May 15,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 2

Exchanges in DC are increasingly torn between a focus on bilateral relations—in particular, US relations with China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan—or on trilateral relations. If the Sino-US relationship has enough heft to galvanize bilateral attention, the other pairings keep becoming enmeshed in triangular analysis. This report on recent seminars and presentations in DC […]

Editorial Staff

comfort women , Hanoi summit , Singapore Summit , trilateralism , US-Japan alliance , US-ROK alliance

Mar 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

A powerful, animating ego is a prerequisite to success among national politicians, but US President Donald Trump takes self-confidence—and the blinders that come with it—to unprecedented heights. Characteristic of his drive and ambition is his claim at the Republican National Convention, after securing the party’s nomination to be its 2016 presidential candidate: “Nobody knows the […]

Brad Glosserman

FFVD , Hanoi summit , Nobel Peace Prize , Singapore Summit , Six-Party Talks , Thae Yong-ho

Mar 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

Trump: Negotiator-in-Chief As US President Donald Trump wraps up his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with the announcement of a major foreign policy victory, we are reminded of Senator Howard Baker’s famous words in the Watergate hearings: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” When the most powerful […]

Lee Chung Min*

Hanoi summit , King Kojong , Munich Agreement , Singapore Summit , US-ROK alliance

Mar 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is a very lucky man.  Despite a plethora of scandals that have erupted since he took office for the second time as prime minister in December 2012, scandals that would have toppled previous cabinets—Morimoto Gakuen, Kakei Gakuen, serious shortcomings and gaffes by his cabinet officers, government manipulation of employment data, […]

Glen S. Fukushima

comfort women , Hanoi summit , Kurile Islands , Make America Great Again , Singapore Summit

Feb 25,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights Vol. 7, No. 1

The first two months of 2019 have been an anxious time in DC, not only because of the suspense over government shutdowns but also because of the uncertainty over major forthcoming events. There is far more alarm being registered in anticipation of the second Trump-Kim summit than in the run-up to the Singapore summit. The […]

Editorial Staff

America First , code of conduct , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hanoi summit , Singapore Summit , TPP-11

Feb 19,2019 Special Forum

Korea:A Bone of Contention or a Chance for Cooperation? A View from Russia

Due to the unprecedented crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 2016-2017, China and Russia drew closer on Korean affairs and became united in opposition to the US policy of pressure and threats. A détente era in Korea since 2018 gave a new boost to their cooperation—permanent channels of coordination were established, while both countries were […]

Georgy Toloraya

CVID , double freeze , FFVD , Singapore Summit , Six-Party Talks , THAAD , turn to the East , Vietnam summit

Dec 30,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

In his own words, President Moon Jae-in’s plan “is to make enough progress by the year’s end so the [peace] process cannot be reversed,” such that “there can never be another war on the Korean Peninsula.”1 In reality, of course, peace is never completely irreversible. More reasonably, what Moon likely desires is to create such […]

Kathryn Botto

Donald Trump , Kim Jong-un , Moon Jae-in , Pyongyang summit , Singapore Summit

Dec 30,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Months have passed since the Pyongyang summit—and hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough remain illusory. For a brief moment, the stalled diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang appeared to recover; yet no date has been fixed for a second Trump-Kim summit and the newly-appointed US envoy Stephen Biegun has yet to set foot in North Korea. The […]

Eun A Jo

Donald Trump , Kim Jong-un , Moon Jae-in , Moonshine Policy , Pyongyang summit , Singapore Summit

Dec 21,2018 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

What Do the Midterm Elections Mean for Trump’s East Asia Policies? The 2018 midterm elections have revealed that President Trump has only Plan A for his reelection campaign in 2020. Trump will seek to go back to the White House by appealing solely to his core support base. This approach will mostly dictate Trump’s approach […]

Akimoto Satohiro

America First , free and open Indo-Pacific , Meng Wanzhou , Singapore Summit

Aug 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Diplomacy II

Reviewing the most recent developments in security and military cooperation as well as diplomacy over the Korean Peninsula and the rise of China, this second view of the prospects for Sino-Japanese relations finds hope in what has been transpiring. The year 2018 shows signs of being a turning point in the relationship, leading to a […]

Tanaka Hitoshi*

HA/DR , Japan-China Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism , Singapore Summit , US-Japan alliance