August 28,2019 Special Forum

Abe’s Korea Policy

Sandwiched around the G20 Osaka summit were Abe’s “honeymoon” with Trump, called the best relationship ever with the United States, and Abe’s “nightmare” with Moon Jae-in, called the worst relationship with South Korea since the 1965 normalization. Are the two extremes in Japanese foreign policy related? What is driving Abe’s foreign policy at the e..

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 summit , GSOMIA , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war , value diplomacy
August 28,2019 Special Forum

Moon’s Failed Balancing Act

The mood was decidedly upbeat in South Korea around this time last year: following the “historic summit” between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore, many praised Moon Jae-in as the “master mediator.”1 When Trump contracted cold feet just two weeks before his meeting with Kim, Moon staged a surprise inter-Korean summit to dispel their growing misgivings; the Si..

Eun A Jo
“No Japan” movement , G20 summit , GSOMIA , Korea Passing , nuclear diplomacy , Panmunjom handshake , THAAD , US-China trade war
August 28,2019 Special Forum

Trump’s Illusions

In the eyes of US observers, the G20 summit was more a series of bilateral meetings than a multilateral summit, more a prelude to Trump’s visit to the Korean Peninsula and meeting with Kim Jong-un, and more a round in the on-again off-again talks with Xi Jinping over trade than a turning point. Trump overshadowed other leaders, driving the newsworthy coverage, and reshaped the agenda aw..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 summit , History Wars , nuclear diplomacy
August 28,2019 Special Forum

Modi’s Middle Way

How many acronyms can one invent to signal a country’s foreign policy interests? Many, if you are Narendra Modi. The Indian prime minister recently spoke about an India-France “In-Fra” alliance. Last year he reportedly coined or popularized the JAI (Japan, America, India) and RIC (Russia, India, China) trilaterals. There’s also his SAGAR concept (Security and Growth for..

Constantino Xavier
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , Japan-America-India trilateral , non-alignment strategy , Russia-India-China trilateral , Security and Growth for All in the Region
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: 1) the intensification of the..

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 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2019)

Russian authors continued to show a preference for big questions. What is the character of the transformation under way in Northeast Asia? How has history been altered by developments in Sino-Soviet relations worthy of further investigation? Is an Indo-Russian alliance within reach with transformative impact on the regional order? Is conflict between Russia and China just the imagination of..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Great Eurasian Partnership , Osaka Summit , Silk Road Economic Belt , Trump-Kim summit , Yellow Umbrella Movement
July 29,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2019)

In the summer of 2019, South Korean media discussed the country’s relations with China, the United States, North Korea, and Japan. Specifically, they covered: (1) the Xi-Kim summit; (2) the G20 summit in Osaka, with three sub-topics: Seoul’s diplomatic leverage, the US-China trade war, and Abe’s decision to forego a bilateral summit with Moon⁠; (3) the Trump-Kim meeting i..

Editorial Staff
G20 , GSOMIA , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance , Xi-Kim summit
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 tanks. Distracting from warnings of a showdown between Trum..

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , 5G , G20 , Huawei , KORUS FTA , Quad , THAAD , US-China trade war
July 16,2019 Open Forum

The Debate over US Policy toward China Heats Up: Doves, Hawks, Superhawks, and the Viability of the Think Tank Middle Ground

The aim of this synopsis is to clarify the debate that has erupted in the early summer of 2019, to differentiate the main schools of thought, to put the debate in historical perspective, and to suggest some tests that lie ahead. On the one hand, any such debate at this juncture has to be a response to Donald Trump’s China policy. On the other, it has unfolded as something more: An excha..

Gilbert Rozman
Cold War , Donald Trump , Doves , Hawks , Red China , Superhawks , Xi Jinping
July 03,2019 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

It is easy to assume that rising tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China will benefit Taiwan. As everyone knows, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” But this assumption reveals a superficial understanding of Taiwan’s role in the triangular relationship among Beijing, Washington, and Taipei. In fact, a different aphorism may capture T..

Shelley Rigger
Donald Trump , G20 , GCTF , National Defense Authorization Act , TPP , Tsai Ing-wen , Xi Jinping