Apr 06,2020 National Commentaries

Post-Trump’s India Visit, the US-India Partnership Is in a Good Place

President Donald Trump visited India on February 24 and 25. By most measures, the trip qualified as a success. The very fact that Trump—a leader notoriously averse to long-distance travel—actually made the trip is notable.1 More substantively, he delivered a well-received speech in a large cricket stadium in the state of Gujarat. The address celebrated […]

Michael Kugelman
Act East Policy , Donald Trump , Indo-Pacific strategy , Kashmir , Narendra Modi
Apr 06,2020 National Commentaries

A Chinese Perspective on India

Xi Jinping’s “Neighborhood Diplomacy” since 2018 is a response to Donald Trump and a recalibration of how to move toward Sinocentrism in light of difficulties with BRI and past policies toward regional great and middle powers. Varied approaches have been taken to US allies and members of the aspirational Quad. To Japan, an about-face has […]

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , Indo-Pacific strategy , Narendra Modi , RCEP , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Xi Jinping
Aug 29,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2019)

In the middle of 2019, Chinese experts assessed Sino–US relations under the Trump administration and explored the implications of the United States’ competitive approach to China for China’s regional interests. They also evaluated the improvement in Sino–Indian relations following the Doklam incident and analyzed recent Sino–Japanese third-party market cooperation efforts. Apparent in many publications is […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 5G , Doklam crisis , Indo-Pacific strategy , US-China trade war
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 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
Aug 21,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2018)

China’s foreign relations are under extraordinary flux. Sino-US relations are viewed as more perilous than at any time since 1989 with some even going further back to 1979 or 1972. The often-troubled Sino-Japanese relationship has suddenly appeared to stabilize, as long-sought summits by Japan are presumed to be on track. The Sino-North Korean relationship abruptly […]

Gilbert Rozman
Act East Policy , BRI , Indo-Pacific strategy , inter-Korean summit , Quad , South China Sea , THAAD
May 21,2018 Open Forum

From Friend to Foe-ish: Washington’s Negative Turn on the Belt and Road Initiative

Despite its status as a Pacific power, the United States has been somewhat peripheral to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since the latter’s inception in late 2013. The United States does not host BRI investments and, like many other major countries, has not signed a formal cooperation agreement setting out terms and conditions for […]

Joel Wuthnow
"Belt and Road" Initiative , ADB , AIIB , Indo-Pacific strategy , the Quad , Trans-Pacific Partnership , World Bank
May 21,2018 Open Forum

Synopsis of the 2018 Asan Plenum: “Illiberal International Order”

The agenda of the 2018 Asan Plenum included a keynote address, a book launch, four plenary sessions, and fourteen panels meeting simultaneously in groups of two or three. My intention is not to be comprehensive but to reflect on commentaries about challenges to the international order: the fall of the order, Sino-Russian relations and the […]

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , Asan Plenum , illiberalism , Indo-Pacific strategy , Liberal international order , Trumpism
Apr 19,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (February 2018)

In early 2018, Chinese analysts assessed the Trump administration’s tariff policies and considered various countries’ policies toward North Korea. They considered the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, China’s South China Sea policy, and the necessity of ensuring maritime security in Southeast Asia for achieving the Belt and Road Initiative. A Simmering China–US Trade War? In a […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
BRI , Indo-Pacific strategy , maximum pressure , TPP , US-China trade war
Jan 04,2018 Open Forum

Washington Insights: December 2017

Confusion reigns with scant clarification by the oft-dysfunctional US government. The preoccupation with Trump’s tweets and statements persists, obscuring other points of analysis of East Asian matters. North Korea is a perpetual concern. At last, new appointees in the State Department and the Department of Defense are giving some hope of professional competence to the […]

Editorial Staff
Donald Trump , Indo-Pacific strategy , KORUS FTA , Russiagate