Field of Research
International Relations of East Asia, U.S. Foreign Relations, Cold War
Research Topics
International History, Diplomacy & National Security, Public Diplomacy, Energy Diplomacy, Global History
Overview of Research
Kazushi Minami is a historian of modern and contemporary East Asia. I earned my Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin before joining OSIPP in 2019. Drawing on English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language sources, my research investigates various aspects of international relations in East Asia to foster a deeper historical understanding of the region.
My first book, People’s Diplomacy: How Americans and Chinese Transformed US-China Relations during the Cold War, was published open-access by Cornell University Press
(https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501774157/peoples-diplomacy/).
Drawing on an array of U.S. and Chinese sources, it examines how Americans and Chinese from different walks of life—businesspeople, scientists, students, tourists, athletes, and artists, among others—rebuilt U.S.-China relations during the Cold War.
I am now at work on a second book, The Pivot: Oil, Geopolitics, and the Miracle of East Asia. This book analyzes how oil shaped and reshaped postwar international order of East Asia. It shows that the search for oil at home and abroad, onshore and offshore, precipitated major diplomatic realignments and entrenched U.S.-led global capitalism in the region.
My scholarship has received the Masaharu Matsushita Academic Award (Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation), the Shimizu Hiroshi Award (Japanese Association for American Studies), and the Osaka University Award. I have published peer-reviewed journal articles in Diplomatic History, Cold War History, the Journal of Cold War Studies, the Journal of Women’s History, and Modern American History, as well as chapters in several edited volumes.
Message to Students
At OSIPP, I advise graduate students from around the world, who work on diverse subjects in history, area studies, and qualitative political science, with geographical focus on the Asia-Pacific. I welcome all students who are eager to explore the region’s past, present, and future.
*For Ph.D. students, I only supervise dissertation projects in history or closely related disciplines.
MINAMI, Kazushi
Associate Professor
Degree: Ph.D. in History (University of Texas at Austin)
minami@osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp
