Yena Kim

CV

Research Interests

Domestic politics of foreign policy; leaders in international relations; international cooperation and conflict; populism.

Biography

Yena Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in international relations. Her work examines the relationship between domestic politics and foreign policy—how domestic political conditions shape state behavior abroad, and how foreign policy in turn reverberates at home—with a particular focus on international cooperation and conflict. Her dissertation, Populist Leaders in Power and International Cooperation, asks why and when populist leaders in democracies undermine international cooperation and pursue more conflictual foreign policy, and when democratic partners, in turn, reduce cooperation with populist-led countries.Prior to her Ph.D., Yena earned an M.A. in Political Science and a double B.A. in Political Science and International Studies and in Russian Language and Literature (with Highest Honors), all from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea.