Chinese foreign policy and domestic affairs — the study of different approaches of China towards foreign countries and interpretations of Chinese political actions, e.g. on the basis of internal policies, strategic culture, international situation, the personality of the leader, etc. Richard has been working on understanding Chinese perspectives because he believes that in that way we can both predict and create effective policies against China. The study of Chinese politics, economics, culture, and frequent interaction with not only Chinese researchers but also ordinary people are parts of this approach;

The international relations of East Asia – from economic and security point of view, the East Asian region has become the centre of the world’s affairs. At the same time, it provides a broad scale of political systems and cultures. These facts then create a highly complex situation which needs to be studied not only through the lens of general international relations theories, but also by a deep understanding of regional facts. Richard has visited (or lived in) almost all relevant actors, including China, Japan, Taiwan, the majority of the ASEAN countries, but also the “external players” — India, the USA, and Canada;