About Me

Matthew F. Fleming is a Ph.D. student in political science at Northeastern University and a Graduate Fellow at Northeastern’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, where he leads the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab. His research focuses on Indo-Pacific security, minilateralism, and strategic competition in Northeast Asia, with particular attention to U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateralism, Indo-Pacific strategies, and U.S. foreign relations with South Korea and Japan. He was previously a Non-Resident James A. Kelly Korea Fellow at Pacific Forum and a U.S. Delegate to the U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Global Leadership Youth Summit, a U.S. Department of State initiative organized through the U.S. embassies in Seoul and Tokyo and hosted by the East-West Center in 2024. His previous policy and research experience includes work with the Indo-Pacific Strategy Team in the Office of Regional and Security Policy at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the East Asia Institute, and the academic journals of the Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies. Fleming holds a Master of Global Affairs and Policy from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, where he specialized in international security and foreign policy, and a Master of Media and Governance from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, where he focused on global governance and regional strategy. His research and commentary have appeared in The Diplomat, Pacific Forum, the CDA Institute, the East-West Center, North Korean Review, and the Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies.