December 10,2019 Open Forum

Sino-Russian Local Relations: Heihe and Blagoveshchensk

Some argue that troubled cross-border relations defy extravagant claims made about Sino-Russian, such as that an alliance exists. Others argue that those ties have been troubled but have improved to the point that they no longer pose a problem for overall relations. This article recognizes persistent difficulties in the local dimension of the relationship, but […]

Gaye Christoffersen
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Blagoveshchensk , China National Petroleum Corp , Gazprom , Heihe , Power of Siberia , Russian Far East , Silk Road Fund , Trans-Siberian Railroad
November 27,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 6

Against the shadow of impeachment hearings, the DC think tank community waited on three big developments in the Indo-Pacific region. The Sino-US trade talks riveted the international community with an outcome originally expected in November before the APEC summit was cancelled but still looming. The South Korea-Japan breakdown faced a November 22 deadline when Seoul […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , China-South Korea-Japan summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , THAAD , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
October 31,2019 Open Forum

Asian Missiles on the March

In his Asian tour in August, US defense secretary Mark Esper said that he would like to deploy new ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia as soon as possible. That same month, the Pentagon conducted its first test of such a missile since the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, banning such weapons, expired in August. […]

Richard Weitz
anti-access/area denial , GSOMIA , INF Treaty , New START Treaty , No First Use policy , THAAD
October 23,2019 Open Forum

Synopsis: DC Exchanges on US-ROK Relations

The US-ROK relationship is overshadowing other interests in Washington regarding foreign policy in East Asia. The ongoing US-China trade war may appear more urgent, but in the absence of Chinese visitors defending Chinese position or US officials eager to explain the US position when Trump is prone to change it on short notice, exchanges have […]

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , inter-Korean summit , THAAD , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war
October 18,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 5

No topic stirred as much interest in DC think tanks as the US-Japan-South Korean triangle. In the background loomed North Korea, leading to overlapping interest in the Sino-North Korean-US triangle. The driving force remained Donald Trump, keeping on edge US relations with each of the other three countries. Naturally, the latter triangle was seen also […]

Editorial Staff
Act East Policy , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , New Southern Policy , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
September 09,2019 Open Forum

Who Controls the Past Controls the Future: The political use of WWII history in Russia & China

Under a perfectly blue sky in September 2015, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin strode out to the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the center of Beijing. This was the entrance to the Forbidden City when China’s last emperors ruled, and it was where Mao Zedong declared the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) […]

Katie Stallard-Blanchette
Great Patriotic War , political memory , Victory Day , Vladimir Putin , World War II , Xi Jinping
August 19,2019 Open Forum

Russia-China Relations in Central Asia: Why Is There a Surprising Absence of Rivalry?

Russia and China have been deepening their cooperation for the last quarter century. While the relationship has not reached the stage of a full-fledged alliance—both states refuse to support the other side’s territorial claims—the growing density of ties between the two is unmistakable. Observers continue to recognize Central Asia as the most plausible site and […]

Marcin Kaczmarski
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasia Partnership , New Silk Road , Polar Silk Road. Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt
August 19,2019 Open Forum

Japan-US-India Defense Cooperation: Anticipating the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Other triangles keep drawing greater attention, but the US-Japan-India triangle has become the foundation of what is envisioned as the 21st century security framework involving the United States in the Indo-Pacific. As seen from Japan, this security triangle is acquiring an increasing role in regional strategic thinking as a result of at least three developments: […]

Nagao Satoru*
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asianism , free and open Indo-Pacific , Jammu and Kashmir , Ladakh , the Quad , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
July 29,2019 Open Forum

Deciphering China’s Intentions: What Can Open Sources Tell Us?

Over the past several years, bold assertions about China’s long-range strategic goals have become common in the US public discourse. In 2015, Michael Pillsbury published his influential volume The Hundred-Year Marathon, which purported to disclose China’s “frightening plans” to overtake the United States as the world’s leading power by 2049 and rewrite the rules of […]

Joel Wuthnow
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 19th Party Congress , Chinese Communist Party , Huawei , Taiwan , Xi Jinping Thought , Xinjiang , ZTE
July 29,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 4

Donald Trump keeps seizing the initiative, overshadowing Abe Shinzo at the G20 meetings, changing the narrative at will in diplomacy with Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, and, on every occasion, relegating human rights and democratization to the sidelines. Just as he sets the agenda on the world stage, he drives the discussion at DC think […]

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , 5G , G20 , Huawei , KORUS FTA , Quad , THAAD , US-China trade war