• East Asia

Alan Romberg is the director of the East Asia program at Stimson.

Before joining  Stimson in September 2000, he enjoyed a distinguished career working on Asian issues, both in and out of government, including twenty years as a US Foreign Service Officer. Romberg was the principal deputy director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff and deputy spokesman of the department. He served in various capacities dealing with East Asia, including director of the Office of Japanese Affairs, member of the Policy Planning staff for East Asia, and staff member at the National Security Council for China. He served overseas in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Additionally, Romberg spent almost ten years as the CV Starr Senior Fellow for Asian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and was special assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.

Romberg holds an MA from Harvard University, and a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Selected Publications

• Alan Romberg authors "Taiwan Elections Head to the Finish: Concerns, Cautions, and Challenges" in the China Leadership Monitor (January 5, 2012)
• Alan Romberg authors "The 2012 Taiwan Election: Off and Running" in the China Leadership Monitor (September 14, 2011)
• Alan Romberg comments on U.S.-Taiwan relations with Taiwan's Central News Agency (May 31, 2011)
• "Cross-Strait Relations: Setting the Stage for 2012"; by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 34, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Spring 2011)
• Alan Romberg comments on Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit and its impact on U.S.-Taiwan relations (January 20, 2011)
• Alan Romberg article on CNN website "U.S. and South Korea Navies Send a Message; (November 29, 2010)
• Alan Romberg's presentation at the 6th Hankyoreh-Busan International Symposium in Busan, Korea (November 18, 2010)
• "Managing the Cross Strait Issue" sponsored by National Committee on American Foreign Policy and Tsinghua University (November 9, 2010)
• Alan D. Romberg comments on ECFA, the cross-strait economic agreement (June 30, 2010)  
• "Ma at Mid-Term: Challenges for Cross-Strait Relations"; by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 33, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Winter 2010)
• Alan D. Romberg Comments on the Possibility of 'FTA-like' Deals for Taiwan; June 2, 2010
• "All Economics Is Political: ECFA Front and Center"; by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 32, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2010)
• "2010: The Winter of PRC Discontent" (China Leadership Monitor, No 31, Winter 2010) (In Chinese on the Carnegie Insight website)
• "2010: The Winter of PRC Discontent"; by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 31, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Winter 2010)
• "Cross-Strait Relations: Weathering the Storm"; by Alan D. Romberg , China Leadership Monitor, No. 30, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Fall 2009)
• Alan D. Romberg: Obama's First Trip to China Will Highlight his China Policy; an interview with the Central News Agency (Taiwan), November 11, 2009 (available in Chinese only).
• "Cross-Strait Relations: A Confederacy of Skeptics"; by Alan D. Romberg , China Leadership Monitor, No. 29, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2009)
• Alan D. Romberg Comments on Ma Ying-jeou's First Year in Office; an interview with the Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 20, 2009 (available in Chinese only)
• "Alan D. Romberg: Taiwan Entry in the WHA - A Step in the Right Direction," World Journal (San Francisco), April 30, 2009.

