February 05,2015 Special Forum

Abe Shinzo: Japan’s Most Consequential Prime Minister since Yoshida Shigeru

Introduction to Special Forum Abe Shinzo: Japan’s Most Consequential Prime Minister since Yoshida Shigeru   The year 2015 promises to be a milestone in Japan’s transition from a defeated state remaining on the defensive over its history with a low strategic profile, to a proud and proactive force for the reorganization of Asia within the US-led international community. Abe Shinzo i..

Editorial Staff
Abenomics , comfort women , commemorations , Shinzo Abe , TPP , Yasukuni Shrine
February 05,2015 Special Forum

Abe Unleashed? Hardly

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and his LDP chalked up a third consecutive election victory and extended their hold on the Diet for two more years with a convincing win in the snap Lower House election held in late December. While the victory consolidates the LDP’s grip on power and confirms that Abe is the real leader of the party—for now—, it is hard to call the results a mandate for hi..

Brad Glosserman
Abenomics , collective self-defense , Japan-US alliance , nuclear policy , Shinzo Abe , Territorial Disputes
February 05,2015 Special Forum

Assessing Abe’s Economic Agenda: Abenomics, TPP, and Domestic Politics

It is premature to evaluate the success of Abenomics and TPP, two signature items of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo during his first two years in office, but it is possible to offer an update on his struggle with domestic opponents to make possible a breakthrough on both of these objectives. Looking back on the elections at the end of 2014, we find evidence that he was striving to solidify support for ..

Terada Takashi*
Abenomics , FTA , FTAAP , JA Zenchu , Shinzo Abe , TPP
February 05,2015 Special Forum

The Foreign Policy of Abe Shinzo: Strategic Vision and Policy Implementation

On January 5, 2015, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo reaffirmed that his government will continue to pursue a “proactive contribution to international peace” in his first press conference of the new year. When asked about the statement he is anticipated to issue at the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in relation to his government’s view on Japan’s past history, Abe confirmed that it w..

James Przystup , Tatsumi Yuki*
ASEAN , collective self-defense , Futenma base , India , Japan-US alliance , ODA , Territorial Disputes
January 27,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2015)

Russian publications have had to react to an unexpectedly difficult environment at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. Counting on increasing polarization in the Asia-Pacific region, they observed Xi Jinping soften his opposition to the United States in meeting with Barack Obama in November. Intending to separate troubles in Europe from aspirations in Asia, Putin found the spillover so seve..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRICS , FTAAP , India , Look East policy , Maritime Silk Road , TPP
January 16,2015 Topics of the Month

Comparative Southeast Asian Military Modernization – III

Maritime Balance in the South China Sea: Submarines in Southeast Asia In recent years, Southeast Asian countries have pursued the acquisition of submarines with increasing vigor. Currently, four countries in the region operate them: Indonesia (with two Type 209 submarines), Malaysia (with two Scorpène-class submarines), Singapore (with two Archer-class and four Challenger-class submarines),1 a..

Felix K. Chang
defense community , military cooperation
January 16,2015 Topics of the Month

Comparative Southeast Asian Military Modernization – III

Maritime Balance in the South China Sea: Submarines in Southeast Asia In recent years, Southeast Asian countries have pursued the acquisition of submarines with increasing vigor. Currently, four countries in the region operate them: Indonesia (with two Type 209 submarines), Malaysia (with two Scorpène-class submarines), Singapore (with two Archer-class and four Challenger-class submarines),1 a..

Felix K. Chang
defense community , military cooperation
December 30,2014 Open Forum

Washington Insights: December 2014

The November summitry—APEC, the EAS, and the G20 as well as concomitant bilateral, trilateral, and other multilateral meetings—stimulated rethinking about regional relations. In Washington, this took the form of reassessments of how the US rebalancing was proceeding, renewed examination of the broader regional context, and reactions to appeals from Koreans to give further thought to reunificat..

Editorial Staff
Asia for the Asians , Bipolarity , hedging against China , triangularity , US rebalancing
December 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