Book Publication Announcement: Cold War Asia: A Visual History of Global Diplomacy by Prof. Naoko SHIMAZU

Prof. Naoko Shimazu, who was appointed a deputy director of Tokyo College in April, has published an edited volume with Dr Matthew Phillips entitled, Cold War Asia: A Visual History of Global Diplomacy (Cambridge University Press, 2025.This volume is a timely publication which argues for the importance of visual messaging in global diplomatic situations, and how we can attempt to understand visual language and symbolism. As an interdisciplinary endeavour, Patrick Flores (art historian, curator), Gerard Sasges (historian), Jirayudh Sinthupan (cultural studies and media studies), Dejan Djokic (historian), Christian Goeschel (historian), Paul Rae (performance artist and literary scholar) and Tom White (photographer) contribute chapters which discuss emotions, gender, materiality, location, asymmetrical power relations, and race.

A book launch took place at the Jim Thompson Arts and Culture Center in Bangkok on 29 April, 6-8pm, sponsored by the Jim Thompson Center and the Institute for Asian Studies at Chulalongkorn University. This in-person event was attended by over 50 people, a mixture of academics, curators and diplomats.

On 11 April 2025, Prof. Shimazu gave a keynote address, ‘An Experiential Writing on Being a “Servant of Diplomacy,” ’ on zoom at the Dinner Diplomacy Workshop in Sigtuna, Sweden, organized by Dr Susanna Erlandsson (Uppsala University) and Dr Kristine Dyrmann (University of Oxford).