Feb 19,2019 Special Forum

The Sino-Russian-US Triangle and Northeast Asia: A View from Japan

While there are various perspectives within Japan, here I set forth an individual viewpoint and analyze international politics as a long-time researcher of Russia. First, I couch my thinking in the context of today’s overall international situation and of a rough breakdown of the ongoing debate in Japan concerning the triangle and Japan’s ideal response. […]

Hakamada Shigeki

Aleksandr III , free and open Indo-Pacific , INF Treaty , NATO , Northern Territories , Senkaku Islands , TPP

Jul 02,2018 National Commentaries

An Australian Perspective

Donald Trump’s disruptive impact on US alliance management was exemplified by two sets of public comments earlier in June 2018. The president’s public condemnation of Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” for pushing back against Washington’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods1 was followed by praise for North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un as “very […]

Andrew O’Neil

AIIB , BRI , China-Australia FTA , Five Eyes , NATO , Rules-based order

Jun 17,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

This second positive scenario of possible Russo-US cooperation in Asia assesses the latest developments in bilateral relations and US anti-Russian sentiments, the regional background in the Asia-Pacific as well as Russian and US relations with ASEAN and regional organizations. This scenario responds to the negative scenario presented by Stephen Blank by touching on Russia’s Asian […]

Anna Kireeva

APEC , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Donald Trump , EAS , NATO , North Korea , RCEP , RFE

Apr 17,2017 Alternative Scenarios

The Negative Scenario I

Donald Trump’s election to the presidency generated numerous articles expecting or advocating a rapprochement or even a “grand bargain” with Russia. This reaction reflected Trump’s many favorable campaign statements about Vladimir Putin and the widely-perceived desirability in both Washington and Moscow of improved relations between the United States and Russia. Indeed, the Duma rejoiced at […]

Stephen Blank

Balance of power , chemical weapons , NATO , North Korea , Strategic Triangle , Syria , THAAD , TPP , Trump-Xi Summit , Ukraine

Mar 27,2017 Open Forum

Recent Views in Japan Concerning Sino-Russian Relations

How Japanese officials, media, and academics interpret the state of the relationship between China and Russia matters for Japan’s diplomacy with both countries and its foreign policy more generally, including with the United States. If they see a strong bond verging on an alliance with little chance of weakening, then Tokyo must accept that it […]

Yoko Hirose

8-point economic cooperation plan , Abe Shinzo , Arms sales , Balance of power , BRICS , energy , G7 , India , Kuril Islands , media

Feb 10,2017 Open Forum

Xinjiang and the Trans-nationalization of Uyghur Terrorism: Cracks in the “New Silk Road”?

President Xi Jinping’s ambitious “One Belt, One Road” strategy has magnified Chinese concern for the security of its long restive northwestern province, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Xinjiang, as Owen Lattimore argued, throughout much of recorded history constituted (along with Tibet and Mongolia) the “marginal Inner Asian zone” of Chinese expansion.1 With the region’s […]

Michael Clarke

9/11 , Afghanistan , Al Qaeda , Central Asia , counterterrorism , critical theory , East Turkestan Islamic Movement , energy , globalization , Iraq

Feb 02,2017 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

On February 11, 2017, after having played golf with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, President Donald Trump tweeted; "Having a great time hosting Prime Minister Abe in the United States!"1 Together with this comment, he uploaded a picture in which he was playing golf with Abe in Palm Beach, Florida. On the same day, Trump commented […]

Hosoya Yuichi*

Abe Shinzo , cost sharing , Diaoyu islands , liberal internationalism , NATO , Obama , pivot to Asia , rebalance , Senkaku Islands , Territorial Disputes

Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

What Trump Should Do about China

The monkey king raised his cudgel, and there was great disorder in Heaven. The jadelike firmament was cleared of dust With this phrase, Mao Zedong began China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. As nearly all Chinese would know, the phrase comes from a 16th century novel that has roots in folk beliefs dating from at least […]

June Teufel Dreyer

4th nuclear test , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , burden-sharing , China Dream , cyberespionage , Dalai Lama , Diaoyu islands , freedom of navigation

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

Dec 16,2016 Open Forum

Caught Between Two Big Powers? Central Asia Under the Weight of Russian and Chinese Influence

In 1991, the Soviet Union’s collapse reshaped the East/West problematic as it had emerged after World War II. Inside Soviet space, a number of cultural elements distinguished the five states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) from the rest of the former Russian empire, namely their shared cultural, linguistic, and religious traits […]

Sebastien Peyrouse

Afghanistan , Arab Spring , Armenia , authoritarianism , banking , Belarus , Central Asia , Collective Security Treaty Organization , colonialism , colored revolutions