to the rise of global populism, populism in Asia, and the impact of COVID-19 on illiberal populism and political freedom overall.
Kurlantzick has also served as a columnist for Time, a correspondent for The Economist based in Bangkok, a special correspondent for the New Republic, a senior correspondent for the American Prospect, and a contributing writer for Mother Jones. He also serves on the editorial board of Current History.
He is the winner of the Luce Scholarship for journalism in Asia and was selected as a finalist for the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism in Asia. His first book, Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power Is Transforming the World, was nominated for CFR’s 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award. He is also the author of A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA, State Capitalism: How the Return of Statism is Transforming the World, and Democracy in Retreat: The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline in Representative Government.
Kurlantzick received his BA in political science from Haverford College.
Affiliations:
- Freedom House, contributor to Freedom in the World
- Japan Times, monthly contributor
- Pinter Politik, contributor
- World Politics Review, monthly contributor
- Diplomat Risk Intelligence, participant in expert network
- GLG Network, participant in expert network
Featured
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Since China’s ascendancy toward great power status began in the 1990s, many observers have focused on its economic growth and expanding military power. In contrast, most viewed China’s ability to project soft and sharp power through its media industries and its global influence campaigns as quite limited, and its ability to wield influence within the domestic politics of other countries as nearly nonexistent. In Beijing's Global Media Offensive, Joshua Kurlantzick offers an incisive analysis of China’s attempt in the past decade to become both a media and information superpower around the world, and to wield traditional forms of influence to shape the domestic politics of other countries. The CFR Fellows’ Book Launch series highlights new books by CFR fellows.
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Panelists discuss the regression of democracy and rights in Southeast Asia, with a particular look at the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. A Thousand Cuts follows renowned journalist Maria Ressa, who has become a top target of President Duterte’s crackdown on the news media, and explores the escalating war between the Duterte government and the press. CFR members are encouraged to watch the PBS FRONTLINE documentary A Thousand Cuts prior to the virtual discussion. The film is available to watch on the PBS FRONTLINE website.
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Panelists discuss the effects of the coronavirus across Asia, including lockdowns, economic challenges, and prospects for recovery.
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This symposium will convene CFR scholars and experts from think tanks and academic institutions to examine the state of democratic governments around the world, the roles of economics, identity, and technology in empowering or undermining democracy, and what steps governments can take to protect and promote democracy at home and abroad. This symposium is made possible by the generous support of the Hauser Foundation.
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Joshua Kurlantzick discusses his new book, A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA.
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Bernie Adeney-Risakotta and Siti Syamsiyatun of Gadjah Mada University's Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies discuss the role of gender and Islam in Indonesian public policy, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.
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Following Myanmar's April by-elections, the United States and others have discussed the possibility of lifting sanctions, opening aid and investment opportunities, and normalizing diplomatic relations with the military-backed civilian government. Please join Joshua Kurlantzick and Lex Rieffel to assess the challenges and opportunities of modifying U.S. political and economic policy toward Myanmar.