Letters from the Current and Incoming Editors

Farewell Message from the Editor in Chief

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” we often say. With this issue of Asian Perspective I bid goodbye after more than twenty-two years as editor in chief. Retirement is probably well advised; it’s never a good idea to think one can go on forever. However, I will miss working with such wonderful colleagues at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies and contributors from all over the world. Together we have achieved quite a few milestones: moving from a biannual publication to triannual and then quarterly in the 1990s; becoming an SSCI indexed publication in 2010; and being published by Lynne Rienner Publishers since 2011. Along the way, the quality and stature of Asian Perspective have risen, and it has become a top-notch journal in its field.

So thank you one and all, especially President Jae Kyu Park for the privilege of serving. I will continue on as senior adviser, helping my distinguished successor, Dr. Carla Freeman. With her background as director of the Foreign Policy Institute at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University, which publishes the SAIS Review of International Affairs, Dr. Freeman is a perfect fit with Asian Perspective. I step down knowing that the journal’s future is in good hands.

Dr. Mel Gurtov
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Portland State University

Welcoming Message from the New Editor in Chief

It is an honor indeed to have been chosen to succeed such a trailblazing scholar as Professor Mel Gurtov as Asian Perspective’s new editor in chief. Professor Gurtov may think he is retiring, but as we also say, “you can’t retire experience.” I am fortunate that he has agreed to offer his continued guidance in his new role with the journal as senior adviser.

Under Professor Gurtov’s leadership, Asian Perspective has become a leading venue for cutting-edge research on the global, regional, and transnational issues affecting Asia. This legacy, the support of the leadership at Kyungnam University, and the expertise and dedication of its editorial team based at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, along with the experience of Lynne Rienner as its publisher, provide an outstanding foundation for the journal’s future.

I join Asian Perspective committed to its goal of showcasing thought-provoking analysis on Asia that promotes a healthy exchange of ideas among scholars, students, and policymakers. I look forward to continuing to elevate Asian Perspective as the source for the best critical scholarship on developments in the region.

Carla Freeman, Executive Director, Foreign Policy Institute Associate Research Professor and Associate Director, China Studies, Johns Hopkins-School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)