Apr 29,2016 Special Forum

Introduction to Special Forum

The relationship between the United States and Japan has changed under Prime Minister Abe and President Obama not only becoming more robust bilaterally, but acquiring new significance in trilateral contexts. This is evident along the southern reaches of Asia as Australia, India, and various countries of ASEAN now have reason to view Washington and Tokyo […]

Editorial Staff

Japan-US relations , South China Sea , trilateralism

Apr 28,2016 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

Inadvertent escalation or Chinese expansion? Two very different fears compete for attention in the proliferating discourse on the risk-rich imbroglio  of the South China Sea. Some fear an inadvertent escalation that may unnecessarily trigger war. Others fear Chinese expansion that prepares for its hegemony. Only Xi’s China cultivates a priority fear of American expansion. Many […]

Donald K. Emmerson

Nine-dash line , Pax Sinica , South China Sea , sovereignty , UNCLOS

Apr 19,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2016)

In early 2016, Chinese articles assessed Japanese relations with Myanmar, ASEAN’s South China Sea policy, and China–ASEAN relations. They considered South Korea’s new policies toward Japan and the Arctic region and analyzed the limited effectiveness of its middle power diplomacy. They also evaluated Japan’s nuclear policy and its potential civil nuclear cooperation with India. At […]

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

Arctic policy , ASEAN-Chinan relations , Japan-Myanmar relations , Maritime security , NPT , South China Sea

Apr 14,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2016)

In the late winter of 2016, the Japanese mainstream was pleased with US foreign policy, if nervous about campaign rhetoric: reassured about triangularity opposed to North Korea, but still trying to keep dialogue with the North alive for the sake of the abductions issue; exceedingly quiet on Abe’s plan to meet with Putin in Sochi […]

Editorial Staff

December 28 Japan-ROK agreement , History textbooks , JICA , South China Sea , Takeshima , Trump

Apr 07,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 4, No. 2)

Sino-US Relations While many are discussing the dominance of competition over cooperation in Sino-US relations, one DC presentation argued that both threads are intensifying under the strong leadership of Xi Jinping. After many years in the 2000s when Washington had urged China to play a more active role in regional and global affairs—becoming a “responsible […]

Editorial Staff

Eurasian Five , Japanese nationalism , Obama-Xi Summit , Russian Far East , South China Sea

Feb 23,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 4, No. 1)

The end of 2015 and start of 2016 brought many surprises in international affairs regarding the Indo-Pacific region. The North Korean nuclear and missile tests, the Japan-South Korea “comfort women” agreement, and the economic shocks coming from China, were not anticipated, prompting new discussions at DC think tanks and elsewhere in the DC region. Japan […]

Editorial Staff

ASEAN , China's Power , CJK summit , G7 Summit , Kaeseong Industrial Complex , North Korean Sanctions , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Feb 22,2016 Special Forum

Southeast Asian Strategies toward the Great Powers: Still Hedging after All These Years?

Over the past two decades, our understanding of how the relatively small states of Southeast Asia engage in great power management has grown significantly. The tendency during the early 1990s to view Southeast Asian policymakers as having “no strategy” has been replaced by a small industry of scholars and analysts explicating Southeast Asian strategies towards […]

Evelyn Goh

Global War on Terror , South China Sea , Strategic engagement , Triangular hedging

Feb 22,2016 Special Forum

Vietnam’s Management of China’s Maritime Assertiveness in the Post-Cold War Period

1In May 2014, China deployed a giant oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981), and a flotilla of more than 100 vessels to the area that Vietnam claims as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).2 Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh protested loudly, declaring that “all necessary measures” would be taken to protect his country’s legitimate rights.3 […]

Do Thanh Hai*

code of conduct , Haiyang Shiyou 981 , Paracels , South China Sea , Spratlys , Vietnam-China relations

Feb 22,2016 Special Forum

Developing Indonesia’s Maritime Strategy under President Jokowi

1As the “Jokowi’” Joko Widodo administration implements the “Global Maritime Fulcrum” (Poros Maritim Dunia, PMD) concept,2 how does Indonesia develop its maritime strategy to achieve the concept’s policy goals? This article argues that the PMD’s overall success depends on the development of a coherent maritime strategy. To that end, I discuss four areas: the archipelagic […]

Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto

archipelagic sea lane (ASL) , Jokowi administration , Poros Maritim Dunia (PMD) Concept , South China Sea , UNCLOS

Oct 20,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: China (October 2015)

Li Jiacheng and Li Ang in the August Taipingyang Xuebao analyzed security relations between Japan and India. Viewing the two countries having a shared dream of being great powers, they cite increasingly converging interests: political, economic, and strategic. Responding to maritime security problems with China, the two states made a leap forward in relations when […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

ASEAN , Indo-Japanese relations , National security , One Belt One Road , Regionalism , South China Sea