Sam Baron

Sam Baron is an Associated Research Fellow with ISDP. He is currently the Director for Southeast Asia Research at the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies (YCAPS), a Visiting Researcher with the Research Center for Sustainable Peace (RCSP) of the University of Tokyo, and a Non-Resident Scholar with Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA’s “US-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative”. An expert on the politics and foreign policy of Myanmar and Southeast Asia, he has held a number of policy-focused roles working on the ASEAN region with organizations including the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, and The Asia Group, among others. His research and commentary on Southeast Asia regularly appears in international think tank and media outlets such as The South China Morning Post, The National Interest, and Radio Free Asia. His other research interests include U.S.-Japan relations, the nexus of business and human rights, and issues pertaining to public international law in East and Southeast Asia.  Sam holds an M.Phil in International Relations with Distinction from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. in Political Science and Asian Studies from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.