Mark S. Cogan is an Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kansai Gaidai University, based in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He specializes in peacebuilding, human rights, democratization, and social movements, particularly in Thailand and Cambodia. Mark’s research focuses on Southeast Asia, particularly on authoritarian regimes in Thailand and Cambodia, with an emphasis on foreign policy, bilateral and multilateral relations, and joint security cooperation. His most recent peer reviewed paper, published in Asian Affairs: An American Review (Taylor & Francis), looks Thailand’s renewed soft power focus under new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and the potential for a soft power “paradox”, where hard power usage is injurious to the Kingdom’s external reputation, while creativity is often stifled by a system of governance aimed at regime self-preservation, each of which are contradictory to soft power generation. Mark’s previous journal articles have examined Thailand’s nuanced relationships with the United States and China, counter-terrorism policy, the history of Thai social movements, and the dehumanization of political activists and opponents in contemporary Thai politics. His co-edited volume, entitled “Alternative Approaches to Peacebuilding: Theories and Case Studies“, was published in October 2022 by Palgrave MacMillan.
Previously, Mark worked for several United Nations agencies as a communications specialist, serving in Southeast and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. While at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark engaged the media, government agencies, civil society organizations, and the public, crafting thematic speeches and policy statements for senior UN staff in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa—on topics from climate change, HIV/AIDS, and anti-corruption, and women’s political empowerment. His efforts often resulted in increased positive media coverage on sensitive political issues and complex and persistent development challenges.
His award-winning national campaign for the United Nations during the Post-2015 Development Agenda (MY World) enlisted the support of the private sector, universities and civil society organizations in Thailand. Using his prior experience as a political consultant in the United States, particularly in the area of mass mobilization, Mark co-created the Thai Youth Anti-Corruption Network, an active group of more than 4,500 university students from 90 Thai universities. The prominent campaign, which both encouraged behavior change while employing a number of mobilization and advocacy strategies, was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a “Creative For Good” Best Practice.
Mark has also served as a technical expert on content management and web architecture and was a key part of UNDP’s Global Web Upgrade Project, working as a trainer for the UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) and Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA). He was also an award-winning journalist and managing editor of one of Oregon’s best small weekly newspapers.
As an active writer and scholar, his works have appeared in several publications and newspapers, including his regular column in the Southeast Asia Globe, as well as regular contributions to The Diplomat, the Observer Research Foundation, Thai Enquirer, the Geopolitical Monitor, the Bangkok Post, and more, writing on a variety of topics from security studies in the Indo-Pacific, state repression in Thailand, and authoritarian rule in Cambodia.
