Victor Cha - School of Foreign Service

Georgetown University Faculty in Research

Dr. Victor Cha is the Director of the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic Studies. Additionally, he holds the D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in Asian Studies, and serves as the Vice Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs in the School of Foreign Service. From 2004-2007, Victor served at the White House as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, where he was primarily responsible for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs. He was also the Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six-Party Talks in Beijing and received two Outstanding Service commendations. In addition to his myriad of accolades, awards and fellowships, he has written numerous articles and is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle. Table of Contents: 0:00 Intro 1:27: How did you get to Georgetown University? 3:07: Where were you headed before you became interested in International Relations? 4:50: Do you still find Economics useful in your field? 6:23 How has being in Washington offered opportunities which might otherwise not have been available? 7:13 Some colleagues have discussed how it gets noisy in Washington, how do you manage that? 9:38 How do you handle your competing priorities? 13:45 So are you an early riser and research in the morning? 12:19 How have you dealt with Teaching and Research and have you found ways of integrating those? 14:13 What did you learn in government that you didn’t know before you started? 16:05 Did you feel the forces of uncertainty given the time constraints of policy decision making? 17:38 What is the most exciting thing you’re working on right now? 21:16 Conclusion Main Theme: Corporate Technology by Scott Holmes Background: Horizon Soundscapes by RF Soundtracks