Sam Baron

Sam Baron is a Ph.D. candidate in East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge and a Research Fellow at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). His research focuses on the international politics and geoeconomics of the Indo-Pacific, with a particular emphasis on Japan, Southeast Asia, and the intersection of trade and human rights issues across the region. Baron’s research and commentary have been featured in academic and policy outlets including Cambridge University Press, Foreign Policy, The South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia, and the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute, among others. He has also held visiting research positions at The University of Tokyo in Japan and O.P. Jindal Global University in India.

Since 2022, Baron has served as an Associated Research Fellow with ISDP’s Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA), and was previously affiliated with the “US-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative” of Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, where his publications focused on U.S.-Japan alliance cooperation in Southeast Asia. Prior to entering academia, he held policy-focused roles working on trade, human rights, and corporate strategy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Asia Group.

Baron 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. A third-generation native of Los Angeles, he has lived and worked in Tokyo, Bangkok, London, and Washington, D.C.