Kristin Vekasi’s talk at the Witherle Memorial Library in Castine on February 13 has been CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

Professor Vekasi of the University of Maine will speak on how Chinese domestic politics and American national interests have set a course for potential conflict over the South China Sea. The talk will unpack the complex political and economics conflicts in the region, and discuss policy options to deescalate military tensions and increase peaceful cooperation.

Kristin Vekasi is an assistant professor in the department of political science and School of Policy and International Affairs. She received her PhD at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has conducted extensive research and fieldwork across Northeast Asia, particularly in Japan and China. She has been a visiting fellow with the Japan Foundation at Tokyo University, a Fulbright Fellow at Tohoku University, and a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellow at the Harbin Institute of Technology. Vekasi’s research focuses on Japan-China relations, and how multinational firms manage political risk in a globalized and politicized world. Recent publications discuss how private firms use cultural exchange programs to improve tense international relations, and responses to China’s use of rare earth metals in their economic statecraft.