Professor Kristi Govella

Professor Govella has long dark hair. She is wearing a navy dress and blazer.
Associate Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations

Kristi Govella is Associate Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations in the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies and the School of Global and Area Studies at the University of Oxford and a Governing Body Fellow of St. Antony’s College.

She specializes in the intersection of economics, security, and governance, with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region and Japan. Her research has examined topics such as economic statecraft, government-business relations, regional institutional architecture, military alliances, and the governance of the global commons. She also serves as Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Asia Policy.

Prior to joining the University of Oxford, Dr. Govella was Assistant Professor of Asian Studies and Director of the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Asia Program at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, and Associate Professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. She has also been a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in Political Science and Japanese from the University of Washington, Seattle.
 

Research Interests

Research Disciplines:

  • Political Science
  • International Relations
  • Political Economy
  • Politics
  • Comparative Politics
  • Diplomacy

Research Keywords:

  • Foreign policy
  • Economics
  • Security
  • Governance
  • Economic statecraft
  • Government-business relations
  • Regional institutional architecture
  • Military alliances
  • Global commons
  • Maritime security
  • Cybersecurity
  • Outer space

Countries:

  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • China
  • Indo-Pacific

Research Cluster:

 

Contact Information

Email: kristi.govella@nissan.ox.ac.uk

CV and publications

Books

  • Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella, eds. 2013. Linking Trade and Security: Evolving Institutions and Strategies in Asia, Europe, and the United States. New York: Springer.
  • Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella, eds. 2012. Responding to a Resurgent Russia: Russian Policy and Responses from the European Union and the United States. New York: Springer.

Articles

  • Kristi Govella. 2025. “Undersea Cables, Geoeconomics, and Security in the Indo-Pacific: Risks and Resilience.” Marine Policy.
  • Kristi Govella. 2025. “South Korea’s Engagement in Asian Regional Outer Space Institutions: Economics, Security, and Institutional Design.” Asian Security. https://doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2025.2483181
  • Kristi Govella. 2025. “U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Engagement on Economic Security: Disentangling Resilience, Competitiveness, and Protection.” Asia Policy 20(1): 28–32.
  • Kristi Govella. 2023. “Avoiding and Exploiting the Tragedy of the Commons: Fishing, Crime, and Conflict in the South China Sea.” International Politics 60: 1294–1314.
  • Kristi Govella. 2021. “China’s Challenge to the Global Commons: Compliance, Contestation, and Subversion in the Maritime and Cyber Domains.” International Relations 35(3): 446–68.
  • Kristi Govella. 2021. “The Adaptation of Japanese Economic Statecraft: Trade, Aid and Technology.” World Trade Review 20(2): 186–202.
  • Kristi Govella. 2019. “Technology and Tensions in the Global Commons.” Fletcher Security Review 6(1): 38–44.
  • Kristi Govella and Steven Vogel. 2008. “Japan in 2007: A Divided Government.” Asian Survey 48(1): 97–106

Book chapters

  • Kristi Govella. 2023. “The Role of the United Nations in Japanese Foreign Policy and Security Architecture.” In The United Nations, Indo-Pacific and Korean Peninsula: An Emerging Security Architecture, eds. Shin-wha Lee and Jagannath Panda. New York: Routledge: 67–85.
  • Kristi Govella. 2023. “From Trade Laggard to Trade Leader: Japan’s Role in Countering the Backlash Against Globalization.” In Non-Western Nations and the Liberal International Order: Responding to the Backlash in the West, eds. Hiro Katsumata and Hiroki Kusano. New York: Routledge: 71–94.
  • Kristi Govella. 2022. “Economic Rivals, Security Allies: The US-Japan Trade War.” In Research Handbook on Trade Wars, eds. Ka Zeng and Wei Liang. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar: 209–29.
  • Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. 2013. “The Trade-Security Nexus in the Asia-Pacific.” In Linking Trade and Security: Evolving Institutions and Strategies in Asia, Europe, and the United States, eds. Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. New York: Springer: 1–22.
  • Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. 2013. “Trade Linkages to Traditional and Non-Traditional Security: Lessons and Prospects.” In Linking Trade and Security: Evolving Institutions and Strategies in Asia, Europe, and the United States, eds. Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. New York: Springer: 223–44.
  • Kristi Govella and Vinod Aggarwal. 2012. “Introduction: The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Resurgence of Russia.” In Responding to a Resurgent Russia: Russian Policy and Responses from the European Union and the United States, eds. Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. New York: Springer: 1–13.
  • Kristi Govella and Vinod Aggarwal. 2012. “Russian Foreign Policy: Challenging the Western Liberal International Order?” In Responding to a Resurgent Russia: Russian Policy and Responses from the European Union and the United States, eds. Vinod Aggarwal and Kristi Govella. New York: Springer: 125–38.

Other publications

Media coverage