Researcher
Wrenn Yennie Lindgren
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Summary
Wrenn Yennie Lindgren is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Center for Asian Research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), as well as an Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI).
Her main research interests are: foreign policy analysis, international relations in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, the politics and foreign policy of Japan, and Asia-Arctic diplomacy.
Recent research projects have focused on: Japan’s foreign and security policy legitimation; infrastructure power and responses to China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI); Japan’s multilateral engagement, including NATO-Japan relations; identity politics in Sino-Japanese relations; Japan-Russia energy cooperation; Japan’s engagement in Southeast Asia; and alternative alignments in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, since joining NUPI in 2013, Wrenn has worked on issues related to Asia-Arctic diplomacy.
Wrenn currently leads the multi-year project Roads to Power? The political effects of infrastructure projects in Asia (ROADS) , funded by The Research Council of Norway. She also co-leads the international research project ‘Coercive and Emotional Diplomacy in East Asia: Japanese Responses’, funded by Nordforsk, and co-developed and participates in the projects Chinese Anger Diplomacy (ANGER) and China and Evolving Multilateral Craftmanship in the Age of Digitalization (CHIMULTI), both funded by The Research Council of Norway.
Wrenn’s peer-reviewed work has appeared in, inter alia, The Pacific Review, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Asian Perspective, Asian Politics & Policy, International Quarterly for Asian Studies, Polar Geography and Journal of Eurasian Studies. She co-edited the volume China and Nordic Diplomacy (Routledge, 2018) and contributed chapters on Japan to the volume Kinship in International Relations (Routledge, 2018) and The Routledge Handbook of Arctic Security (Routledge, 2020).
Wrenn holds a PhD in International Relations from Stockholm University and master's degrees in International Policy Studies (Monterey Institute of International Studies, U.S.) and Asia and Middle East Studies (University of Oslo). She has extensive fieldwork experience in Japan and was a Japan Foundation Fellow at Meiji University from 2018-2019 and visiting fellow at Waseda University`s Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies (GSAPS) in Tokyo.
Expertise
Education
2016-2021 Stockholm University, PhD in International Relations
2018-2019 Visiting Researcher and Japan Foundation Fellow, Meiji University, Tokyo
2012-2014 University of Oslo, MPhil Asia and Middle East Studies
2007-2011 Monterey Institute of International Policy Studies, MA International Policy Studies
2009-2010 Waseda University Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Tokyo, Visiting Graduate Student
2008-2009 The Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Stanford University, Yokohama
2004-2007 Pepperdine University, BA International Studies and French
Work Experience
2021- Senior Research Fellow, NUPI
2017- Associate Fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI)
2013-2021 Research Fellow, NUPI
2016-2017 Visiting Research Fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI)
2011-2013 Communication Consultant, Freelance
2011 Junior Fellow, Office of the Rector, United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo
2010 APEC Liaison, Economic Section, U.S. Embassy Tokyo, U.S. Department of State
2010 Intern, Political Section, U.S. Embassy Tokyo, U.S. Department of State
2007-2008 Graduate Research Assistant, East Asia Nonproliferation Program, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
2005-2007 Teaching Assistant, French Department, Pepperdine University
2006 Intern Analyst, International Affairs and Trade Section, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Aktivitet
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Global governance in transition: EU–Japan perspectives
New forms of cooperation are emerging, and countries are increasingly turning to smaller, more flexible alliances to navigate uncertainty. In this...
The Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Economics, Politics, and Norms
Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) strategy aims to promote economic prosperity, peace, free trade, and the rule of law across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Scholars primarily have interpreted FOIP through three lenses: economics, security, and norms. Economically, it reflects Japan’s support for regional connectivity, trade, and infrastructure development as both a growth strategy and a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In security terms, FOIP emphasizes maritime readiness, defense cooperation with like-minded partners, and adherence to international maritime law amid tensions in the South and East China Seas. Normatively, it advances Japan’s values-based diplomacy, promoting democracy, human rights, and a rules-based order in contrast to authoritarian models. Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced FOIP in 2016, the concept has been adopted and adapted by many and diverse actors, each aligning it with their own strategic aims. This flexibility, unlike the more centralized BRI, is a hallmark of FOIP, resulting in a co-created, evolving, and often strategically ambiguous foreign policy. Dozens of countries from across the world incorporate FOIP language in their foreign and security policies, forming what some may consider a “narrative alliance” in the international system. The scholarship on FOIP is growing rapidly, yet there remain significant theoretical, methodological, and empirical questions unanswered.
Chinese infrastructure power in a changing global landscape and its alternatives
This seminar draws on five years of research to examine China's Belt and Road Initiative and its alternatives, from Europe and Latin America to Southeast Asia and the MENA region.
Navigating a Multiplex World Order
Is the liberal international order coming to an end, and what follows the era of American hegemony? In this episode of The World Stage, Senior Res...
Networked defense in the Indo-Pacific: Deepening security and defense relations between Australia and Japan and the role of Norway
The Indo-Pacific security architecture is developing into a more networked constellation involving a combination of overlapping bilateral, trilateral, minilateral and multilateral arrangements. Deepening defense cooperation between Japan and Australia parallels Europe and Norway’s heightened engagement and presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Norway’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific involves gaining deeper insight into a region of increasing strategic importance and the opportunity to promote its own defense industry. This research was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, through the project ‘Japan’s Shifting Role in Regional Defence and Global Security’.
Central Asia between China and Russia: Exercising Agency in a Changing Regional Order
This report addresses a central question: why has China’s expanding engagement in Central Asia not led to direct rivalry with Russia? Organised around thematic expert contributions, the report examines Sino-Russian relations, China’s role in shaping regional order, and the economic and social dimensions of its engagement. It concludes with policy recommendations for the United Kingdom on how to apply existing priorities more effectively in Central Asia.
Japan and Strategic Connectivity: Policies, Partners, and Possibilities
This report analyses the increasingly important role of infrastructure development and connectivity as a central arena of global geopolitical competition, particularly focusing on Japan’s connectivity policy under the banner of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The core aim of this report is to explore how Japan seeks to utilise strategic connectivity, specifically through its multi-layered approach, as a pivotal geopolitical instrument to project influence and promote a rules-based order, amidst rising competition with China. The report offers ten actionable policy recommendations, in particular, for the European Union.
Not What to Have, but How to Have It: Japan’s Debate on Acquiring Counterstrike Capabilities 2016–2023
As part of its historic defense buildup, Japan is incorporating counterstrike capabilities in its defense posture. While previous administrations were reluctant to pursue such capabilities, during the second Abe administration (2012–2020) the Liberal Democratic Party-Kōmeitō coalition eventually deemed them necessary for Japan’s self-defense. However, the belief that conducting counterstrikes is within the boundaries of Japan’s constitution and exclusively defense-oriented policy is contested. In this article, we study the parliamentary debate on acquiring counterstrike capabilities and examine how Japanese politicians discuss the parameters of the use of this controversial military instrument. Based on a content analysis of parliamentary transcripts, we find that three topics in particular are central to the debate on counterstrike capabilities: (1) the defense of Taiwan, (2) the role of the US in Japan’s defense and interoperability, and (3) the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although the opposition and ruling parties differ in their positions on the parameters for conducting counterstrikes, such an acquisition is no longer politically unsustainable. As such, the parliamentary debate is increasingly about the use and implementation of counterstrikes rather than their existence at all.