Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The Malaysian POV: The Elephant in the Room – Is the Emerging Third Pillar Reshaping Asian Architecture and Regional Responses?

"The November Summits in Retrospect"   There was an elephant in the room at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila as well as at the East Asia Summit (EAS) and other ASEAN-based meetings in Kuala Lumpur last month: the quiet, potential sway of China-centered initiatives and arrangements on the future of […]

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*

"Belt and Road" Initiative , China hub , Common Destiny , Regionalism

Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The United States POV: Southeast Asian Reactions to the Firmer US Posture in the South China Sea

"The November Summits in Retrospect" Summitry is often seen as a way for national leaders to directly hash out disagreements and reach some accommodation. That was not the case at this year’s East Asia Summit (EAS), where leaders seemed more interested in underlining their differences than reconciling them. Not surprisingly, the South China Sea dispute […]

Felix K. Chang

National security , Regionalism , South China Sea Initiative

Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The Japanese POV: Japan-US-Australian Trilateralism

"The November Summits in Retrospect" The “quasi-alliance” (jundomei) is an increasingly fashionable term of the Japanese government as well as the wider policy community in Tokyo to describe its rapidly growing security relationship with Canberra.1 Although the precise meaning of the term is yet to be defined (and the government certainly does not have in […]

Yusuke Ishihara

Capacity-building assistance , China gap , National security , Naval cooperation , Quasi-alliance , Regionalism , Rules-based order

Dec 07,2015 Open Forum

South Korea’s Middle Power Multilateral Diplomacy:¹ Optimistic and Pessimistic Views

Throughout the second half of 2015, President Park Geun-hye has engaged in active summit diplomacy and tried to play the role of reconciler-in-chief. For instance, she took credit that her attendance at the September 3 military parade in Beijing brought the dividend Tokyo had sought through resumption of the China-Japan-Korea (CJK) summit. She also obtained […]

Lee Shin-wha*

MIKTA , NAPCI , National security , Regionalism , Trustpolitik

Dec 02,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario for Modi’s India “Acts East”

In the past eighteen months, the prime minister of India has travelled abroad thirty times roughly translating into two overseas visits a month. In the next two months another seven trips are on the agenda. Are there any substantive upsides for India of these outings? In this assessment, I raise concerns about the value of […]

Manish Tewari

China , India , Pakistan , Regionalism

Dec 01,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario for Modi’s India “Acts East”

The domestic record of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is mixed. According to Pew, 87 percent of Indians have a favorable opinion of their prime minister, a level of support any elected leader would celebrate. After economic growth bottomed out at 4.5 percent under the previous government, India now boasts the world’s fastest-growing major economy, […]

Daniel Twining

Act East Policy , Economic Relations , One Belt One Road , Regionalism

Nov 23,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2015)

The first half of the fall was a trying period for South Korean diplomacy, which the conservative and progressive media viewed differently. There was a persistent sense of US pressure on the Park administration: against leaning toward China in support of reunification, for reassuring Washington that she is not leaning toward China, for accepting Japan’s […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

National security , Park-Obama Summit , Regionalism , Reunification diplomacy , ROK-Sino Relations , ROK-US relations

Nov 17,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (November 2015)

Iurii Belobrov in the November Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn’ argued that Russia and China each on its own cannot match the US strategy to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region; so the two must draw closer together. In an article strikingly reminiscent of Soviet-era writings, he insists that the United States is bent on total control […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

China , Eurasia , National security , One Belt One Road , Regionalism

Nov 13,2015 Review Article

Japan and the International Order in the Age of Shifts in Power in the Indo-Pacific

Hosoya Yuichi, Kokusai chitsujo: 18 Seiki Europe kara 21 Seiki Asia e [International Order: From 18th Century Europe to 21st Century Asia] (Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2012) Hosoya Yuichi, Rekishi ninshiki towa nanika? Nichiro senso kara Asia Taiheiyo senso made [What is Historic Recognition: From the Russo-Japanese War to the Asia-Pacific War] (Tokyo: Shincho Sensho 2015) […]

Matsuda Takuya*

Balance of power , Internationalism , National security , Regionalism

Oct 23,2015 Open Forum

Japan and the TPP Conclusion: Regional Order, Negotiations, and Domestic Adjustment

It took five and half years for 12 member states to reach general agreement over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which in encompassing 40 percent of the global economy now proposes to emerge as the largest free trade agreement (FTA) in history. Qualitatively, TPP can be viewed as one of the most ambitious FTAs ever. Dubbed […]

Terada Takashi*

China , Economic Relations , FTAAP , Regionalism , TPP