About the Expert
Expert Bio
Scott A. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His program examines South Korea’s efforts to contribute on the international stage; its potential influence and contributions as a middle power in East Asia; and the peninsular, regional, and global implications of North Korean instability. Mr. Snyder is the author of South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers (January 2018) and coauthor of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States (May 2015) with Brad Glosserman. He is also the coeditor of North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (October 2012), and the editor of Global Korea: South Korea’s Contributions to International Security (October 2012) and The U.S.-South Korea Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges (March 2012). Mr. Snyder served as the project director for CFR’s Independent Task Force on policy toward the Korean Peninsula. He currently writes for the blog Asia Unbound.
Mr. Snyder has authored numerous book chapters on aspects of Korean politics and foreign policy and Asian regionalism. He is the author of China’s Rise and the Two Koreas: Politics, Economics, Security (January 2009), Paved With Good Intentions: The NGO Experience in North Korea (coeditor, August 2003), and Negotiating on the Edge: North Korean Negotiating Behavior (November 1999). Mr. Snyder has provided advice to nongovernmental and humanitarian organizations active in North Korea and serves on the advisory council of the National Committee on North Korea and Global Resource Services.
Prior to joining CFR, Mr. Snyder was a senior associate in the international relations program of the Asia Foundation, where he founded and directed the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy and served as the Asia Foundation’s representative in Korea (2000–2004). He was also a senior associate at Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Snyder has worked as an Asia specialist in the research and studies program of the U.S. Institute of Peace and as acting director of Asia Society’s contemporary affairs program. He was a Pantech visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center during 2005–2006, and received an Abe fellowship, administered by the Social Sciences Research Council, in 1998–1999.
Mr. Snyder received a BA from Rice University and an MA from the regional studies East Asia program at Harvard University. He was a Thomas G. Watson fellow at Yonsei University in South Korea.
Affiliations:
- Japan Bank of International Cooperation, consultant
- National Committee on North Korea, co-chair
- “Washington Talk,” VOA Korean Service, guest analyst
Featured
Current Projects
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A return to provocations as North Korea’s primary mechanism for drawing international attention would signal weakness, not the intended message of strength.
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Biden's return to a conventional alliance management approach could shed light on cracks in the U.S.-South Korea alliance previously obfuscated by Trump's unconventional approach.
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Tensions rocketed on June 16 when North Korea demolished a liaison office that had stood as a symbol of hope for improved communications.
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This week, North Korea’s Kim family dynasty imposed a new test of loyalty on its southern neighbors and found them lacking.
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Only performance, not ideology, will enable Moon's ruling party to secure a lasting legacy.
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The scale of the Democratic Party’s victory virtually eliminates the ability of the opposition to obstruct major legislation.
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Policies governing face masks and other protective equipment access have revealed the high political stakes of government responses to the crisis in an election year in both countries.
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Despite South Korea’s high capacity for response, COVID-19's spread may incite human, economic, and political disasters
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Coronavirus will likely be far more effective than sanctions in inducing internal changes in North Korea.
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Has the time come for South Korean tourists to return to Mount Kumgang?
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South Koreans and Americans strongly support the U.S.-South Korea security alliance as a hedge against China’s rise.
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The United States must protect the alliance architecture in Northeast Asia from internal threats, so that it will be prepared if and when external threats come its way.
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Without proper preparations, what can a handshake at the DMZ deliver?
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Despite both leaders’ desire to highlight their own achievements, the second summit’s outcome may be determined more by the ability of each side to respond to each other’s weaknesses than by the ability to project strength.
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U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun's first public speech provides a useful status report, only three weeks before Trump and Kim meet for a second time.
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Trump must put his affairs in order to strengthen his hand going into a second meeting with Kim Jong-un.