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{{Short description|American political scientist (born 1960)}}
{{for|the Hong Kong businessman|Victor Cha Mou Zing}}
{{infobox person
| name = Victor Cha
| image = Victor Cha (42261999810).jpg
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| alma_mater = [[Columbia University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of International Affairs|MIA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}<br />[[Hertford College, Oxford]] {{small|([[Master of Arts|MA]])}}
| occupation = Political scientist, former senior U.S. security official
| employer = [[Georgetown University]], [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]]
| caption = Cha in 2018
| other_names = Cha Yu-deok
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|10|27}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, {{nowrap|United States}}
}}
'''Victor D. Cha''' ({{Korean|hangul=차유덕|rr=Cha Yu-deok}}, born 1960) is an American [[Political science|political scientist]] currently serving as president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the [[Center for Strategic and International Studies]] (CSIS).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victor Cha |url=https://www.csis.org/people/victor-cha |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.csis.org |language=en}}</ref>

He is a former Director for [[Asia]]n Affairs at the [[White House]] [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] (NSC) during the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush administration]], with responsibility for [[Japan]], [[North Korea|North]] and [[South Korea]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]].<ref name=ASIADIRECTOR>[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/vcha-bio.html Victor Cha] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926075300/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/vcha-bio.html |date=2017-09-26 }} – Whitehouse.gov</ref> He was [[George W. Bush]]'s top advisor on [[North Korea]]n affairs.<ref name=NKADVISOR>[http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2007/04/06/ap/headlines/d8oc4kdg0.txt Officials Head to Korea for GI Remains]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – The Ledger Independent</ref> He holds the D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in [[Asian studies|Asian Studies]] and previously served as Director of the Asian Studies program in the [[Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service]] at [[Georgetown University]].<ref name=GT>[http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/chav/ Victor D. Cha] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205171014/http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/chav/ |date=2009-02-05 }} – Georgetown University</ref>

==Early life and education==
Cha's father came to U.S. from [[South Korea]] to study at [[Columbia University]] in 1954.<ref name="koreatimes">{{cite web |date=July 14, 2011 |title=뉴욕한인 이야기/ 유학생 최초 자영업에 성공한 차문영 |trans-title=New York Korean story: Cha Mun-yeong, A student, the first successful entrepreneur |url=http://www.koreatimes.com/article/672917 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125328/http://www.koreatimes.com/article/672917 |archivedate=April 2, 2015 |publisher=[[The Korea Times]] |language=Korean}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=November 19, 2004 |title=백악관 NSC 아시아담당 국장 내정 빅터 차 "韓國기대 만족시키진 못할 것" |trans-title=White House NSC Asian affairs director Victor Cha "Korean may not be able to meet expectations" |url=http://www.chosun.com/international/news/200411/200411190017.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402210248/http://www.chosun.com/international/news/200411/200411190017.html |archivedate=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 14, 2015 |publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]] |language=Korean |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Cha was born in the early 1960s in the United States.<ref name="koreatimes" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 February 2018 |title=Victor Cha's 'Motherland' |url=http://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20180201/1211261/1/Victor-Cha-s-Motherland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016192030/http://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20180201/1211261/1/Victor-Cha-s-Motherland |archive-date=16 October 2019 |access-date=16 October 2019 |work=[[The Dong-a Ilbo]]}}</ref> He received a BA in economics from [[Columbia University]] in 1983, an [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA]] in philosophy, politics, and economics from [[Hertford College, Oxford]], in 1986, an [[Master of International Affairs|MIA]] from Columbia, and a PhD in political science from Columbia in 1994 with a dissertation titled ''Alignment despite antagonism: Japan and Korea as [[quasi-alliance|quasi-allies]]''.<ref name="VChaBio">[http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=24785 Victor Cha Returns to Georgetown from NSC – Georgetown University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212235418/http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=24785 |date=2007-12-12 }}</ref>

==Career==

Cha is a former [[John M. Olin]] National Security Fellow at [[Harvard University]], two-time [[Fulbright Scholar]], Hoover National Fellow, and [[Center for International Security and Cooperation]] (CISAC) Fellow at [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victor Cha, Former Director for Japan and Korea, National Security Council |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/vcha-bio.html |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref>

