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 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

Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Japanese Media on the Impact of Donald Trump’s Election on Japan and China

Japanese awakened to Donald Trump’s victory in disbelief, coining the label “Trump shock” to go with other “shocks” memorable in their history with the United States.1 A failure had occurred: of the US media, of the US role as the beacon of democracy, and of both a model of capitalism2 that was supposed to forestall […]

Gilbert Rozman

Abe Shinzo , Abenomics , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Balance of power , burden-sharing , containment , cross-Strait relations , Duterte

Dec 12,2016 National Commentaries

A View from Vietnam

President Duterte sparked a media frenzy on his recent visit to China when he declared that the Philippines would "separate" from the United States and align itself with two of America’s top rivals. At a moment when the United States is locked in a power contest with China, losing a critical ally like the Philippines […]

Vu Truong-Minh* , Ngo Di Lan

accommodation , ASEAN , Balance of power , Duterte , France , freedom of navigation , hedging , Hollande , India , Modi

Oct 17,2014 Special Forum

Sino-Japanese Competition and Its Multilateral Implications

While eyes are fixed on the Sino-US competition in East Asia, there is also a competition for influence between China and Japan. In the decade of the 2000s, this centered mostly on Northeast Asia (over the terminus of an oil pipeline across Russia, South Korea’s role in the +3 meetings of ASEAN+3, etc.), and this […]

Editorial Staff

demonization , India , multilateralism , Southeast Asia , Territorial Disputes , triangular relations , Vietnam

Oct 17,2014 Special Forum

Vietnam Among the Powers: Struggle & Cooperation

  *The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not presented as those of the Congressional Research Service or the Library of Congress. Like other countries in East Asia, Vietnam has had to cope with a changed strategic and economic environment forged by China’s rise and growing competition between China […]

Mark Manyin

Arms sales , ASEAN , collective self-defense , communist party , equidistance , great power rivalry , oil rig , South China Sea , the Philippines , tourism

Oct 15,2014 Open Forum

Can Indonesia Fulfill Its Aspirations to Regional Leadership?

There is much talk today about Indonesia’s rise and aspirations to regional leadership as a middle power. Supporters of this proposition often cite a raft of facts and statistics to validate this claim: Indonesia’s impressive economic growth rates in recent years (averaging 6 percent) relative to other Asian countries, its young population and vibrant democracy, […]

Liow Joseph Chinyong*

ASEAN Security Community , Bali Democracy Forum , Cambodia , Indo-Pacific Treaty , Indonesia , Malaysia , Philippines , regional leadership , Singapore , Thailand

Oct 15,2014 Open Forum

Malaysia-China Relations after MH370: Policy Change or Business as Usual?

Malaysia and China have seen one of the most cordial and productive relationships in the Asia-Pacific throughout the post-Cold War era, one with implications beyond their bilateral ties. Despite their rocky past during the Cold War due to ideological and political problems, bilateral relations have undergone a transformation since their rapprochement in 1974, evolving from […]

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*

ASEAN , flight MH370 , hedging , Malaysia , Philippines , PLA navy , South China Sea , threat perceptions , tourism , Trade

Oct 01,2014 Topics of the Month

Comparative Southeast Asian Military Modernization – 1

Southeast Asia’s military modernization over the last half decade has been impressive. Defense expenditures across the region have risen, on average, by nine percent each year since 2009, but the region’s countries have not been uniform in their approaches. The degree to which those countries with maritime interests have modernized their militaries appears to be […]

Felix K. Chang

Arms sales , code of conduct , defense expenditures , Indonesia , long-term commitment , Malaysia , maritime interests , Philippines , territorial ambitions , Vietnam