Jun 21,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2017)

In the spring of 2017, Chinese experts criticized China’s North Korea policy, assessed the implications of Moon Jae-in’s election, and evaluated South Korea’s middle-power diplomacy in the G20. They analyzed ASEAN relations with China and Japan. They also examined the persistence of the US–Japan alliance and the deterioration of Sino–Japanese security relations. China’s North Korea […]

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

BRI , BRICS , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , G20 , Middle Power Diplomacy , MIKTA , South China Sea , THAAD

Jun 20,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (June 2017)

Despite his unsettling campaign rhetoric and transitional moves, Trump rekindled hope among the Japanese right and the left in his first two months in office; but in April and May, he once again dashed much of it. For the right, Abe’s February meeting with Trump and the sense that US policy toward China and North […]

Editorial Staff

BRI , RCEP , South China Sea , THAAD , TPP , Trump-Xi Summit

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

May 01,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 5, No. 2)

This has been a busy time in Washington with little clarity about US policies, as the Trump administration takes shape, Sino-US relations take center stage, and North Korea’s threat to the United States galvanizes responses reflecting views in many countries. In late April—after the Trump-Xi summit, Pence’s trip to the region, and the Tillerson visit […]

Editorial Staff

100-day plan , Economic sanctions , Eurasian Initiative , G2 , nuclear proliferation , One Belt One Road , Silk Road Economic Belt , South China Sea , Trump , Trump-Xi Summit

Apr 24,2017 Special Forum

The Case of China

In the shadow of the recent summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, onlookers are eager for clues to the future of Sino–US relations and US policy in the Asia–Pacific. In the past context of a fairly stable US policy approach, China has developed entrenched perceptions of US policy, grounded in China’s assessment of its […]

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

AIIB , cultural diplomacy , Dalai Lama , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , OBOR , RCEP , Scarborough Shoal , separatism , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea

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

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 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 22,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (February 2017)

In late 2016-early 2017, Chinese analysts examined state-level decision-making on the Korean Peninsula. In the first batch of articles written after the Hague tribunal’s decision, they explored China’s approach to ASEAN, interpreted Duterte’s new China policy, and assessed ASEAN maritime management. They also considered the origins and implications of Abe’s nationalism and the prospects for […]

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

ASEAN , ASEAN Maritime Forum , ASEAN Regional Forum , ASEAN+3 , community of common destiny , Duterte , East Asia Summit , energy , G7 , Greater Mekong Subregion

Feb 10,2017 Open Forum

Japan’s Russia Policy: Looking Back on 2016 and Ahead to 2017

Building closer relations with Russia was undoubtedly one of the main priorities of Japanese foreign policy in 2016. This was made clear by Prime Minister Abe in his New Year press conference that year when he emphasized the importance of holding regular summits with Russia, thereby indicating that he would proceed with plans for the […]

James D.J. Brown

1956 Joint Declaration , Abe Shinzo , Crimea , East China Sea , Eastern Economic Forum , G7 , G8 , Hikiwake , Kuril Islands , Northern Territories