Jan 04,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2017)

In late 2017, a succession of galvanizing themes dominated media coverage in Japan. At the beginning of November and again in mid-December, the media focused on Moon Jae-in’s turn toward China. Through much of November, it was Donald Trump’s travels to five countries in Asia, beginning with Japan. By early December, the focus had turned […]

Editorial Staff

North Korea , Russiagate , THAAD , TPP , Trump-Xi Summit , US-Japan FTA , US-ROK alliance

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

Jun 17,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Moscow continues to pursue irreconcilable policies globally and in Asia. As Anna Kireeva has written, Russian writers, if not the government, highlight an allegedly irreconcilable Sino-American rivalry to enhance Russia’s position in Asia. Moscow simultaneously holds out the hope that it can establish at least a long-term working relationship with Donald Trump’s administration on issues […]

Stephen Blank

ASEAN , BRI , EURASEC , North Korea , RCEP , RFE , South China Sea , TPP

Apr 17,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2017)

In early 2017, Chinese experts reacted to the Trump–Xi summit and assessed the broader implications of Trump’s election for the future of the world order—which Chinese observers widely believe to be in flux—and for China’s great power relations. They also explored India’s strategic implications for China by analyzing the changing security structure in the Indian […]

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

AIIB , North Korea , OBOR , RCEP , South China Sea , THAAD , TPP , Trump-Xi Summit , US-China Comprehensive Dialogue

Apr 17,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Postive Scenario I

Russia until recently anticipated a rapprochement with the United States without damage to its close relations with China. Indeed, given anticipated tensions in US-China relations, the result would be advantageous for Russia: making it the pivot in the “strategic triangle” of these three great powers; sustaining its “pivot to the East” while rebuilding its ties […]

Anna Kireeva

Balance of power , Donald Trump , EU , Hub-and-Spokes , North Korea , Russian Far East , Strategic Triangle , Syria , THAAD , Ukraine

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

Dec 23,2015 Special Forum

Introduction to the Special Forum

A lot has happened in Sino-Russian relations in 2014-2015, but some observers still are pondering whether this is a serious, alliance-like relationship with far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region or something more ephemeral, subject to clashing regional interests that could turn the two against each other. Just two years ago a Special Forum assessed Sino-Russian […]

Editorial Staff

National security , North Korea , Regionalism , SCO

Oct 12,2015 National Commentaries

The South Korean Perspective

"The Challenge for Park’s Summit with Obama after Abe’s Summit."   As President Park Geun-hye prepares for her meeting with President Barack Obama on October 16, her visit will bring to a close a year of intensive summitry between the US president and his key counterparts in Asia.1 On April 26-May 3, Prime Minister Abe […]

Lee Chung Min*

China's military parade , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security , North Korea , Sino-ROK Relations

Oct 07,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2015)

The shadow of history hung over Japan in the late summer as Abe’s statement was debated, the seventieth anniversary of the war’s end passed on August 15, and Xi Jinping commemorated the same anniversary on September 3. Various bilateral relations were put in historical context, as was the march to collective self-defense laws that preoccupied […]

Editorial Staff

Economic Relations , History Wars , National security , North Korea , Post-Cold War , ROK-Sino alliance , Russo-Sino alliance

Jul 29,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2015)

Russian publications have turned decisively to the establishment of a new world order opposed to US-led “vertical globalization.” It centers on Asia, capitalizing on North Korea to influence South Korea’s choices, assuming close Sino-Russian ties at the core of the new order, and envisioning the BRICS and SCO summits as building blocks. Contemptuous of the […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

BRICS , Economic Relations , North Korea , Regionalism , SCO , US-Sino rivalry