The Asia Pacific Affairs Council (APAC) is a student organization housed within the Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) and is open to all Columbia University graduate students interested in Northeast, Southeast, and Inner Asian affairs. Founded and run by students, APAC serves the entire University community by organizing social, academic and career-related events and programming, distributing information and news, and building a community for students interested in the region.
For more information about APAC, please contact WEAI's Student Affair Coordinator, Nicole Lavacchia ([email protected]).
APAC Executive Board
The 2026-2027 APAC Executive Board is as follows:
President & Editor-in-Chief
Alice Chen
Events Chair
Lauren Kim
Finance Chair
Irteza Ahmed
Communications Chair
Bat-Uyanga Batbaatar
Partnerships & Outreach Chair
April Kwan
Journal Editors
Lindsay Kim
Sara Shibata
Alhad Mulkalwar
Nandini Jha
Crystal Huang
Sae Yamamoto
Graphic Designers
Sally Huang
Anupriya Aggarwal
The APAC Journal
Every year the Asia Pacific Affairs Council publishes, in both print and PDF form, The APAC Journal, a periodical dedicated to fostering deeper understanding of vital issues through the exchange of professional and personal experiences spanning Northeast, Southeast, and Inner Asia. The publication's multidisciplinary scope includes, but is not limited to: Public Policy, Innovation, International Security, Social and Political Sciences, Economics, and Public Administration.
For the 2026 edition, the APAC Council’s Executive Board chose the theme “Resilience and New Horizons." Contributors explored the theme through not only research papers but also op-eds and a photo essay, with the latter two formats appearing in the publication for the first time. North and South Korea, China, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are among the countries covered.
Download the 2026 APAC Journal
Photos: 2026 Journal launch party
The APAC Journal — Previous Years
Centered on the theme “Asia in Motion,” the 2025 APAC Journal includes pieces on China, Laos, Tibet, Taiwan, India, and Southeast Asia as a whole. The seven articles offer a comprehensive look at how nations across the Indo-Pacific region are navigating an era of profound upheaval. Technological change is a constant, with AI governance, information warfare, renewable energy, and the growth of data centers in Southeast Asia’s tech hubs some of the topics under consideration. The 2025 edition also makes room for the traditional Tibetan folk dance known as Gorshey; the Lao–China Railway; and China’s development financing in the Pacific Islands.
Download the 2025 issue
APAC News
Latest issue of the annual publication combines scholarly rigor and superior production values with the theme "Resilience and New Horizons."
Deadline for research paper proposals: December 5, 2025. Deadline for op-eds and photo essays: February 28, 2026.
Student organization now recruiting for members of its executive board and other positions. Deadline to apply: Monday, September 22, 2025.
