Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS)Waseda University

Name

LEE, Jinwon

Degree

Ph.D. in Political Science

HP (URL)

https://publish.illinois.edu/jinwonlee-88/

Status

Assistant Professor

Research Topic

After Alliance Formation: Peacetime Military Commitments and Alliance Evolution

My research focuses broadly on international security and alliance politics. Specifically, I analyze the dynamics between patrons and protégés in military alliances. My research agenda includes examining how protégés respond to patrons’ military commitments and policy decisions, the interaction between a patron’s military commitments and non-proliferation policies affecting its protégé, and the credibility of nuclear extended deterrence. I have investigated these topics using original large-N data and conducting archival research for in-depth case studies on the US-South Korea and China-North Korea alliances and their intra-alliance relations.

Education and Academic Employment

Education

Academic Employment

Fields of Research Interests

International Security; Military Alliance; Nuclear Politics; Deterrence; International Conflicts; Northeast Asia, US-Asia Relations

Academic Publications

• Jinwon Lee, Jaeseok Cho and Moonyoung Kim “Buying Silence: Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea and Chinese Aid Allocation Patterns for Target Countries”, Journal of East Asian Studies, Published online
  2026:1-24. doi:10.1017/jea.2025.10018.
• HyunJoo Cho and Jinwon Lee, “Understanding South Korea’s nuclear ambitions in public debate: Evidence from a decade data”, Korea Observer Vol. 55, No. 4, Winter 2024, 573-624.
• Jinwon Lee, “To Remain or To Terminate? The Quest for Strategic Autonomy: An Autonomy Cost Model of Alliance Duration” Asian International Studies Review 24 (2023), 1-24.
• Jinwon Lee, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Nuclear Suppliers Group: A Functionalist Perspective on the Regime.” The Korean Journal of International Studies 16-2 (August 2018), 169-202.
• Jinwon Lee. (Feb 2025) “How Do Joint Military Exercises Under the Nuclear Umbrella Affect South Korea’s Stance on Nuclear Proliferation?” Shaping the Future of Security on the Korean Peninsula, ed. Susan A. Thornton (New York, NY: National Committee on American Foreign Policy)

Book

• “North Korea’s Responsible vs. Irresponsible Nuclear behaviors: Examining the Acquisition Process and Post-Acquisition Behaviors in Terms of Nuclear Responsibility”, ed. Todd C. Robinson (Bloomsbury Publishing, March 2026)

Other Interests

Travel, Watching football & baseball, Yoga

Affiliated Academic Organizations

James A. Kelly Non-resident Fellow, Pacific Forum
American Political Science Association
International Studies Association

Awards

APSA Foreign Policy Section Travel Grant Awards, 2025
Asia Research Travel Grant, Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Texas A&M University, 2025
Foreign Policy Impact Summer Institute, Colorado State University and Charles Koch Foundation, 2025
Hans J. Morgenthau Pre-doctoral Fellowship for Grand Strategy, 2023-2024, University of Notre Dame
APSA Travel Grant (American Political Science Association, 2022)
University of Illinois Career Exploration Fellowship, University of Illinois, 2025 Spring
Nuclear Nonproliferation Education and Research Center (NEREC) Research Fellowship, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (2017).
Field Research Grant, KIEP-KU Graduate Program for Area Studies (Laos, Southeast Asia, 2014).
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) Southeast Asian Studies Scholarship (2014).
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) DUO-Korea Fellowship 2009
KOREA University Scholarship for Excellence