February 19,2019 Special Forum

Korea:A Bone of Contention or a Chance for Cooperation? A View from Russia

Due to the unprecedented crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 2016-2017, China and Russia drew closer on Korean affairs and became united in opposition to the US policy of pressure and threats. A détente era in Korea since 2018 gave a new boost to their cooperation—permanent channels of coordination were established, while both countries were concerned that US policy could be unpredictable an..

Georgy Toloraya
CVID , double freeze , FFVD , Singapore Summit , Six-Party Talks , THAAD , turn to the East , Vietnam summit
February 19,2019 Special Forum

The Sino-Russia-US Strategic Triangle: A View from China

Four schools of thought can be detected in Chinese publications on Sino-Russian relations and the Sino-Russian-US triangle. One school is to double-down on the “quasi-alliance” versus the shared threat of the United States. A second is to seize the opportunity of Russia’s weakness in the triangle, especially its economic troubles, to press for economic integration as part of..

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , One Belt One Union , Silk Road Economic Belt
February 19,2019 Special Forum

The Sino-Russian-US Triangle and Northeast Asia: A View from Japan

While there are various perspectives within Japan, here I set forth an individual viewpoint and analyze international politics as a long-time researcher of Russia. First, I couch my thinking in the context of today’s overall international situation and of a rough breakdown of the ongoing debate in Japan concerning the triangle and Japan’s ideal response. Then, I explain my view of..

Hakamada Shigeki
Aleksandr III , free and open Indo-Pacific , INF Treaty , NATO , Northern Territories , Senkaku Islands , TPP
February 14,2019 Open Forum

The 1954 Geneva Conference on Korea: From Armistice to Stalemate

For fifty days in 1954, many of the Cold War’s preeminent figures met in Geneva to deal with “the Korean question,” how to reunite and bring peace to a Korean Peninsula that had been divided since 1945 and which had just endured three years of devastating warfare.  The ongoing war in Indochina was also on the agenda but for the US delegation was a secondary concern.  Althou..

Mark Tokola
Armistice , Geneva Conference , Kim Il-sung , Korean War , Syngman Rhee
February 07,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2019)

Sino-Russian relations remain the bedrock of Moscow’s Asia policy, as reaffirmed by when the Russian ambassador to China recounted at the start of 2019 how relations had been growing closer. The perceived sharp downturn in Sino-US relations only adds to the Sino-Russian momentum. One prospect is to take advantage in 2019 of the 70th anniversary of the normalization in 1949 or of the 2..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRI , EEU , G20 , Greater Eurasia , INF Treaty , SCO , Trump-Kim summit , turn to the East
January 31,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2019)

The end of 2018 and the first weeks of 2019 saw the South Korean media obsessed with North Korea and its diplomacy with the United States and China. Prospects for a second US-DPRK summit were a repeated concern throughout this time frame. Donald Trump’s summit with Moon Jae-in at the G20 summit was viewed from this angle. Hopes for opening a railroad connection between North and South..

Kim Kimberly
G20 , Panmunjom Declaration , Pyongyang Declaration , Trump-Kim summit , Xi-Kim summit
December 30,2018 Open Forum

Japan’s Debates on Russia and China: What is New in the Final Months of 2018?

Japan’s relations with China and Russia have shifted in important ways in the final months of 2018, but each bilateral relationship needs to be differentiated into multiple dimensions. Below, drawing on Japanese newspapers and articles, I consider five dimensions: 1) politics between the national leaders; 2) national identity issues, including territorial disputes and history; 3) trad..

Gilbert Rozman
December 27,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2018)

The last part of 2018 was marked by the hopeful aftermath of the Abe-Xi summit and the new push by Abe and Putin to resolve the long-lingering dispute between Tokyo and Moscow. These themes are covered separately in an Open Forum article. Below, attention is directed at the less positive coverage of Japan’s relations with North and South Korea and at the efforts by Abe to bring to fru..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , APEC , East Asia Summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , Korea boom , Tokyo Strategy 2018
December 21,2018 National Commentaries

A Southeast Asian Perspective

Hedging Harder: Southeast Asia and the US-China Rivalry“I think it’s very desirable for us not to have to take sides, but the circumstances may come when ASEAN may have to choose one or the other. I am hoping that it’s not coming soon.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 15 November 20181 “Over the five, 10, 25-year time horizon, just by simple demographics and ..

Malcolm Cook , Ian Storey
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asia rebalance , BUILD Act , East Asia Summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , the Quad
December 21,2018 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

The New Washington ConsensusWashington DC is a sharply divided city these days. A recent Pew Research Center poll concluded that Americans have increasingly embraced “conflicting partisan priorities for US foreign policy.”1 On most major national security concerns—whether Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan—there is little or no bipartisan agreement. On China, however, the..

Zack Cooper , Annie Kowalewski
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Meng Wanzhou , Nine-dash line , South China Sea , Tibet , Xinjiang