Special Forum

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"How Leaders Are Seeking to Rebalance Asian Regionalism"

Dec 01,2014 Special Forum

The Russian Pivot to Asia

Vladimir Putin’s “turn to the East” (povorot na Vostok) greatly intensified in 2014. Of the various pivots to Asia it is one of the most controversial, but, at various times, was encouraged by all countries active in the region. Compared to the others, it has the most diversified objectives, but also the greatest contradictions among them. In the context of multiple pivots, this one has the ..

Gilbert Rozman
APEC summit , Eurasian Economic Union , Eurasianism , Russian Far East Development , Silk Road Economic Belt , turn to the East
Dec 01,2014 Special Forum

When Big Powers Pivot, the Little States Roll: Southeast Asia Between China and Japan

The announcement by President Xi Jinping of the “Asia-Pacific Dream” at the start of the APEC summit in Beijing has been seen by many as China’s latest attempt to respond to the Obama administration’s “pivot.” Unlike the “Pacific Dream” used by Secretary of State John Kerry to describe Washington’s rebalancing, Xi puts China at the center, using its growing power to promote “ne..

Christopher R. Hughes
Dec 01,2014 Special Forum

From Look East to Act East: Transitions in India’s Eastward Engagement

India’s “Look East Policy”, rechristened as the “Act East Policy” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government,1 has been lauded as the country’s most successful foreign policy initiative taken in the past two decades.2 Modi expanded its scope and focus after sensing that Phase I and Phase II of the “Look East Policy” could not achieve their ful..

Rahul Mishra
Act East Policy , Civilian nuclear cooperation agreement , hedging against China , Look East , Regional and maritime connectivity , security agreement

Open Forum

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Dec 19,2014 Open Forum

China and India: Coping with Growing Asymmetry

It is not just the GDP figure of China that has expanded to become nearly four times that of India’s; the components that constitute it reflect a picture of growing asymmetry between these two emerging Asian economies, which has deeper systemic implications. The contributions to their GDP from the agriculture, industry, and service sectors in the case of China have moved from 40:33:27 percent in..

Swaran Singh
Asymmetry , India
Dec 19,2014 Open Forum

International Peace in Asia: Will it Endure?

International Peace in Asia: Will it Endure? 1 Post 1945 Asia has been conflict ridden.2 Between 1945 and 2010, there were a total of 71 major wars (in which battle deaths exceed 1,000), of which 15 were inter-state wars, 47 intrastate wars, 6 wars of liberation against colonial rule, and 3 non-state wars. There were also approximately 23 minor inter-state wars (25 to 999 battle deaths) and 2..

Muthiah Alagappa
Armed peace , deterrence , international legitimacy , sovereignty , trust-building
Dec 15,2014 Open Forum

Looking Eastward to China: Beijing’s Central Asian Diplomacy and its Implications for China’s New Silk Road Initiatives

During a meeting with the presidents of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Pakistan on November 8, 2014, President Xi Jinping announced that China was contributing 40 billion dollars to establish a Silk Road Fund (silu jijin 丝路基金) to strengthen regional connectivity and enhance cooperation with neighboring countries. According to Xinhua news agency, the fund is earmarked to..

Hasan H. Karrar
Bazaar , Central Asia , economic connectivity , informal economy , Maritime Silk Road , Silk Road Economic Belt

National Commentaries

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"US-Japan Relations:
Do We Share the Same Values and Overall View of History?"

Topics of the Month

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Dec 02,2014 Topics of the Month

Civilizational Divides and Regional Confrontations – 4

Reading Kazuhiko Togo’s powerful piece on the dilemmas of Japan, one feels in a time warp. The echo of the 19th century’s choice of modernization with the adoption of Western values and rules that resulted from the Meiji Restoration, and the strategic realism of an embattled 20th century when alliance reversals and conflict reigned, dominate his approach. Strikingly, Japan’s own role in supp..

François Godement
Authoritarian state capitalism , Crimea , defense spending , embattled twentieth century , strategic balance

Country Reports

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Dec 30,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2014)

The prevailing Chinese narrative is zero-sum, blaming Japan unsparingly and the United States, if in a less vitriolic manner, for regional fragmentation when a path to integration is within reach. Not only is there no hint of any mistakes made by China at any time since the 1949 revolution, there is no indication that compromise is part of resolving problems. The voices of the small group of acade..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)
Japanese containment , New Cold War , Sino-ROK alliance , US-ROK alliance
Nov 21,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (November 2014)

Russian articles on Russia’s “turn to the East” are full of confidence, concentrate on the big picture, and constantly repeat assumptions hardened over the previous half-year. Rather than reflect on Russia’s isolation, they insist that the West is isolated in the international community. Instead of identifying difficulties in the acceptance of Russia into East Asia, they emphasize failures..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRICS , India , international relations framework , Russo-Japanese relations , Southeast Asia , turn to the East
Nov 10,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2014)

South Korean newspapers have recently focused on parallels in international relations. As they follow developments in Ukraine and Hong Kong and keep their gaze on North Korea, they are alert to similarities that can influence the foreign policy of the Park administration. The most significant overlaps are found between Ukraine and South Korea. The former is situated on a civilizational fault line ..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
Agreed Framework , Civilizations , Hong Kong , Regionalism , reorganization of Asia , THAAD , Ukraine

Review Article

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Dec 19,2014 Review Article

‘The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia’

Saadia Pekkanen, John Ravenhill and Rosemary Foot, eds., Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) Broad implications of the emergence of a new regional order are brought to light in The Oxford Handbook of The International Relations of Asia, an impressive collection by many of the international relations (IR) field’s leading scholars on co..

Steven Denney
Asia Paradox , economic hub , regional bifurcation