Nov 04,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2020)

The fall of 2020 left South Korea in limbo. Who would win the US presidential elections? Would there be an October or post-election surprise from North Korea? How would US ties to China change after the election? Would the replacement of Abe by Suga result in new hope for the troubled ROK-Japan relationship? At the […]

Sanghwa Hong
Donald Trump , Joe Biden , New Cold War , OPCON transfer , Suga Yoshihide , US presidential election , US-China rivalry , US-ROK alliance
Nov 02,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: China (October 2020)

In the fall of 2020, Chinese analysts assessed the likely impact on Sino–US relations of the US presidential election and praised the effectiveness of China’s pandemic-era foreign policy. They continued to carefully monitor South Korea’s foreign policy and ROK–DPRK relations. They also contested allegations that China’s BRI loans create a “debt trap” for vulnerable countries […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , Debt trap , Donald Trump , Joe Biden , US presidential election , US-China rivalry , US-ROK alliance
Oct 12,2020 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 8, No. 5

Leadership change was on peoples’ minds in the late summer and early fall of 2020. What would a Biden administration do differently from Trump in the Indo-Pacific region? How does the departure of Abe Shinzo impact Japan’s foreign policy, given his personalized relations with the leaders in the US, China, Russia, and India as well […]

Editorial Staff
COVID-19 , Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , US-China rivalry , Yoshihide Suga
Oct 12,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2020)

With Abe Shinzo’s decision to resign for health reasons at the end of August, discussion turned quickly to his legacy, including in international relations. One position was that he transformed Japanese politics, hollowing them out for foreign and domestic decision-making. He not only had been obsessed with amending the Constitution, he violated it with impunity, […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , Northern Territories , Senkakus , US-China rivalry , Yoshihide Suga
Oct 08,2020 Special Forum

Contemplating US Policy on China and the Indo-Pacific: Some Thoughts regarding a Possible Biden Administration

By most accounts, the last four years have been something of a sea change in US foreign policy. During this time, the US has stepped back from its familiar leadership role in several multilateral initiatives, cast aspersions at global governance efforts, flirted with dictators and authoritarian regimes more openly and brazenly than ever in the […]

Amanda Trea Phua , Liow Joseph Chinyong*
COVID-19 , Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hong Kong , Joe Biden , Taiwan , US-China rivalry , Xi Jinping , Xinjiang
Oct 07,2020 Special Forum

Anticipating Japan’s Attitudes toward the US President in 2021

Japan has a very practical view on who the US president is. Throughout the postwar period, Japan’s national interest and security have been protected and advanced by the US-Japan security alliance. Its centrality will remain the same for the foreseeable future-just a reflection of geopolitical realities. Japan has to get along and deal with the […]

Akimoto Satohiro
Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , Kamala Harris , Narendra Modi , Quad , US-China rivalry
Oct 07,2020 Special Forum

Sustaining the Momentum in the Indo-Pacific: The US Presidential Elections and Priorities for Indo-US ties

When asked about bipartisan support for the Indo-US relationship, India’s Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said, “[T]hink back at the last four American Presidents. Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton. I’m sure you’d agree with me, you can’t find four people in the world less similar to each other, right, and […]

Shruti Pandalai
Donald Trump , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , Kamala Harris , Narendra Modi , Quad , US-China rivalry
May 19,2020 Open Forum

The Launch of an Ideological Cold War in 2020: The US Perspective

Today’s US response to China that suggests a cold war mentality: first, blaming problems in the Sino-US relationship, China more generally, and the pandemic’s origin and response on the inherent nature of China’s communist system; second, referencing a different history or civilizational foundation, connected to such forces as the May Fourth Movement and Taiwan’s Chinese […]

Gilbert Rozman
Cold War , COVID-19 , Donald Trump , Joe Biden , Public diplomacy , Xi Jinping