He held the D. S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair in Asian Studies and Government in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and directed the American Alliances in Asia Project at [[Georgetown University]] until 2004.
[[File:Victor Cha official portrait.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|Cha in 2006]]
In December 2004, Cha joined the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] as Director for Asian Affairs. At the NSC, he was responsible for South Korea, [[North Korea]], [[Japan]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], and the Pacific Island nations. He also served as the U.S. Deputy Head of Delegation for the [[Six Party Talks]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csis.org/people/victor-cha|title=Victor Cha -- Center for Strategic and International Studies|last=|first=|date=|website=www.csis.org|access-date=2019-02-01|archive-date=2019-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201120035/https://www.csis.org/people/victor-cha|url-status=live}}</ref> Cha received two Outstanding Service commendations during his tenure at the White House.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csis.org/people/victor-cha|title=Victor Cha -- Center for Strategic and International Studies|last=|first=|date=|website=www.csis.org|access-date=2019-11-08|archive-date=2019-10-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004075758/https://www.csis.org/people/victor-cha|url-status=live}}</ref>

Cha returned to Georgetown in late 2007 after public service leave. Currently, he is the inaugural holder of the D.S. Song-[[Korea Foundation]] Chair in [[Asian studies]]<ref>[http://www.kf.or.kr/eng/01_sks/sks_not_view.asp?BIZBASE=PROFESSOR&SearchText=&SearchValue=&Page=9&BBS_NO=265 "Inauguration of the D.S. Song-Korea Foundation Chair at Georgetown"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070720/http://www.kf.or.kr/eng/01_sks/sks_not_view.asp?BIZBASE=PROFESSOR&SearchText=&SearchValue=&Page=9&BBS_NO=265 |date=2011-07-19 }}, Korea Foundation website notice, n.d. Retrieved 2011-04-25.</ref> and a joint appointment with the School of Foreign Service core faculty and the Department of Government and is the Director of the Asian Studies program. He is also a senior adviser at the CSIS on Asian affairs.<ref>Arends, Brett, [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25 "IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427090259/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25 |date=2011-04-27 }}, ''[[MarketWatch]]'', April 25, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-25.</ref>

It was reported in January 2018 that the Trump administration expected to withdraw his nomination for [[List of ambassadors of the United States to South Korea|U.S. Ambassador to South Korea]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/disagreement-on-north-korea-policy-could-derail-white-house-choice-for-ambassador-to-south-korea/2018/01/30/3a21191c-05da-11e8-94e8-e8b8600ade23_story.html|title=Disagreement on North Korea policy derails White House choice for ambassador to South Korea|last1=Nakamura|first1=David|date=2018-01-30|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2018-01-30|last2=Gearan|first2=Anne|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130205428/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/disagreement-on-north-korea-policy-could-derail-white-house-choice-for-ambassador-to-south-korea/2018/01/30/3a21191c-05da-11e8-94e8-e8b8600ade23_story.html|archivedate=2018-01-30}}</ref> Cha had reportedly in December 2017 privately expressed disagreement with the Trump administration's consideration to launch a limited strike at North Korea and to withdraw from the [[United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8670b33a-0608-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5|title=White House abandons planned pick for South Korea ambassador|website=Financial Times|date=30 January 2018 |language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131065806/https://www.ft.com/content/8670b33a-0608-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5|archive-date=2018-01-31|url-status=live|access-date=2018-01-30}}</ref> Cha later praised the summit meetings between [[Donald Trump]] and [[Kim Jong-un]] for peacefully resolving the [[2017–2018 North Korea crisis]], calling the [[2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit]] "the start of a diplomatic process that takes us away from the brink of war."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cha |first=Victor |date=2018-06-12 |title=Opinion {{!}} Trump and Kim Have Just Walked Us Back From the Brink of War |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/opinion/trump-kim-north-korea-summit.html |access-date=2022-05-04 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2022-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504222214/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/opinion/trump-kim-north-korea-summit.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, Cha, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement asserting that Trump was unfit to serve another term. They wrote: "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/ |title=Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden |date=20 August 2020 |website=Defending Democracy Together |access-date=26 August 2021 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026150736/https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cha is a member of the [[Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defense Policy Board |url=https://policy.defense.gov/OUSDP-Offices/Defense-Policy-Board/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=policy.defense.gov}}</ref>

== Publications ==
Cha is the author of numerous articles, books, and other works on Asian security.

