SungYong Lee

Professor

conflict resolution, peacebuilding, reconciliation, post-war reconstruction

SungYong Lee is a scholar of conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. His research engages themes of post-liberal peacebuilding, local ownership, everyday peace, and social reconciliation. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, he bridges academic theory and the lived realities of communities navigating conflict and recovery.

Dr. Lee served as Chair of the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA, 2024–2026) and Honorary Secretary of the Regional Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2017–2021). He sits on the editorial boards of International Affairs, Peaces, and Comparative Democratic Studies. Before joining George Mason University, he held faculty positions at Coventry University (UK), the University of Otago (New Zealand), and Soka University (Japan).

Current Research

SungYong Lee’s current research examines various aspects of everyday peace specifically among populations in border areas, social reconciliation in post-violence contexts, and community resilience in conflict zones, with a geographical focus on Cambodia, South Korea, and Indonesia (Aceh).

Selected Publications

Björkdahl, A., Bliesemann de Guevara, B., Cheng, C., Lee, S., Millar, G., & Paffenholz, T. (2025). Rethinking peace in turbulent times: perspectives from six scholars. Peacebuilding, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/21647259.2025.2597728

Hyukmin Kang and SungYong Lee (2025) ‘Voices of the Marginalized: Victims’ Perspectives on Agonistic Reconciliation and Power Disparity,’ International Journal of Transitional Justice 19 (3): 563-579

SungYong Lee (2025) ‘Promoting Resilience in the Practice of Humanitarian Assistance: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Challenges and Implications,’ Journal of Asian Sociology 54 (2): 103-126.

SungYong Lee (2022) Everyday Reconciliation in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

SungYong Lee (2021) ‘Understanding everyday peace in Cambodia: Plurality, subtlety and connectivity,’ Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 16 (1): 24-38.

SungYong Lee (2015) ‘Motivations for Local Resistance in International Peacebuilding,’ Third World Quarterly 36 (8): 1437-1452.

Sung Yong Lee and Alpaslan Özerdem eds. (2015) Local Ownership in International Peacebuilding, London and New York: Routledge.

Madhav Joshi, SungYong Lee and Roger Mac Ginty (2014) ‘Just how liberal is the liberal peace?’, International Peacekeeping 21 (3): 364-389.

Expanded Publication List

Authored Books

SungYong Lee (2022) Everyday Reconciliation in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan

SungYong Lee (2019) Local Ownership in Asian Peacebuilding: Development of local peacebuilding models, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Alpaslan Özerdem and SungYong Lee (2016) International Peacebuilding: An Introduction, London and New York: Routledge.

Edited Volumes

Kevin Clements and SungYong Lee eds. (2021) Multi-level Reconciliation and Peacebuilding: Stakeholder Perspectives, London and New York: Routledge.

Sung Yong Lee and Alpaslan Özerdem eds. (2015) Local Ownership in International Peacebuilding, London and New York: Routledge.

Bo-hyuk Suh, SungYong Lee, Jiyoung Heo eds. (2024) A Review of Violence Concepts, Seoul: Mosinun Saramdeul. 서보혁, 이성용, 허지영 편, 2024, ⸢폭력개념연구⸥, 서울: 모시는 사람들.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles (Selected)

Rebecca Strating and SungYong Lee (2026, accepted) Australia’s Strategic Institutional Innovation in the Indo-Pacific. Asian Studies Review, forthcoming.

SungYong Lee & Hyeyoung Shin (2026) Everyday Peace among Migrant Workers in South Korea: Strategic Plurality and Semiotic Asymmetry of Visibility, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. DOI: 10.1177/15423166261456911

SungYong Lee (2025) ‘Promoting Resilience in the Practice of Humanitarian Assistance: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Challenges and Implications,’ Journal of Asian Sociology 54 (2): 103-126.

Obinna Nweke and SungYong Lee (2024) Time, temporality and the reintegration of ex-combatants after the Nigerian-Biafra War, Conflict Security & Development 24 (4):299-316.

SungYong Lee (2024) Reformation of the Victim and Offender Relationship in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia: An Oral Historical Approach, Critical Review of History 147. 이성용 (2024) 크메르 루주 학살 후 캄보디아의 가해자-피해자 관계 회복 과정에 관한 구술사적 연구, 역사비평 147.

