December 29,2017

A Political Perspective

From November 3 through November 14, 2017, President Donald J. Trump traveled to Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines on a lengthy tour of East and Southeast Asia. The White House described the trip as focused primarily on three issues: “strengthening international resolve to denuclearize North Korea, promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and advanc..

Scott W. Harold
BRI , CPTPP , Donald Trump , Indo-Pacific strategy , Quad , TPP
December 29,2017

An Economic Perspective

The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States in November 2016 created shock waves across the Asian countries that had been the targets of his campaign rhetoric. Candidate Trump had accused China of “outrageous theft of intellectual property, … illegal product dumping, and … devastating currency manipulation,” characterized the South Korea-US free trade agreem..

William W. Grimes
BRI , CPTPP , Donald Trump , KORUS FTA , RCEP , TPP
December 29,2017

A Security Perspective

Despite much anticipation and concern, President Donald Trump wrapped up his East Asia trip without making unexpected moves. Although Trump realized economic gains by striking multiple business deals with Asian partners, he made little progress in achieving his primary objective of taking one step further toward resolving the North Korean nuclear problem. 1 As Trump put more focus on econo..

Shin Beomchul*
Donald Trump , Hwaseong 15 , Indo-Pacific strategy , Super 301 , UNSCR 2397 , US-ROK alliance
December 29,2017

A Civilizational Perspective

Donald Trump is pressing his idea of “America First,” which could have deep civilizational implications, undercutting “universal values” and adding momentum to recent assertiveness about distinctive civilizations by the leaders of the other great power players in Northeast Asia. Putting the emphasis on Abe Shinzo, this article considers the impact of what each leader i..

Kazuhiko Togo
America First , China Dream , Donald Trump , Gosudarstvennost , Shinzo Abe , Take Back Japan