Dec 28,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2020)

In the fall of 2020, Chinese analysts assessed US and Japanese policies in light of recent anti-globalization trends and made predictions about the United States’ near-term relations with its allies. They also examined the Japan–Russia bilateral relationship by considering the legacy of the Abe administration and the likely future under Suga. They continued to evaluate […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

ASEAN , COVID-19 , CPTPP , RCEP , trilateralism , US-China rivalry

Oct 05,2020 Open Forum

Weighed in the Balance: Abe’s Legacy of Searching for Supplementary Security Partners

The lives of Japanese diplomats and security planners were simpler in the old days. During the Cold War, Tokyo’s priority was to monitor the activities of Soviet aircraft and naval vessels in the vicinity of Japan, and to prepare to resist a hypothetical invasion from the north. Matters were made easier by the fact that, […]

James D.J. Brown

Abe Shinzo , Cold War , CPTPP , free and open Indo-Pacific , Quad , Self Defense Forces , Suga Yoshihide , US-China rivalry

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

Apr 30,2019 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

When he assumed office for the second time nearly seven years ago, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo made clear that Southeast Asia would not simply remain critical for Japan’s economic interests, but that strengthening diplomatic as well as security relations with the region would be critical in the future as well. Abe was quick to demonstrate […]

Shihoko Goto

"Belt and Road" Initiative , CPTPP , East China Sea , free and open Indo-Pacific , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands

Apr 22,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2019)

In early 2019, Chinese experts assessed Chinese–Korean economic relations, China’s relationship with South Korea, and the potential for extending the Belt and Road Initiative to Northeast Asia. They also evaluated the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, long-term shifts in Sino–US relations and the evolution of the US–Japan alliance under the Trump administration. China–Korean economic relations In […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

"Belt and Road" Initiative , CPTPP , Indo-Pacific strategy , New Southern Policy , Six-Party Talks , THAAD

Aug 31,2018 Special Forum

International Law in US-China Relations: Trade Wars and Maritime Rights in the Era of Xi and Trump

In an increasingly fraught US-China relationship, issues of international law have become important in their own right and illustrative of broader patterns. A pair of particularly salient and illuminating arenas are trade (and related economic matters) and maritime rights (including related security issues, especially in the South China Sea). In each of these fields, the […]

Jacques deLisle

BRI , CPTPP , Made in China 2025 , RCEP , South China Sea , TPP , UNCLOS , WTO

Aug 23,2018 National Commentaries

An American (Non-Trumpian) Perspective on Asian Integration

With the long-standing failure of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the recent US retreat to economic nationalism and “America First,” Asian trade and investment liberalization and regional integration are increasingly where the action is for global economic advances. This reality is illustrated by three moving targets: the completion and expansion of the […]

Claude Barfield

CPTPP , FTAs , Indo-Pacific strategy , RCEP

Jun 29,2018 Special Forum

US-Japan Relations

In the aftermath of the June 8-9 G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada, which collapsed under the weight of President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum, a photograph circulated—courtesy of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s twitter account—that captured the mood of the meeting.1 In the picture, Trump is seated, arms crossed, gazing placidly ahead, as European leaders, Merkel most […]

Brad Glosserman

CPTPP , free and open Indo-Pacific , Japan passing , Singapore Statement , Trump-Kim summit , US-Japan alliance

Mar 14,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (February 2018)

Understandably, Japanese have been preoccupied with the Korean Peninsula since the start of 2018. In this Country Report, we cover issues not central to the serious matters over the peninsula, while in the upcoming Report, we focus exclusively on peninsular matters. Together, the two reports serve as coverage of Japan for the first two issues […]

Editorial Staff

“Year of China” , BRI , CPTPP , free and open Indo-Pacific , TPP-11