Feb 28,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 5, No. 1)

Rarely has there been such a tumultuous period in US foreign policy, reflected in DC discussions of it; many unknown figures were joining a new administration as lines of authority and influence were not only in flux, they were in chaos. Few in the think tank community spoke for the Trump team, but on Asia […]

Editorial Staff

Abe Shinzo , Arms trade , ASEAN , Australia , Central Asia , comfort women , contingency , G8 , Georgia , India

Feb 09,2017 Special Forum

Competing in a Shared Order in Asia

Arguably the leading challenge for US national security strategy in the coming decade is to recalibrate the US role for a more multipolar world order. The geopolitical as well as ideological foundations of the postwar order are under increasing strain.1 States with regional or global ambitions such as Russia, China, and Iran are challenging both […]

Michael J. Mazarr

A2/AD , AirSea Battle , anti-globalization , Asia pivot , Balance of power , East China Sea , hegemonic stability theory , Iran , military buildup , Multipolarity

Feb 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (January 2017)

Three shocks left Japan’s media groping for answers at the end of 2016 and the start of 2017. The Trump shock kept playing out after the initial alarm and adjustment in November. This journal covered the first month’s response in detail, so this theme is not a focus here, even as the implications for Asia […]

Editorial Staff

abductions , Abe Shinzo , anti-globalization , ASEAN , Australia , comfort women , Crimea , Diaoyu islands , energy , GSOMIA

Dec 20,2016 Open Forum

Synopsis of Washington, DC Meetings on Trump and the Korean Peninsula

A presidential transition in the United States understandably raises concern in allied countries heavily dependent for security and diplomacy. The transition from Obama to Trump is more unsettling than even the Carter to Reagan transition or the Clinton to Bush transition. Compounding the problem, the power transition and dangerous standoffs in East Asia keep US […]

Editorial Staff

Abe Shinzo , Al Qaeda , ASEAN , Balance of power , burden-sharing , comfort women , democratization , Denuclearization , Extended deterrence , GSOMIA

Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Running into a Long Brick Wall? Trump and the Future of US-China Relations

The surprise election of Donald Trump as the United States’ 45th president triggered alarm bells in capitals across the world including Beijing, given Trump’s haphazard foreign policy remarks throughout the campaign and his propensity to trust his gut judgment on a range of critical issues. Hence, just how Trump is going to move on key […]

Lee Chung Min*

APEC , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Balance of power , burden-sharing , climate change , Duterte , FTAAP , Iran , ISIS , NATO

Feb 07,2014 National Commentaries

The Six-Party Talks and the P5+1: History Repeating Itself?

"Prospects for a North Korean Nuclear Deal" Mark Twain once remarked that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. As Iran consummates the P5+1 Nuclear Agreement, one can hear the history of the Six-Party Talks rhyming in the air—with disturbing overtones. In the “other Six-Party Talks” (the P5+1), Iran has echoed the successful North […]

David Asher

Illicit Activities Initiative , Iran , P5+ 1 , Science and Technology Agreement , Six-Party Talks , Syria , Worldwide Threat Assessment

Feb 07,2014 Open Forum

Washington Insights: February 2014

US year-end review programs were preoccupied with Syria and Iran with mention of Afghanistan, leaving little or no time for coverage of East Asia. They painted two leaders—Obama and Putin—as weak and strong, respectively, without reference to four other leaders—Xi Jinping, Abe Shinzo, Park Geun-hye, and Kim Jong-un. Events in East Asia, however, would not […]

Editorial Staff

Illicit Activities Initiative , Iran , P5+ 1 , Science and Technology Agreement , Six-Party Talks , Syria , USA , Worldwide Threat Assessment

Feb 07,2014 National Commentaries

A Joint Plan of Action for North Korea?

"Prospects for a North Korean Nuclear Deal" On November 24, 2013, Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and German) reached agreement on the Joint Plan of Action, an interim nuclear deal. Could the Joint Plan of Action, which went into effect on January 20, 2014, serve as a model […]

Gary Samore

effectiveness of sanctions , interim agreements , Iran , Joint Plan of Action , nuclear program , P5+1 , transparency

Feb 07,2014 National Commentaries

The Iran Nuclear Deal and Its Implications for North Korea

"Prospects for a North Korean Nuclear Deal" Iran and North Korea pursue the same ultimate goal: nuclear armament. However, they have chosen fundamentally different strategies and approaches. There are also stark differences in the legal regimes governing their nuclear activities, levels of commitment of stakeholders to halt and roll back the respective nuclear programs of […]

Chun Yungwoo*

confidence-building measures , existential issue , international community , Iran , legal regimes , military option , strategic calculus

Jan 10,2014 Open Forum

Synopsis of the CSIS/Asan Seminar: “Iran Nuclear Deal and its Implications for North Korea,” December 11, 2013, Washington, DC, CSIS

The seminar, co-organized by the CSIS and the Asan Institute, brought together prominent experts from the United States and South Korea for a timely discussion about the implications of the Iranian nuclear deal for North Korea. As the introduction by Hahm Chaibong, the president of the Asan Institute, made clear, despite the fragility of the […]

Editorial Staff

Denuclearization , international linkages , Iran , sanctions , Six-Party Talks , transparency