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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Annual Lecture: Dictating the Agenda – How Authoritarians are Transforming Global Governance
Based on their new book "Dictating the Agenda", Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis reveal the important authoritarian changes underway across various global governance domains.
Breakfast seminar: The Past and Future of Europe-China relations
Which role has Europe played in shaping China’s political identity?
Assessing Alternative Alignments: China’s Reception of the Quad, Aukus and IPEF
Under President Xi Jinping, China has developed its own vision of political and strategic order on a global scale, with the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) being a major part of it. Anchoring itself in over 150 countries and organizations, the colossal undertaking instigated a new literature on how it should be understood in the context of inter-state dynamics, world order and power distribution. The BRI also precipitated a number of alternative alignments from major Western economies such as the US, Japan and the EU that involve both infrastructure-specific initiatives and broader foreign and security policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific region. Over a decade since the BRI’s inception, the menu of these alternatives has become significantly longer, yet we still know little about how their standalone policies compare and how they are perceived and received by Beijing. This chapter considers three of the major alternative alignments to counter Chinese influence, namely: (1) the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), (2) AUKUS, and (3) Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). It directs analysis to the alternatives’ major attributes and evolutions before comparing and contrasting China’s reception of them. Analysis is based on a review of government statements, academic literature, policy documents and media articles.
The New Geography of Danger: Japan’s Shifting Role in Regional and Global Security
This project will contribute with knowledge and competence building about Japan’s shifting role as a security actor in the Indo-Pacific region and globally. ...
Implementing Economic Security in Norway: Lessons from Japan
While few OECD countries have experiences in making a shift to economic security and operationalizing the term, Japan is an outlier. Japan was the first country to implement legislation on economic security with the Economic Security Protection Act (ESPA), in 2022. As a first mover, Japan stands out as one of the few cases to draw on in developing lessons learned and identifying the challenges in putting economic security into practice. In this report, we consider how economic security has been implemented in Japan, the development of a holistic whole-of-government approach, and the importance of developing a uniform conceptualization of economic security adopted coherently across public and private organizations. Subsequently, we briefly examine the perspectives of the Nordic states and their respective evolving approaches to economic security. Finally, we outline some lessons learned and key experiences and discuss their relevance for the Norwegian context.
Reinforcing Trust, Evoking Nostalgia and Contrasting China: Japan's Foreign Policy Repertoire and Identity Construction in Myanmar
In the immediate aftermath of the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, Western countries and the EU condemned the coup, imposed targeted sanctions against military leaders and military-owned companies, and redirected essential humanitarian aid to NGOs. Japan, however, chose to neither align with its democratic allies nor completely suspend its aid. Despite a long and complicated pre-war history and limited engagement after 1988, Japan-Myanmar relations experienced a resurgence between 2012 and 2021. This article contends that one key driving force in contemporary relations is identity construction. Drawing on the literature on relational identity and foreign policy repertoires, the article demonstrates how the discursive statements and embodied practices of a network of Japanese identity entrepreneurs activate, negotiate, and renegotiate the identities of the Japanese Self and its Others. Through an analysis of interviews conducted with elite stakeholders in Myanmar and Japan, the article studies Japan’s constructed identity as an economic great power and post-war development pioneer, peace promoter, and diplomatic mediator. It finds that Japan constructs its identity temporally in terms of nostalgia (natsukashisa) and a longing for a time when Japan was a post-war industrial powerhouse, but also spatially in terms of Japan’s legal, moral, and industrial superiority over other countries involved in Myanmar’s development, in particular vis-à-vis China.
Understanding Xi Jinping’s China
Over a year into Xi Jinping’s historic third five-year term as President, China continues to make headlines worldwide. Many of these headlines now...
Breakfast seminar: USA and geopolitics
Kenneth R. Weinstein will give us insight into US foreign policy and geopolitics at this seminar.