The
Asian Studies Unit, part of the Research Department of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), was created in 2015. The Unit is dedicated to the study of East Asia (China, the Koreas, and Japan) and East Asian societies. As one of the more regionally specialized units at the KFCRIS, the Asian Studies Unit aims to promote greater understanding of East Asia within the Gulf and the wider Arab world. It also seeks to enhance the quality of academic, journalistic, and policy making coverage and discussions surrounding the region and its ever more complex relationship to Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East. It is also purposed towards building connections with other Asia-focused research institutions and think tanks around the world. The Unit’s research agenda is bifurcated between a focus on contemporary East Asian international relations, politics, economics, and security topics on the one hand, and a concentration on historical, anthropological and cultural-social issues on the other. This broad research agenda enables the Unit to engage with multiple disciplines, generate a diverse set of studies and, more importantly, allows it to maintain its fidelity to the spirit of KFCRIS as a think tank and academic institution.