He authored ''Alignment Despite Antagonism: The US-Korea-Japan Security Triangle'' (1999), which received the 2000 Ohira Book Prize. The book presented a new, alternative theory regarding [[Japan–South Korea relations|Japan and South Korea's political alignment]] despite their historical animosity. Cha wrote this in response to previous research on the subject, which he felt focused too heavily on their respective historical antagonism.<ref name="ADABook">{{Cite book |last1=Cha |first1=Victor D. |title=Alignment Despite Antagonism by Dr. Victor D. Cha – Amazon.com |year=2000 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804731926}}</ref>

In 2005, Cha co-authored ''Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies'' with Professor David Kang of [[Dartmouth College]] and its [[Tuck School of Business]]. The co-authors presented their respective viewpoints on the best way to handle the [[Korean conflict]], with Cha presenting a more "hawkish" approach and Kang presenting his more "dovish" arguments.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-north-korea/9780231189231 |title=Nuclear North Korea - a Debate on Engagement Strategies |date=September 2018 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231548243 |access-date=2020-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022135837/https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-north-korea/9780231189231 |archive-date=2019-10-22 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cha published ''Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia'' in 2009. In 2012 he published a timely book on North Korea in the wake of [[Death and state funeral of Kim Jong-il|Kim Jong-Il's death]], ''The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future.''<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Impossible-State-North-Korea-Future/dp/0061998516 The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future – Amazon.com]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171126093142/https://www.amazon.com/Impossible-State-North-Korea-Future/dp/0061998516|date=2017-11-26}}</ref> Cha published a book on East Asian security in 2016, ''Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cha |first1=Victor D. |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691144535/powerplay |title=Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia |date=16 August 2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691144535 |access-date=2020-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022223036/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691144535/powerplay |archive-date=2020-10-22 |url-status=live}}</ref> His most recent book presents and analyses modern Korean history and was co-authored with [[Ramon Pacheco Pardo]], ''Korea: A New History of South & North''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300278705/korea/ |title=Korea: A New History of South & North |date=27 June 2023 |isbn=9780300259810 |access-date=2024-08-30 |last1=Cha |first1=Victor D. |last2=Pardo |first2=Ramon Pacheco |publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref>

He has published articles on international relations and East Asia in ''[[International Security]]'', ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', ''[[Survival (journal)|Survival]]'', ''[[Political Science Quarterly]]'', ''[[International Studies Quarterly]]'', ''[[Orbis (journal)|Orbis]]'', ''[[Armed Forces and Society]]'', ''[[Journal of Peace Research]]'', ''[[Security Dialogue]]'', ''[[Australian Journal of International Affairs]]'', ''[[Asian Survey]]'', ''[[Journal of East Asian Studies]]'', ''Asian Perspective'', the ''Japanese Journal of Political Science'' and ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref name="WashingtonPost">{{Cite news |title=Giving North Korea a Bloody Nose Carries a Huge Risk to Americans |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/victor-cha-giving-north-korea-a-bloody-nose-carries-a-huge-risk-to-americans/2018/01/30/4398_story.html |access-date=2019-11-15 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

Recent publications include "Winning Asia: An Untold American Foreign Policy Success" in the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs; "Beijing's Olympic-Sized Catch 22" in the Summer 2008 issue of the Washington Quarterly; and "Powerplay Origins of the U.S. Alliance System in Asia" in the Winter 2009/10 issue of International Security.<ref>[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ins/summary/v034/34.3.cha.html "Powerplay Origins of the U.S. Alliance System in Asia" (abstract, first page, access)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903213431/http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ins/summary/v034/34.3.cha.html|date=2014-09-03}}, International Security via [[Project MUSE]], Winter 2009.</ref>

