Victor Cha

President, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair
Victor Cha

Victor Cha is president, Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair. He is also the distinguished university professor and professor of government at Georgetown University. He was appointed in 2021 by the Biden administration to serve on the Defense Policy Board in an advisory role to the secretary of defense. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the National Security Council (NSC) and was responsible for Japan, Korea, Australia/New Zealand, and Pacific Island nations. Dr. Cha was U.S. deputy head of delegation at the Six Party Talks and received two outstanding service commendations during his tenure at the NSC. He is the author of seven books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford, 1999) (winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize), The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Ecco, 2012) selected by Foreign Affairs as a “Best Book on the Asia-Pacific for 2012", Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton, 2018), and Korea: A New History of South and North (Yale, 2023). Dr. Cha is a two-time Fulbright scholar, former Olin fellow at Harvard, and former Hoover, CISAC, and Koret fellow at Stanford. He currently serves on 10 editorial boards of academic journals and is coeditor of the Contemporary Asia book series at Columbia University Press. He serves on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy and is a senior fellow at the George W. Bush Institute. He is also a foreign affairs contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. Dr. Cha received his PhD, MIA and BA degree from Columbia University and a BA Honors from Oxford University.

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The Global Impact of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

Please join us for the inaugural event of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department to discuss a collection of essays by CSIS scholars assessing the meaning of the election for Europe, Russia, Eurasia, the Indo-Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Event — September 26, 2024

Foreword: An Election of Global Consequence

The inaugural report from the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department features a set of essays from CSIS scholars assessing the global impact of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Read the foreword by Victor Cha.

Commentary by Victor Cha — September 26, 2024

The Impossible State

The Black Box

In this episode, Andrew Schwarz and Victor Cha discuss Dr. Victor Cha's new book, The Black Box: Demystifying the Study of Korean Unification and North Korea.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Victor Cha — September 26, 2024

CSIS The Impossible State North Korea
Audio Briefs

Foreword: An Election of Global Consequence

An audio version of “Foreword: An Election of Global Consequence,” a new commentary by CSIS’s Victor Cha. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Victor Cha — September 25, 2024

Audio Briefs

The Impossible State Live Podcast: The Black Box

Please join the Impossible State live podcast for a special discussion on Victor Cha's new book, The Black Box: Demystifying the Study of Korean Unification and North Korea.

Event — September 23, 2024

What's Happening in North Korea? The Capital Cable #98

On the 98th episode of the Capital Cable, we are joined by Dr. Jung Pak, former Senior Official for the DPRK, Mr. Sydney Seiler and Dr. Katrin Katz to discuss the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula. 

Event — September 19, 2024

The Impossible State

Recent Developments in North Korea

In this episode, Dr. Cha and Mr. Bruce Klingner discuss recent developments regarding North Korea's missile deployment, successor plan, garbage-filled balloons, and more. 

Podcast Episode by Victor Cha — August 19, 2024

CSIS The Impossible State North Korea