The shrinking and aging societies in Asia, particularly Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan, raised the concerns of long-term economic and societal implications of a decreasing workforce and a higher dependency ratio of the super-aged population to younger. Please join Andrew Oros, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Washington College, Jennifer D. Sciubba, President and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau, and Troy Stangarone, Director of the Hyundai Motors-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at Wilson Center for an engaging discussion on the intricate nature of demographic shifts in East Asia. ASPI Schwarzman Fellow Daria Kurushina will moderate the discussion.

Join us on Thursday, August 22 for a virtual webinar on the demographic landscape in East Asia. Following South Korea's announcement of a national demographic emergency due to the low fertility rates, discussants will cover whether similar declarations are warranted in other countries facing shrinking and aging populations. Additionally, speakers will delve into the direct implications of these trends on economic growth, labor productivity, healthcare, and social security, and why new policies and investments have not been effective, identifying the major challenges and constraints.

SPEAKERS

Andrew L. Oros is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. His latest research project, initiated as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, examines how demographic change – such as shrinking populations, aging societies, and gender imbalances – have and will affect the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region and, in particular, the network of US alliances and partnerships in the region. Asia’s Graying Security: Strategies of America’s Aging Allies, Adversaries, and Partners will be published by Columbia University Press in Summer 2025. He conducted research for his last book, Japan’s Security Renaissance (Columbia University Press, 2017), as an invited research fellow at Japan’s National Institute of Defense Studies and as a Japan Foundation Abe fellow at Keio University in Tokyo and Peking University in Beijing. He also is the author of two other books and numerous articles and book chapters on issues related to East Asian security and Japanese politics. Oros serves as an executive editor of the scholarly journal Asian Security, is a member of the US-Japan Network for the Future (Japan/Mansfield Foundations), and is part of the Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholars Network. He earned his Ph.D in political science at Columbia University, an M.Sc from the London School of Economics as a British government Marshall scholar, and a B.A. from the University of Southern California.

Jennifer D. Sciubba is an internationally recognized expert in the field of demographic security and is currently President and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau. In addition to numerous academic articles, she is the author of 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World (2022) and The Future Faces of War: Population and National Security (2011), and the editor of A Research Agenda for Political Demography (2021). In general, she works to educate the broader public about the importance of population trends by translating research for readers of The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, and on the TED stage, among other places.

Dr. Sciubba is affiliated with the Wilson Center and the Hess Center for New Frontiers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She is formerly a tenured professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Sciubba has studied at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, and served as a demographics consultant to the US Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy).

Dr. Sciubba is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the Executive Committee of the Population Reference Bureau’s Board of Trustees. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Maryland and her B.A. from Agnes Scott College.

Troy Stangarone is Director of the Hyundai Motors-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at Wilson Center. Mr. Stangarone is a leading Washington-based analyst on key issues shaping relations between the United States and the Republic of Korea, and his policy expertise and thought leadership about the Korean Peninsula is well-recognized in both Washington and Seoul. Previously, he was Senior Director and Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI). He oversaw KEI’s trade and economic-related initiatives, as well as the Institute’s relations with Capitol Hill and the Washington, DC trade community. As part of his broader portfolio, he served as the editor for KEI’s flagship publication, Korea’s Economy, and oversaw KEI’s blog, The Peninsula. Mr. Stangarone has written extensively and has been widely quoted on U.S.-Korea relations, South Korean trade and foreign policy, and North Korea. His work has appeared in publications such as Foreign Policy, CNBC, CNN, the South China Morning Post, East Asia Forum, China-US Focus, the JoongAng Ilbo, and the Korea Herald. His comments have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, CNN, Politico, Chosun Ilbo, Donga Ilbo, JoongAng Daily, and Yonhap News Service. He has also appeared on TV and radio for outlets such as Bloomberg News, CNBC Asia, and BBC Radio. In addition to his work at KEI, Mr. Stangarone is a member of the North Korea Economic Forum’s Steering Committee, the International Council of Korean Studies Board, and the Korea-America Student Conference’s National Advisory Committee. He is a columnist for the Korea Times and a regular contributor to The Diplomat.
Prior to joining KEI, Mr. Stangarone worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Robert Torricelli on issues relating to foreign affairs and trade. He also served as an aide to Governor James McGreevey of New Jersey. He holds an MSc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Memphis.

Daria Kurushina (Moderator) is a Schwarzman Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute. For the past five years, she has been studying the Chinese language and examining the Asia Pacific region primarily focusing on issues relating to Chinese environmental, economic, and foreign policies. As a part of her experience, she was engaged in ESG and sustainability projects; most recently, she was employed by The Conference Board's Sustainability Council in Beijing. Her duties included conducting a sustainability analysis of the Chinese market and providing a briefing on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and its impact on China.
As a Schwarzman Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute, she publishes analysis on critical topics such as the impact of China-Russia relations on COP28 and the pursuit of rapprochement between China, Japan, and South Korea. She also authored a report examining the diplomatic dynamics in Northeast Asia following the Fukushima nuclear wastewater release and analyzed the implications of forced relocation and the creation of twin cities due to climate change. Currently, she is researching economic vitality and sustainability amidst depopulation and aging in East Asia. Daria received her Master of Management Science in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University as a part of the Schwarzman Scholars Scholarship. Daria also holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Far Eastern Federal University.