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NUPI skole

Researcher

Wrenn Yennie Lindgren

Senior Research Fellow
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Contactinfo and files

wyl@nupi.no
+(47) 904 71 908
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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 DiplomacyJapanese 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

  • Security policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Asia
  • The Arctic
  • Energy
  • Oceans
  • International organizations

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

Publications
Publications
Report

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.

  • Security policy
  • International economics
  • Security policy
  • International economics
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

What can we learn from Japan’s efforts to achieve economic security?

A recent NUPI report highlights the increasing importance of economic security on the global political stage. This shift is prompting OECD countries, including Norway, to rethink their approach to global economic engagement.
  • Security policy
  • International economics
  • Trade
  • International investments
  • Globalisation
  • Asia
  • The Nordic countries
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Publications
Publications
Scientific article

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.

  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • Conflict
  • Governance
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  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • Conflict
  • Governance
Understanding Xi Jinping’s China
Podcast

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...

Articles
Analysis
Articles
Analysis

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 suggest not only that China’s rise is slowing down but that it is only increasing in controversial terms vis-a-vis the West.
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
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Event
09:00 - 10:00
NUPI
Engelsk
Event
09:00 - 10:00
NUPI
Engelsk
18. Jun 2024
Event
09:00 - 10:00
NUPI
Engelsk

Breakfast seminar: USA and geopolitics

Kenneth R. Weinstein will give us insight into US foreign policy and geopolitics at this seminar.

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Research Project
2023 - 2027 (Ongoing)

China and Evolving Multilateral Craftmanship in the Age of Digitalization (CHIMULTI)

Which international organizations develop responsibilities for digital technology (digitech) governance and how do major powers work to craft influence in these organizations? This is the overarching ...

  • Cyber
  • Asia
  • Governance
  • International organizations
  • Cyber
  • Asia
  • Governance
  • International organizations
Publications
Publications
Research paper

All Quiet on the Northern Front? Russian Media Coverage of Russia-China Arctic Cooperation

This research paper explores the extent and focus of China’s engagement in the Russian Arctic from one key Russian official media outlet, Rossiiskaya gazeta, and highlights how the daily’s coverage provides further context for understanding Russia’s approach to China in the Arctic.

  • Russia and Eurasia
  • The Arctic
  • The Nordic countries
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  • Russia and Eurasia
  • The Arctic
  • The Nordic countries
Publications
Publications
Op-ed

Do regime differences shape developmental engagement? How China and Japan compete in post-coup Myanmar

The 2021 military coup in Myanmar has left the country significantly isolated on the world stage. Politically, foreign governments have avoided recognizing the junta rulers, although quasi-official engagement is still underway. Economically, foreign investments into Myanmar have dropped by 42% from 2021 to 2022, off levels that had already massively decreased since the 2017 Rohingya expulsion. However, despite the international outcry over the new regime’s open warfare against civilians and the escalating violence in Myanmar’s multi-front civil war, both China and Japan have remained engaged in development cooperation, pursuing ambitious projects for economic corridors and special economic zones (SEZs) that were contracted under the deposed civilian government; in the case of China, even some new projects have been launched.

  • Security policy
  • International economics
  • International investments
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
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  • Security policy
  • International economics
  • International investments
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Anarchy is a Bridge: Russia and China are Pushing NATO and Japan Together

After nearly 70 years of distant relations, security ties between NATO and Japan are flourishing. A number of important initiatives have recently been adopted, including high-level political dialogues, joint military training, and cooperation in science, technology, and cyber security. This article considers recent developments in NATO-Japan relations and in particular their origins, drivers and implications.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Asia
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  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Asia
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