AOKI-OKABE Maki
| AOKI-OKABE Maki |
| [Belonging・Position] | Current Affairs Studies Group, Area Studies Center ・Deputy-Director |
| [Research Field] | International Relations, Thailand, Foreign Policy, Mekong Basin, Regional Cooperation |
| [email] |
Maki_Aoki 
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| researchmap | Profile Information (Research history, education, papers & publications) |
Previous research
I completed my master’s degree (MA) in international relations at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and withdrew from the doctoral course upon completion of the course work. I joined the JETRO Institute of Developing Economies in 2003 and started working at my current position after first working as a foreign resident researcher at the Thammasat University Faculty of Political Science in Bangkok, Thailand from August 2007 to August 2009. In 2021, I served as the secretary of the Asian Trends project.
Current research projects
I am reexamining postwar Thai diplomacy, which has often been discussed in the context of national security, from the standpoint of economic diplomacy and regional cooperation. Postwar diplomacy in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries was often treated as a response to the power struggles of major countries such as the United States and China. It has become clear in recent years, however, that none of the Southeast Asian countries simply followed major countries, and that they tried to solve their issues through diplomacy, taking into account their own domestic politics and relations with neighboring countries. I am attempting to understand modern international affairs in Southeast Asia as more multidimensional and dynamic matters by reexamining Thai diplomacy in terms of democratization of the political system, territorial disputes with neighboring countries, and international cooperation for economic progress, as well as the responses to US–China conflicts and communist influence.