Feb 10,2015 Open Forum

Synopsis of Five-University Collaboration, Dec. 2014

Agenda: Five University Collaboration on East Asia Security Conflict & Cooperation File Download In mid-December, faculty and graduate students at five universities in five countries met again to exchange views on the state of security in East Asia. Prior conferences had produced thoughtful, constructive exchanges, but no reports were circulated on what they covered and […]

Editorial Staff
Obama-Xi Summit , Six-Party Talks , TPP , Trustpolitik
Feb 05,2015 Special Forum

Abe Shinzo: Japan’s Most Consequential Prime Minister since Yoshida Shigeru

Introduction to Special Forum Abe Shinzo: Japan’s Most Consequential Prime Minister since Yoshida Shigeru   The year 2015 promises to be a milestone in Japan’s transition from a defeated state remaining on the defensive over its history with a low strategic profile, to a proud and proactive force for the reorganization of Asia within the […]

Editorial Staff
Abenomics , comfort women , commemorations , Shinzo Abe , TPP , Yasukuni Shrine
Feb 05,2015 Special Forum

US-Japan Relations under Abe Shinzo

When Abe Shinzo became prime minister for a second time, the reaction in Washington was decidedly mixed. In both the Obama administration and the policy/intellectual community of Japan-watchers, two sets of expectations and two sets of concerns quickly emerged. The first expectation was that Abe would focus on reviving the Japanese economy, as he had […]

Glen S. Fukushima
Abenomics , Futenma base , Japan-US alliance , rebalance , Shinzo Abe , TPP , Yasukuni Shrine
Jan 27,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2015)

Russian publications have had to react to an unexpectedly difficult environment at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. Counting on increasing polarization in the Asia-Pacific region, they observed Xi Jinping soften his opposition to the United States in meeting with Barack Obama in November. Intending to separate troubles in Europe from aspirations […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRICS , FTAAP , India , Look East policy , Maritime Silk Road , TPP
Sep 29,2014 National Commentaries

A South Korean Perspective

"Reassessing the Park-Xi Summit"   In recent months, pundits in Washington and Tokyo talk or insinuate quite a bit about the so-called “Seoul-in-the-China-orbit” thesis. From this author’s perspective, however, much of it has been blown out of proportion. Granted that, during the last year or so, it was common to hear that South Korea-China relations […]

Chung Jae Ho*
EEZ , missile defense , national interests. strategic suspicion , overblown expectations , TPP , track 1.5 meeting
Jun 13,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (June 2014)

The most important event in Japanese foreign policy during this time period was the visit of Barack Obama to Tokyo in late April. Yomiuri shimbun showcased its success as it published a long interview with Obama on April 23 and trumpeted the success for Japanese foreign policy of Obama’s decision to declare unambiguously that the […]

Editorial Staff
Japanese Abductees , Southeast Asia Abe-Obama summit , state branding , territorial issues , textbooks , TPP , triangles , US election