Apr 29,2016 Special Forum

Synopsis of the German Marshall Fund’s Japan Trilateral Forum, March 1-2, 2016

Why is it important to forge a global triangular framework under the auspices of Washington, Tokyo, and Brussels? Triangularity was assumed to exist during the Cold War, but Japanese horizons remained seriously limited and Europeans relied heavily on US power in East Asia. A triangle of this sort was posited as the emerging structure in […]

Editorial Staff

AIIB , Asianism , Populism , Post-modern Syndrome , Refugee crisis

Apr 15,2016 Open Forum

The Belt & Road Initiative as Power Resource: Lessons from Japan

In 2013, the Chinese government announced its plans to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and to pursue a massive regional infrastructure plan initially called either the “New Silk Road” or the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR), and now officially termed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The simultaneous push to create a new […]

William W. Grimes

"Belt and Road" Initiative , ADB , AIIB , MITI , Transactional power

Jun 30,2015 Open Forum

The US-Japan Alliance and East Asia: Five Guiding Principles

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s trip to the United States in late April and early May was touted as a success and a boost for US-Japan alliance relations. The personal dynamics between President Obama and Abe appeared much warmer compared with their previous meeting in 2014. Public sentiment between the United States and Japan is at […]

Tanaka Hitoshi*

AIIB , Japan-US alliance , SDF , TPP , US-Japan Defense Cooperation Guidelines

Jun 26,2015 Open Forum

What to Make of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

As a stand-alone institution, the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) cannot change the world. But it exists in a broader strategic framework of Chinese policies and institutions that give the AIIB some global significance. This framework has sub-regional, Eurasian, and global levels with economic and security dimensions. The AIIB plays a role in strategy […]

David Arase

AIIB , community of common destiny , One Belt, One Road , One Road" , periphery diplomacy

Jun 11,2015 Special Forum

Option 3: Reclaiming Diplomatic Ownership

During the more than five centuries of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910), Korea practiced one-dimensional diplomacy; it had only to take care of its tributary relationship with China. Within this arrangement, Korea enjoyed de facto independence except for ownership of its diplomacy, which Korea had to relinquish to China. This configuration is what some scholars refer […]

Choi YJ*

AIIB , multidimensional diplomacy , Sino-US Relations , TPP

May 19,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (May 2015)

The Park administration’s diplomatic strategy was tested in the last two months concerning AIIB and Japan. On AIIB, while Seoul kept silent about its decision before joining as a founding member, the pressure from Beijing and Washington was growing. The South Korean government labeled its diplomacy “strategic ambiguity,” but, on both the left and the […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

AIIB , historical revisionism , Kono Statement , THAAD

May 12,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2015)

In Waijiao pinglun, no. 2, Xiong Lili and Pan Yu analyze Russia’s predicament in Europe, discerning elements of both continuity and discontinuity in the Ukrainian situation. In order to contain Ukraine after its decision in February 2014 to sign the agreement with the European Union to “leave Russia, enter Europe,” Russia with military force annexed […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

AIIB , Maritime Silk Road , New Cold War , Sino-Japanese Relations , US strategic encirclement

Apr 30,2015 Open Forum

Synopsis of the Asan Plenum 2015: Is the U.S. Back?

[Agenda] The overall theme, “Is the U.S. Back?” provided the context for discussing in various panels timely issues concerning international relations in East Asia. Given the stress on US policy, this synopsis begins with views regarding Obama’s “rebalance to Asia,” proceeds to discussions of Sino-US relations, and continues with themes where the US role loomed […]

Editorial Staff

AIIB , Cyberwar , Russian Pivot to Asia , Sino-US Relations

Apr 30,2015 Open Forum

A Stronger Korea-Mongolia Link in a Changing Northeast Asia

As the constellation of relationships that has dominated Asia for decades begins to evolve towards a new dynamic, the vocabulary of change has begun to foreshadow a very different regional map, with some new trends holding the promise of stronger regional integration while others, perhaps, suggest increasing stresses and frictions. Of course, there is the […]

Mark Minton

AIIB , MCA , Mongolia , NAPCI , National security , Regionalism , Ulaanbaatar Initiative

Apr 09,2015 Special Forum

Recalibrating the Rebalance: A View from South Korea

Akin to other key Asian powers that have a long-standing alliance with the United States, South Korea has welcomed America’s renewed attention to Asia although this is hardly surprising given historically high positive perceptions of the United States and the ROK-US alliance. According to a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies […]

Lee Chung Min*

AIIB , CFC , Sino-DPRK relations , THAAD