=== Books ===
* ''The Geneva Framework Agreement and Korea's future'', East Asian Institute, Columbia University, 1995
* ''Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle'', [[Stanford University Press]], 2000
* ''Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies'', [[Columbia University Press]], 2005 (with [[David C. Kang]])
* ''Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia'', Columbia University Press, 2008
* ''The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future'', Ecco/[[HarperCollins]], 2012
* ''Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia'', [[Princeton University Press]], 2016
* ''Korea: A New History of South & North'', [[Yale University Press]], 2023 (with [[Ramon Pacheco Pardo]])

=== Reports ===

* Breaking Bad: South Korea's Nuclear Option, ''[[Center for Strategic and International Studies|CSIS]]'', April 29, 2024<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cha |first=Victor |date=April 29, 2024 |title=Breaking Bad: South Korea's Nuclear Option |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/breaking-bad-south-koreas-nuclear-option |access-date=May 25, 2024 |website=[[Center for Strategic and International Studies]]}}</ref>

=== Articles ===
* Eyes Wide Open: Strategic Elite Views of South Korea’s Nuclear Options, ''[[The Washington Quarterly|Washington Quarterly]]'', July 8, 2024<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cha |first=Victor D. |date=2024-04-02 |title=Eyes Wide Open: Strategic Elite Views of South Korea's Nuclear Options |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163660X.2024.2365031 |journal=The Washington Quarterly |language=en |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=23–40 |doi=10.1080/0163660X.2024.2365031 |issn=0163-660X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* America’s Asian Partners Are Not Worried Enough About Trump, ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', June 26, 2024<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cha |first=Victor |date=2024-06-26 |title=America's Asian Partners Are Not Worried Enough About Trump |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/americas-asian-partners-are-not-worried-enough-about-trump |access-date=2024-07-21 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* America Needs to Reassure Japan and South Korea, ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', February 9, 2023<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Katz |first1=Katrin Fraser |last2=Johnstone |first2=Christopher |last3=Cha |first3=Victor |date=2023-02-09 |title=America Needs to Reassure Japan and South Korea |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/japan/america-needs-reassure-japan-and-south-korea |access-date=2024-01-21 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* How to Stop Chinese Coercion, ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', December 14, 2022<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cha |first=Victor |date=2022-12-14 |title=How to Stop Chinese Coercion |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/how-stop-china-coercion-collective-resilience-victor-cha |access-date=2024-01-21 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issue=January/February 2023 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
* [https://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=482 Complex Patchworks: U.S. Alliances as Part of Asia's Regional Architecture] (''Asia Policy'', January 2011)
* [https://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=256 Korea: A Peninsula in Crisis and Flux] in ''Strategic Asia 2004–05: Confronting Terrorism in the Pursuit of Power'' ([[National Bureau of Asian Research]], 2004)
* [https://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=124 South Korea: Anchored or Adrift?] in ''Strategic Asia 2003–04: Fragility and Crisis'' ([[National Bureau of Asian Research]], 2003)
* [https://www.nbr.org/publications/element.aspx?id=108 Defensive Realism and Japan's Approach toward Korean Reunification] (''NBR Analysis'', 2003)

== Personal life ==
Cha lives in [[Maryland]] with his wife and two sons.<ref name="ChaKang2005">{{cite book |author1=Victor D. Cha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMozCgAAQBAJ |title=Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies |author2=David Chan-oong Kang |date=April 2005 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-13129-2 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228152905/https://books.google.com/books?id=MMozCgAAQBAJ |archivedate=2018-02-28}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{C-SPAN|48112}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cha, Victor}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Walsh School of Foreign Service faculty]]
[[Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni]]
[[Category:School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford]]
[[Category:American writers of Korean descent]]
[[Category:Scholars of North Korea]]
[[Category:United States National Security Council staffers]]
[[Category:United States presidential advisors]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration personnel]]
[[Category:American politicians of Korean descent]]
[[Category:CSIS people]]
[[Category:Asian conservatism in the United States]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:American foreign policy writers]]
[[Category:American international relations scholars]]
[[Category:American political scientists]]

Victor Cha - Revision history

imported>OAbot: Open access bot: url-access updated in citation with #oabot.