SungYong Lee, Hyukmin Kang, Jiyoung Heo, and Aidan Gnoth (2022) Varieties of Peace in the Korean Peninsula: Expanding the scope of the peace discourse, Peaces 1 (2): 35-65.

SungYong Lee (2021) ‘Understanding everyday peace in Cambodia: Plurality, subtlety and connectivity,’ Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 16 (1): 24-38.

Hyukmin Kang and SungYong Lee (2021) ‘The Agency of Victims and Political Violence in South Korea: Reflection on the needs-based model of reconciliation,’ Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 28(2), 235–244.  

SungYong Lee (2020) ‘Local Resilience in Post-war Reconstruction: Recovery, maintenance and transformation of social institution in post-war Cambodia,’ Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 14 (3): 349-367.

SungYong Lee (2020) ‘Reflection of the “local turn” in peacebuilding: Practitioners’ Views,’ Journal of Human Security Studies Vol 9-1: 25-36.

Book Chapters (Selected)

SungYong Lee (2025) ‘Community Resilience in Humanitarian Crisis,’ In Alpaslan Özerdem ed. Handbook on Humanitarian Crisis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Pp. 122-133.

SungYong Lee (2025) ‘Functional Coexistence in Local Communities in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia,’ In Tatsushi Arai and Margarita Tadevosyan eds. Functional Coexistence: A Decades-Long View of Conflict Intervention. London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 63-78.

SungYong Lee (2024) ‘Communal Violence,’ In Bohyuk Suh ed. A Study of Violence Concepts. Seoul: Mosinun Saramdeul. 이성용 (2024) 「공동체 폭력」, 서보혁 편. 『폭력개념 연구』. 서울: 모시는 사람들. (In Korean)

SungYong Lee (2024) ‘Chapter 6: Mediation,’ In Yoshiaki Furuzawa and Juichiro Tanabe eds. International Conflict Resolution, Hiroshima: Keisuisha, pp. 100-133. スンヨン　リー (2024) 「第6章: 調停」, 古澤嘉朗, 田辺　寿一朗編『国際紛争解決論』広島: 溪水社 , pp. 100-133. (In Japanese)

SungYong Lee (2023) ‘Transformative Peace Negotiation,’ In Jessica Senehi, Imani Michelle Scott, Sean Byrne, & Thomas Matyók eds. (2021) The Routledge Handbook of Peacebuilding and Ethnic Conflict, London and New York: Routledge.

SungYong Lee (2022) ‘Post Jayu-jui Pyonghwa (Post-liberal Peace),’ In Bohyuk Seo and Hyukmin Kang eds. Pyonghwa Gaenyom Yongu (A Study of Peace Concepts), Seoul: Mosinun Saramdeul. (in Korean)

SungYong Lee (2021) ‘Local Resistance and Hybrid Peace,’ in Oliver P. Richmond and Gëzim Visoka eds., The Oxford Handbook of Peacebuilding, Statebuilding and Peace Formation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

SungYong Lee (2021) ‘Chapter 10: Between forgiveness and revenge: The reconstruction of social relationship in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia,’ In Kevin P. Clements and SungYong Lee (eds.) Multi-level Reconciliation and Peacebuilding, New York and London: Routledge.

Courses Taught

CONF 101 Conflicts and our World

CONF 393 Violence: Causes, Dynamics and Alternatives

Education

PhD International Relations University of St Andrews

Recent Presentations

2026 Rethinking Peace in Turbulent Times, Online Seminar Series on Critical Peace and Conflict Studies, the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), 18 February, 2026 (London, online presentation)

2026 Enhancing Australia-Korea Cooperation in Contested Asia, La Trobe University, 19 February, 2026 (Melbourne, Australia, online presentation)

2024 Jeju 4.3 Peace Forum, Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, 24-24 October 2024, Jeju Sun Hotel, South Korea

2022 Keynote Speech, ‘Roles of External Actors in Emancipatory Peacebuilding,’ Quo Vadis Peaces?: KIUS Peace Conference, (21-22 June 2022, Kangwon National University).