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

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

Mar 27,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (March 2017)

On February 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carried an Interfax interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Russian Asia policies in the past year. He cited as the biggest event the May Sochi summit with the members of ASEAN. A second important event was carrying the entry of India and Pakistan into the […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Abe Shinzo , APEC , ASEAN , Cold War , Denuclearization , Eastern Economic Forum , globalization , Greater Eurasia , India , Kuril Islands

Mar 23,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2017)

In the first months of 2017, the cloud of impeachment hung heavily over South Korea’s foreign policy, while China’s anger at the THAAD deployment kept growing, and signs of the Trump administration taking a tough stance against North Korea’s increasingly serious threat capacity were growing too. Seoul’s relations with Tokyo were more troubled than before, […]

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)

Arms Race , ASEAN , comfort women , Eurasia Initiative , impeachment , India , Kaesong Industrial Complex , Kim Jong-nam , missile tests , NAPCI

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 24,2017 Open Forum

The Limitations of “Global Korea’s” Middle Power

2010 was a pivotal year for the Republic of Korea: as host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit—the first non-G7 and non-Western country to do so—the relatively small country earned international recognition as a significant force in the global arena. If the 1988 Seoul Olympics was South Korea’s debut on the international stage, then the Seoul […]

Balbina Y. Hwang

anti-globalization , BRICS , Cold War , G20 , G7 , impeachment , liberalism internationalism , middle power , Middle Power Diplomacy , MIKTA

Feb 22,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Two months following the passage by the ROK National Assembly of a motion of impeachment against Park Geun-hye, power remains in the hands of Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korean conservatives are split between the pro-Park New Liberty Korea Party and the newly-established anti-Park Bareun (Righteous) Party, and a series of investigations has expanded the […]

Scott Snyder

Abe Shinzo , anti-globalization , Ban Ki-moon , comfort women , Constitutional Court , Hwang Kyo-ahn , impeachment , missile tests , nationalism , Park Geun-hye

Feb 22,2017 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

The Constitutional Court of South Korea has until June to rule for or against the impeachment decision made by the National Assembly last December. As a majority of citizens are clamoring for an early decision, the court is under pressure to deliver the verdict sooner than later. In fact, the ruling is likely to arrive […]

Kim Jaechun*

4th nuclear test , Abe Shinzo , Ban Ki-moon , burden-sharing , comfort women , Constitutional Court , Dokdo , elections , GSOMIA , impeachment

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

Feb 09,2017 Special Forum

Introduction

With a new US administration under Donald Trump tempted to use military power in ways still hard to predict, it is timely to review the major military challenges for the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. All draw attention to Sino-US relations, from the Korean Peninsula to the Indian Ocean, encompassing both the South China […]

Editorial Staff

A2/AD , Arms trade , Diaoyu islands , East China Sea , India , Korean reunification , military buildup , missile defense system , Nuclear deterrence , sanctions