Office: 659 ICC
Office Hours: Effective December 2004 Professor Cha will be on public service leave from Georgetown. He will work as a Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, the White House.
Telephone: (202) 687-2978
Fax: (202) 687-5858
E-mail: chav@georgetown.edu
Areas of Specialization: International Relations, East Asia
Vitae (pdf)

Professor Victor D. Cha (Ph.D. Columbia, BA/MA Oxford) holds the D. S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in Asian Studies in the Department of Government and the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He is the award-winning author of Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press) (winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize) and has written articles on international relations and East Asia in journals including Foreign Affairs, International Security, Political Science Quarterly, Survival, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Strategic Studies, The Washington Quarterly, Orbis, Journal of Peace Research, Security Dialogue, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Korean Studies, and Asian Survey.

Professor Cha is a former John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University, two-time Fulbright Scholar, and Hoover National Fellow and CISAC Fellow at Stanford. He serves as an independent consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense (Office of the Secretary of Defense), Booz Allen, SAIC, and CENTRA Technology, and has testified before Congress on Asian security issues. He has been a guest analyst for various media including CNN, ABC Nightline,CBS Morning Show, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, National Public Radio, New York Times, Washington Post and Time. He serves on the editorial board of Asian Security (Stanford Univ. Press); Journal of Comparative Governance; and Korean Journal of International Relations. He is a regular columnist for CSIS Comparative Connections; Joongang Ilbo-International Herald Tribune (English edition); and Japan Times.

Prof. Cha currently is Director of the American Alliances in Asia Project at Georgetown, and is co-author of a forthcoming 2003 book, Nuclear North Korea? A Debate on Strategies of Engagement.

Course Schedule

Spring 2005:
Effective December 2004 Professor Cha will be on public service leave from
Georgetown. He will work as a Director for Asian Affairs at the National
Security Council, the White House.

Recently Taught Courses

Fall 2004:
GOVT 510 International Relations Theory and Practice (Syllabus)
This course is a graduate-level introduction to contemporary theories and problems in international relations. The objectives of this course are (a) to introduce students to mainstream theories of international relations; (b) to assess the explanatory power of these theories and examine how to apply them to the study of international politics; and (c) to demonstrate how these theories can be used to formulate foreign policy.

GOVT 597 Theory and Policy in Northeast Asia (Syllabus)
Course Description not yet available.

Spring 2004:
GOVT 006-01:08 International Relations (Syllabus)
This course investigates the scope and methods of international affairs. Emphasis will be placed on analysis of the distinctive characteristics of the international arena, recurrent patterns of interstate action, and the major techniques for the implementation of foreign policies. Discussion sections required.

GOVT 479 Korean Security and Foreign Policy (Syllabus)
Course Description not yet available.

Fall 2003:
GOVT 394 East Asian Security (Syllabus)
This course provides an introduction to the politics and security of the East Asian
region. The focus is primarily on interaction among the Northeast Asian powers (China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States). After an initial survey of regional security dynamics in a historical, Cold War and Post-Cold War context, we will attempt to answer a number of theoretically-driven questions regarding stability and security in the region. These include: Over what issues is the security dilemma most acute in East Asia? Is there a regional arms race and is it de-stabilizing? To what extent will security relations be determined by nationalism and historical animosities on the one hand, or basic balance of power dynamics on the other? What is the potential for multilateral security cooperation? What is the potential for an Asian "democratic peace?" Issues to be considered in addressing these questions include: Taiwan straits, Northern territories, Korean unification, Spratley islands, and the future U.S. security presence in the region. Pre-requisite: GOVT 006 or equivalent.

Spring 2003:
 On leave.

Fall 2002:
On leave.

Spring 2002:
GOVT 434 Department Seminar: Korea, America, and Asia: Politics and Security (Syllabus)
This new course will investigate the politics and security of Northeast Asia through the analytic lense of the bilateral United States-South Korea relationship. Concepts to be studied include: globalization and security; models of engagement diplomacy; grand strategy and strategic culture; alliance management; multilateral security institutions; and proliferation. Empirical topics include the US-ROK alliance and its interaction with China, Japan, Australia, and Russia; North Korea; the United Nations; and ASEAN. This course is a reading seminar with class presentations and one major research paper. No previous background on Korea is expected. Upperclassmen and graduate students welcome. Students who are writing Asian Studies or IPOL or Govt Honors theses related in some part to Korea are particularly encouraged to take the class. Students who have previously taken GOVT 275 must see the instructor before registering for class.

Fall 2001:
GOVT 394 East Asian Security (Syllabus)
See above.

Spring 2001:
On leave

Fall 2000:
GOVT 394 East Asian Security (Syllabus)
See above.

Spring 2000:
GOVT 006 International Relations (Syllabus)
See above.

GOVT 275 Korean Foreign Relations (Syllabus)

Fall 1999:
GOVT 394 East Asian Security (Syllabus)
See above.