In their Spotlight Presentation at The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences 2014 (ACSS2014) in Osaka, Japan, Dr Amy Szarkowski and Dr Yukinori Komine discussed the applicability of the concept of soft power in U.S. foreign policy with regard to international treaties, in particular the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), through the lenses of both political science and psychology. In this interview IAFOR Executive Director, Dr Joseph Haldane, continues the discussion on soft power with Dr Szarkowski and Dr Komine.
Dr Amy Szarkowski & Dr Yukinori Komine
Amy Szarkowski, PhD, is a Psychologist in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and an Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Clinically, she specialises in conducting psychological assessment with children who are Deaf or hard of hearing and providing counseling services to families impacted by hearing loss. Areas of research interest include social-emotional functioning and quality of life issues in Deaf and hard of hearing children (including those with complex medical conditions), combined autism and hearing loss and disability rights issues.
Yukinori Komine, PhD, is an Associate in Research at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University. He is an internationally trained political scientist whose area of expertise is US Foreign Policy and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific region.
