David C. Kang

David C. Kang is the Maria Crutcher Professor of International Relations and Professor of International Relations and Business at the University of Southern California (USC). He holds joint appointments in the School of International Relations and Marshall School of Business, and previously served as Director of the Korean Studies Institute (2009–2018), Center for International Studies (2015–2018), and East Asian Studies Center (2012–2015).

• Education: Ph.D. in Political Science (Berkeley, 1995), A.B. in International Relations and Anthropology (Stanford, 1988)

His research spans three core areas: historical East Asian international relations, contemporary regional security dynamics, and Korean politics. He challenges Western-centric paradigms in analyzing East Asian systems, emphasizing cultural and historical factors over structural explanations. Recent work focuses on state formation, tribute systems, and the absence of balancing behavior against China.

Publications since 2022 highlight state-building processes in premodern Korea and Japan, U.S. biases in Asia studies, and asymmetrical warfare in historical contexts. His 2025 articles address U.S.-China relations, North Korean stability, and Trump-era diplomacy.

Scientific Recognition:

• Best article in European Journal of International Relations (2007–2009)
• Former Fulbright Scholar

At USC, Kang directs the Korean Studies Institute and has collaborated on datasets like the Early Modern East Asian Dataset v3.0 (2018). He previously taught at Dartmouth, Yale, Korea University, and Stanford.