Andrew Yeo

Andrew Yeo is a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Asia Policy Studies. He is also a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Yeo is co-editor of the forthcoming book “Great Power Competition and Overseas Bases: Chinese, Russian, and American Force Posture in the 21st Century” (Brookings Institution Press, forthcoming). He is also the author or co-editor of five other books including  “Asia’s Regional Architecture: Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century” (Stanford University Press, 2019), “State, Society, and Markets in North Korea” (Cambridge University Press 2021), “North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks” (Cambridge University Press 2018); “Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests” (Cambridge University Press 2011); and “Living in an Age of Mistrust: An Interdisciplinary Study of Declining Trust in Contemporary Society and Politics and How to Get it Back” (Routledge Press 2017).

Yeo is currently working on a project that examines the role of narratives in the formation of grand strategy, particularly in the context of South Korea. His research also covers U.S. alliances in Asia, Asia’s regional architecture and institutional change, U.S. grand strategy and force posture, South Korean foreign policy, U.S.-North Korea relations, and North Korean human rights. As a scholar working at the intersection of international relations and comparative politics, he also has an interest in studying civil society, social and transnational movements, and democratization.

Yeo is a firm believer in connecting academic theory with policy relevant research. As an expert on Asia, U.S.-South Korea relations, and North Korea, he has written reports, given talks, participated in conferences and roundtable discussions, and collaborated on projects with several research and academic institutions in the United States and in Asia. Yeo’s scholarly publications can be found in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, Comparative Strategy, Journal of East Asian Studies, Asian Studies Review, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific among others. His other writings have appeared in the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Hill, The National Interest, and The Diplomat. He has offered commentary in a variety of media outlets including CNN, NBC, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, Channel News Asia, Arirang TV, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Economist, South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera, Japan Times, Korea Times, Chosun Ilbo, Hankyoreh, Kyunghyang Shinmun, and Joongang Ilbo.

Yeo is a member of the National Committee on North Korea. He is part of the first cohort of the Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholars Network (2020-21) and the first cohort of the Korea Foundation-Mansfield Foundation Scholar-Policy Nexus (2013-14). He is a two-time recipient of a U.S. Fulbright scholar award conducting research as a senior scholar in the Philippines in 2020, and as a graduate student in South Korea in 2005-06. Yeo received his doctorate in government from Cornell University, and bachelor’s in psychology and international studies from Northwestern University.

Affiliations:

• American Political Science Association (APSA), member
• Association of Korean Political Studies, member
• Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs, editorial board member
• International Studies Association (ISA), member
• International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, advisory board member
• ISA International Security Studies Section, governing council member
• Korean-American Student Conference, national advisory committee
• National Committee for North Korea, member
• Security Studies, editorial board member