Dr Edward Howell
About
Dr Edward Howell is a Lecturer in International Relations, University of Oxford. His research expertise focuses on the politics and international relations of North Korea, the Korean Peninsula, and East Asia. He is the only researcher across the University conducting research on contemporary North Korea, its domestic politics, and foreign relations.
Dr Howell specialises in North Korea’s domestic and foreign policy, particularly its nuclear programme, and the relations between North Korea, the US, and wider international community. His research has concerned the development of North Korea’s nuclear programme over time; its changing relations with the international community; North Korea’s regime survival; and the international relations of the Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific.
Wider research interests include the UK’s policy towards the Korean Peninsula; China’s foreign relations; and the politics of the East Asian region.
In addition to his academic research, Dr Howell is an experienced media analyst and commentator. He provides frequent commentary on North Korea and the Korean Peninsula for national and international newspapers and news channels. Dr Howell is always willing to offer comments for media outlets, especially given the global spotlight on North Korea and the wider Northeast Asian region.
Expertise
- North Korean politics
- North Korea’s nuclear programme
- South Korean politics and international relations
- Relations between North/South Korea and the USA
- International Relations of East Asia
- UK relations with the Korean Peninsula
Selected publications
- North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order: When Bad Behaviour Pays (Oxford University Press, 2023)
- The juche H-bomb? North Korea, nuclear weapons and regime-state survival (International Affairs, 2020)
- Becoming Kim Jong Un: a former CIA officer's insights into North Korea's enigmatic young dictator (International Affairs, 2020)
Media experience
Dr Edward Howell frequently appears as a commentator for national and international news channels and contributes regular op-eds to national and international print media on issues regarding North Korea’s nuclear programme; domestic and foreign policy; relations between North Korea and the US; and the international relations of East Asia. Dr Howell also provides policy analysis on inter-Korean relations, South and North Korean politics, and the UK’s foreign policy towards Northeast Asia.
Recent media work
- Don’t read too much into North Korea releasing a US soldier (The Spectator, 2023)
- The unholy alliance between Kim Jong-un and Putin (The Spectator, 2023)
- North Korea is now holding a US soldier hostage. His fate remains utterly unknown (The Telegraph, 2023)
- Kim Yo-jong is fast becoming North Korea’s propaganda puppeteer (The Spectator, 2023)
- North Korea is nearing a terrifying nuclear reality (The Telegraph, 2023)
- Putin’s desperate need for artillery shells is driving him into a Faustian pact with North Korea (The Telegraph, 2023)
- Strengthening British-South Korean relations (Britain's World, 2023)
- What will Joe Biden do about North Korea? (The Spectator, 2021)
- Tensions from Korea spread to London’s Koreatown (The Economist, 2018)
- Who will step up to get talks on the North Korean nuclear threat moving again? (South China Morning Post, 2018)
Languages
English, French, Korean, Mandarin Chinese