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  • Policy
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  • Countries & Regions
    • Column One
      • Afghanistan
      • American Samoa
      • Armenia
      • Australia
      • Azerbaijan
      • Bahrain
      • Bangladesh
      • Bhutan
      • Brunei
      • Cambodia
      • Central Asia
      • China
      • Cook Islands

      • Cyprus
      • East Asia
      • East Timor
      • Fiji
      • French Polynesia
      • Georgia
      • Guam
    • Column Two
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kiribati
      • Kuwait
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Maldives
      • Marshall Islands
      • Micronesia
      • Mongolia
    • Column Three
      • Myanmar
      • Nauru
      • Nepal
      • New Caledonia
      • New Zealand
      • Niue
      • North Korea
      • Northern Marianas
      • Oceania
      • Oman
      • Pakistan
      • Palau
      • Palestine
      • Papua New Guinea
      • Philippines
      • Qatar
      • Samoa
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • Solomon Islands
    • Column Four
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • South Korea
      • Sri Lanka
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
      • Tokelau
      • Tonga
      • Turkey
      • Turkmenistan
      • Tuvalu
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Wallis and Futuna
      • West Asia
      • Yemen
  • Current Affairs
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Vishakha Desai

Vishakha Desai

Vishakha Desai is President Emeritus of Asia Society. She served as the institution's President and CEO from 2004 to 2012.

Recent publications and appearances on AsiaSociety.org



 

  • Delegates convene at the 2011 Women Leaders of New Asia conference in Singapore. (Asia Society)
    New York

    Vishakha Desai: Rising Asia Must Forge Path for More Women to Lead

    Asian countries must ensure that women are key players in the region's rapid growth, argue Asia Society President Vishakha Desai and National University of Singapore Vice-Dean Astrid S. Tuminez.
  • Samajwadi Party leader and designate chief minister for Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav leaves parliament after the opening of the budget session in New Delhi on March 12, 2012. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

    India and the United States: Whither Democracies?

    Unfolding events in India and the U.S. suggest there's actually hope for the democratic process, argues Asia Society President Vishakha Desai.
  • Asia Society President Vishakha Desai at the opening of Asia Society's Hong Kong Center on Feb. 9, 2012. (Bill Swersey/Asia Society)

    Moving Beyond the 'Model Minority'

    Vishakha Desai on a misperception that harms Asian Pacific Americans.
  • L to R: IMF Chief Christine Lagarde and U.S. President Barack Obama talk with China President Hu Jintao at the opening session of the 2011 APEC Summit at the Marriott Hotel in Honolulu on Nov. 13, 2011. (International Monetary Fund/Flickr)

    2011: Year-End Reflections on America's Strategic 'Pivot'

    New configurations don't have to be a zero-sum game in which America loses because China and India rise, writes Vishakha Desai.
  • Statue of Indian poet, playwright, musician, and artist Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) at Tagore House in Kolkata. (kittell/Flickr)

    Vishakha Desai: Will Asia Be One?

    A century after leading intellectuals first articulated a notion of Asian identity, it has the potential to become true.
  • South Korean protesters participate in a rally celebrating news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on December 19, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

    Desai: A 'New Chapter' For North Korea?

    Asia Society President Vishakha Desai wonders if the death of Kim Jong Il will bring about Myanmar-like reforms in North Korea.
  • Philippines President Benigno Aquino III

    Awaiting the Philippines President

    Asia Society leaders discuss arrival of Benigno S. Aquino III.
  • Supporters of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare stand behind the national flag of India as they celebrate the 12th day of Hazare's hunger strike in New Delhi on Aug. 27, 2011. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images)

    Desai: Hazare's Anti-Corruption Movement Must Include Democratic Institutions

    Asia Society President Vishakha Desai says the Hazare movement should not simply be a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of obstinacy.
  • An Indian office worker walks past wall graffiti made after the 2008 terror attacks near the recent blast site at Opera House in Mumbai on July 14, 2011. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images)

    Time to Fight for Peace

    Vishakha Desai on the Mumbai bombings.
  • Asia Society President Vishakha Desai.

    Vishakha Desai's Top Five Books on Asian Women

    Asia Society's President recommends five books on the role of women in Asia past and present.

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