季風人文講壇第103期： Gi-Wook Shin

The Four Talent Giants

with Gi-Wook Shin

February 19, 2026｜In English 

The Asia-Pacific region has produced some of the world’s most striking economic transformations. In this talk, Gi-Wook Shin examines how Japan, China, India, and Australia cultivated, attracted, and managed talent amid demographic change, brain drain, and geopolitical competition. Drawing on comparative research, the discussion explores how different political and institutional choices shaped national development — and why talent has become a central arena of global competition today.

About the Speaker 

Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in Sociology and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute. From 2005 to 2025, he directed the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and founded several major Asia programs at Stanford. He has authored or edited 27 books on nationalism, development, and international relations in Asia.

About the Book

The Asia-Pacific region has seen extraordinary economic achievements. Japan's post-World War II transformation into an economic powerhouse challenging US dominance by the late 1980s was miraculous. China's rise as the world's second-largest economy is one of the 21st century's most stunning stories. India, now a top-five economy by GDP, is rapidly ascending. Despite its small population, Australia ranked among the top ten GDP nations in 1960 and has remained resilient. While cultivating, attracting, and leveraging talent has been crucial to growth in these countries, their approaches have varied widely, reflecting significant cultural, historical, and institutional differences. In this sweeping analysis of talent development strategies, Gi-Wook Shin investigates how these four "talent giants'' achieved economic power and sustained momentum by responding to risks and challenges such as demographic crises, brain drain, and geopolitical tensions. This book offers invaluable insights for policymakers and is essential for scholars, students, and readers interested in understanding the dynamics of talent and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.