Sep 29,2014 Topics of the Month

Civilizational Divides and Regional Confrontations – 1

To start this exchange, Gilbert Rozman wrote a meditative piece on the dangers of civilizational “pull” for Japan and France were they to respond with some complacency toward Russia and China’s respective challenges to their immediate neighborhoods. He is right on the need for a strategic “push”—one whereby both countries would clearly overcome their old, […]

François Godement

civilizational debates , cultural inward-thinking , France , Putinism , Sino-Russian quasi-alliance , strategic gambles , Ukraine

Sep 02,2014 Topics of the Month

Civilizational Divides and Regional Confrontations – 2

Unlike previous Topics of the Month, this one will have multiple authors as well as rejoinders. The idea for it arose from Francois Godement’s observations that the European powers are not much interested in becoming involved in the maritime struggles between China and its neighbors or in the North Korean nuclear crisis. Unlike the era […]

Gilbert Rozman

Asia , China , Economic dependence , Europe , France , G7 sanctions , international community , Japan , National identity , National security

Sep 02,2014 Review Article

Japanese Publications on Japan-Russia Relations

Kaigai jijo, special Issue on turbulence in the sphere of the old Soviet Union, June 2014 Togo Kazuhiko, Hoppo ryodo kosho hiroku: ushinawareta gotabi no kikai [The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territory: Five Lost Windows of Opportunity] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2007; rev. expanded paper edit. 2011). Kimura Hiroshi and Hakamada Shigeki, eds., […]

Gilbert Rozman

China , Japan , Mini-Soviet Union , National identity , National security , Putin’s visit to Japan , Russia , sanctions , Sphere of influence , Territorial Disputes

Aug 11,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2014)

On May 25, Yomiuri shimbun carried an article by Kitaoka Shinichi, who had chaired the advisory panel that had debated national security and defense capabilities. With the aim of identifying where the legal system for security relations was inadequate, his panel had found many barriers in the interpretation of the Constitution to acting in collective […]

Editorial Staff

collective self-defense , New type of great power relations , North Korea card , peripheral diplomacy , propaganda war , Ukraine , Vietnam

Aug 11,2014 Open Forum

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: A Fading Star?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) stands at a pivotal point in its history. On the one hand, the growing ties between Russia and China as well as the withdrawal of the Western powers from Central Asia and Afghanistan could provide it with more cohesive leadership and more opportunities to become Eurasia’s dominant security institution. On […]

Richard Weitz

Afghanistan , Central Asia , CICA , CSTO , energy , Eurasian Union , mutual reassurance , security threats , Ukraine

Jul 25,2014 National Commentaries

US Perspective

"Sino-Russian Relations"   The Ukraine Crisis and the Future of Sino-Russian Relations President Vladimir Putin has described the improvement of relations with Beijing as one of his major foreign policy accomplishments. While this rapprochement has had concrete economic and political benefits, Russia tended to view relations with China instrumentally, using China as a “card” to […]

Jeffrey Mankoff

Anti-Western sentiment , Arms sales , Central Asia , CICA , Eurasian Union , financial sanctions , gas pipeline , naval maneuvers , revisionist axis , SCO

Jul 25,2014 National Commentaries

Chinese Perspective

"Sino-Russian Relations"   My View on Contemporary China-Russia Relations Since the beginning of 2014, the Ukrainian crisis has become the hottest international issue, captivating public attention from around the world. It is fair to say that the Ukrainian conflict has been one of the major crises in international relations since the end of the Cold […]

Feng Yujun*

BRICS , CICA , Gas deal , informal alliance , pivot to Asia , Ukraine

Jul 25,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2014)

New Russian articles suggest that South Korea’s foreign policy is more intriguing than previously anticipated. Explaining that there is talk today of forging a new system of global governance, an article in the June issue of Mezhdunarodnaia zhizn’ argues that the responsibility is rising for South Korea, with its important interests in the geopolitics and […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Gas deal , global governance , New Cold War , New Silk Road , SCO , Sino-Russian alliance , soft integration , threat from the West , Trustpolitik , Ukraine

Jun 13,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (May 2014)

With Russia’s attention having been primarily focused on the Ukrainian crisis in the past months, the coverage of Asia in Russian media and academic reports has been even sparser than usual. Not surprisingly, much of the writing on Asia is framed in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Putin’s recent visit to China and the […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

debt forgiveness , Gas deal , sanctions regime , Turkmenistan , Ukraine , US-Japan alliance

May 23,2014 Topics of the Month

Multilateralism in Northeast Asia – 1

In Northeast Asia the search for multilateralism has taken an abrupt turn. In the 2000s the Six-Party Talks gave hope that North Korea would bring five other states together, tying security and economic multilateralism together and offering the default position of five plus one to keep pressure on the North and keep common interests in […]

Sergey Radchenko

Central Asia , civilizational debates , comrades , natural resource appendage , polarization , Sino-Soviet rapprochement , strategic allies , Ukraine