• Jorge Liu, "Alan D. Romberg: Taiwan Attendance at the WHA Demonstrates Cross-Strait Flexibility and Originality," Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 29, 2009 (in Chinese).
• Jorge Liu, "Alan D. Romberg: The Three Agreements Signed at the Third Chiang-Chen Meeting Deepen Cross-Strait Relations," Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 27, 2009 (in Chinese).
• Alan D. Romberg discusses the future of U.S.-Taiwan relations at a conference U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era: Looking Forward 30 Years After the Taiwan Relations Act organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (April 22, 2009). For the text of the remarks, click here.
• "Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy, Now the Hard" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 28, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Spring 2009).
• "PacNet 17A -- 'Cross-Strait Moderation and the United States' - A Response to Robert Sutter" by Richard Bush and Alan D. Romberg (CSIS Pacific Forum, March 12, 2009).
• "Cross-Strait Relations: "Ascend the Heights and Take a Long-Term Perspective" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 27, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Winter 2009).
• "­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Alan Romberg: Obama's Taking Office Will Benefit the Steady Development of U.S.-Taiwan Relations" by Alan D. Romberg, CNA (November 2008).
• "Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy Steps, Then the Difficult Ones" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 26, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Fall 2008)
• "American Scholar: President Ma's low key transit shows the sincerity of his effort to build mutual trust" by Alan D. Romberg, CNA (August 2008)
• "U.S. Expert sees arms sales to Taiwan moving forward in coming weeks" by Alan D. Romberg, CNA (July 2008)
• "After the Taiwan Election: Restoring Dialogue while Reserving Options" by Alan D. Romberg, China leadership Monitor, No. 25, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2008)
• "Taiwan: Opportunities and Challenges" Alan D. Romberg's keynote address at the CLSA China Forum in Shanghai (May 15, 2008)
• "Taiwan: George Bush meet Abba Eban" by Alan D. Romberg. This article was featured as a Stimson spotlight piece (April 21, 2008)
• "Alan Romberg Urges Beijing to Adopt Creative Measures to Improve Cross-Strait Relations" Jorge Liu (Central News Agency) reports on Alan D. Romberg's remarks in the Brookings seminar "Taiwan's Elections and What They Mean" (March 28, 2008)
• "U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan, Time for Change?" Alan D. Romberg's position paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace debate series, Reframing China Policy (March 26, 2008)
• "Alan Romberg: Election Victor Must Heal Societal Rifts" Alan D. Romberg's interview with Jorge Liu (Central News Agency), text in Chinese (March 23, 2008)
• "Taiwan Elections: Foundation for the Future" by Alan D. Romberg, China leadership Monitor, No. 24, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Spring 2008)
• "Shifting Political Currents in Taiwan" by Alan D. Romberg. This article was featured as a Stimson spotlight piece (January 15, 2008)
• "Cross-Strait Relations: In Search of Peace" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 23, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Winter 2008)
• "Future Cross-Strait Relations and a Possible Modus Vivendi" Alan D. Romberg's paper presented at the Foundation for International and Cross-Strait Studies-Brookings Institution Conference (December 3, 2007)
• "PacNet 45 - The U.S. "One China" Policy: Time for a Change?" based on Alan D. Romberg's October 24 Neuhauser speech (CSIS Pacific Forum, November 7, 2007)
• "The U.S. "One China" Policy: Time for a Change?" Alan D. Romberg's speech at the 16th annual Neuhauser Memorial Lecture at Harvard (October 24, 2007)
• "Applying to the UN "in the name of 'Taiwan'" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 22, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Fall 2007)
• "Election 2008 and Cross-Strait Relations" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 21, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2007)
• "Future East Asian Security Architecture: Implications for the PLA": Alan D. Romberg's analysis appears in Assessing the Threat, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (July 12, 2007)
• "Politicians Jockey for Position in Taiwan's 2007-2008 Elections, While Japan Jockeys for Position Across the Strait" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 20, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Winter 2007)
• "Public Response is More Important Than Ma Ying-jeou's Standing in KMT": Alan D. Romberg's interview with Jorge Liu (Central News Agency), text in Chinese (February 14, 2007)
• "Taiwan: All Politics, All the Time" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 19, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2006)
• "The Taiwan Tangle" by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 18, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Spring 2006)
• Alan D. Romberg gave a keynote address at the international conference: "The 1996 Strait Crisis: Decisions, Lessons and Prospects" in Taiwan. The conference was sponsored by the Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies (FICS), Brookings Institution, and Tampkang University. His speech was reported in the China Post article: "U.S. visitor issues Chen administration one of the bluntest warnings" (May 26, 2006)
• "Promoting Cross-Strait Stability, Avoiding Catastrophe" by Alan D. Romberg, PacNet Newsletter of Pacific Forum CSIS (March 2, 2005)
• "Cross-Strait Relations: Avoiding War, Managing Peace," by Alan D. Romberg(Occasional Paper No. 38. published by the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies) (November, 2004)
• "Political and Strategic Implications of China's Growth," a conference paper delivered on behalf of Alan D. Romberg to the China's Growth and the World Economy Conference, sponsored by People's University of China, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and the United Nations Development Proogramme in Beijing (September 10, 2004)
• "Support Taiwan Democracy, Not Referenda," by Alan D. Romberg in the Asia Times Online (March 5, 2004)
• Rein In at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations, a new book by Alan D. Romberg (released on October 22, 2003)