About Us

Mission

The mission of the Center for Asian Democracy, established in 2006, is to promote research and teaching about democracy and the prospects for democratization in Central, South, Southeast and East Asia. Through publications, conferences, workshops, visiting scholars programs, colloquia, and research projects in Asian countries, the Center creates a forum for studying political dynamics in this vital region.

Current Staff

 Message from the Director

Welcome to the Center for Asian Democracy.

With a population of over 3.7 billion people Asia is home to over half of the world’s population and is responsible for over 35 percent of world GDP. The region also contains some of the most important regional and great powers in the modern international system including The Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. The 40+ countries that comprise this extraordinarily diverse region include giants such as China and India as well as minnows such as Bhutan, Brunei and The Maldives. It is also home to a diverse array of regime types ranging from the Stalinist totalitarian state of North Korea to military regimes (Burma), monarchies (Bhutan, Brunei), and many states that have either made a transition to democracy or are classified as being somewhere between free societies and not free societies.

Founded in 2006, the Center for Asian Democracy was established as a forum for the analysis of those processes that have helped to foster and consolidate democracy in the region, as well as of those that have and continue to hinder it. CAD hopes that through research, teaching and by engaging the wider community the Center will become a forum for greater awareness and understanding of the region’s political diversity

We invite you to join us,

J. Abbott

Jason P. Abbott, PhD

Director, Center for Asian Democracy

Aung San Suu Kyi Endowed Chair

History