Aug 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 […]

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

Aug 19,2019 Open Forum

Russia-China Relations in Central Asia: Why Is There a Surprising Absence of Rivalry?

Russia and China have been deepening their cooperation for the last quarter century. While the relationship has not reached the stage of a full-fledged alliance—both states refuse to support the other side’s territorial claims—the growing density of ties between the two is unmistakable. Observers continue to recognize Central Asia as the most plausible site and […]

Marcin Kaczmarski

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasia Partnership , New Silk Road , Polar Silk Road. Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt

Aug 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: […]

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

Aug 13,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2019)

All roads ran through Washington in the late spring and early summer of 2019, even as Abe strove for a more autonomous role through hosting the G20, improving relations with China, and aggressively targeting South Korea. Intense media coverage ranged from the Abe-Trump relationship and Trump’s pressure tactics, the Trump-Kim relationship and diplomatic showmanship, the […]

Editorial Staff

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asianism , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 , Huawei , Reiwa , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war

Jul 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 […]

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

Jul 29,2019 Open Forum

Deciphering China’s Intentions: What Can Open Sources Tell Us?

Over the past several years, bold assertions about China’s long-range strategic goals have become common in the US public discourse. In 2015, Michael Pillsbury published his influential volume The Hundred-Year Marathon, which purported to disclose China’s “frightening plans” to overtake the United States as the world’s leading power by 2049 and rewrite the rules of […]

Joel Wuthnow

"Belt and Road" Initiative , 19th Party Congress , Chinese Communist Party , Huawei , Taiwan , Xi Jinping Thought , Xinjiang , ZTE

Jul 03,2019 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

In 2019 China intensified its offensive against Taiwan. At the same time as it strove to penetrate the Taiwanese society with policies of favoritism based on “31 measures” of better opportunities for businesses and individuals in the PRC. It also stepped up its political and military pressure through Xi Jinping’s New Year’s speech to Taiwan […]

Kawashima Shin*

"Belt and Road" Initiative , 1992 Consensus , free and open Indo-Pacific , One China policy , TPP

Jun 26,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I

The upcoming G20 meeting in Osaka provides Japan with an opportunity to set a bold agenda across an array of global issues, and the dangerous temptation for host countries to pursue too many different ones. All too often the diplomatic pattern has been to generate a laundry list of micro steps that fail to add up […]

Benjamin L. Self

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Abe Shinzo , CPTPP , G20 , Osaka Summit

Jun 26,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I

As the global focus of attention switched from the G8 to the G20 in the last decade, Japan found itself potentially facing a diluted capacity to influence the world stage, particularly as this shift removed Tokyo’s status as the only member from outside the Euro-North American block. Yet, successive Japanese leaderships have continued to place […]

Ra Mason

"Belt and Road" Initiative , Abe Shinzo , CPTPP , G20 , Osaka Summit

Jun 17,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 3

Trade overshadows security with human rights and democratization left on the sidelines in DC gatherings in the spring of 2019. The Hanoi summit left US-North Korean ties in limbo, reducing their salience in discussions as few new details emerged and the next steps remained difficult to fathom. In the Trump-Abe summits (two in the spring […]

Editorial Staff

"Belt and Road" Initiative , 5G , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 , Hanoi summit , Huawei , THAAD , trilateralism , US-Japan alliance