August 23,2018 National Commentaries

An American (Non-Trumpian) Perspective on Asian Integration

With the long-standing failure of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the recent US retreat to economic nationalism and “America First,” Asian trade and investment liberalization and regional integration are increasingly where the action is for global economic advances. This reality is illustrated by three moving targets: the completion and expansion of t..

Claude Barfield
CPTPP , FTAs , Indo-Pacific strategy , RCEP
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

Can Vietnam’s Doi Moi Reforms Be an Inspiration for North Korea?

North Korea’s future remains one of the biggest questions of current world politics. Not only because of the complexities related to denuclearization, but also, and potentially even more challenging, because of unprecedented questions on how to integrate a long-term rogue regime into the international system. This includes normalization of its economy and politics. The “Vietnam mo..

Huong Le Thu
APAC , ASEAN , Doi Moi , Vietnamese Communist Party , Workers’ Party of Korea
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

China’s Belt and Road in Southeast Asia between Boons and Bumps

Around five years since China first announced its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a grand economic vision to construct trade and infrastructure networks connecting parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa—it continues to generate a polarizing mix of optimism and anxiety. In Southeast Asia, which Beijing has considered a central part of the initiative from its inception, BRI has made a series of..

Prashanth Parameswaran
BRI , Central Route , Malacca Dilemma , South China Sea
August 21,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2018)

China’s foreign relations are under extraordinary flux. Sino-US relations are viewed as more perilous than at any time since 1989 with some even going further back to 1979 or 1972. The often-troubled Sino-Japanese relationship has suddenly appeared to stabilize, as long-sought summits by Japan are presumed to be on track. The Sino-North Korean relationship abruptly normalized, leading t..

Gilbert Rozman
Act East Policy , BRI , Indo-Pacific strategy , inter-Korean summit , Quad , South China Sea , THAAD
August 08,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2018)

From May to July 2018, South Korean news editorials continued to focus on bilateral dynamics among the two Koreas, the United States, and China. On inter-Korean relations, analysts assessed the second inter-Korean summit, which followed the North’s unilateral suspension of high-level talks and momentary refusal to allow South Korean journalists at the dismantling of the Punggye-ri nuc..

Eun A Jo
CVID , Kaesong Industrial Complex , KMEP , Panmunjom Declaration , Singapore Declaration , Trump-Kim summit , Xi-Kim summit
August 07,2018 Open Forum

Unwilling Bystander: Japan Befuddled Strategically in 2018

Compared to “shocks” in 1971-72 and 1987-89, when US policy shifted abruptly toward first China and then the Soviet Union, the shock of 2018 from the US shift toward North Korea is proving even more unsettling. It is seen as leaving Japan at greater risk, more seriously putting the alliance in jeopardy, and raising more profound alarm about the geopolitical logic behind the move. ..

Gilbert Rozman
CJK summit , CVID , maximum pressure , Moon-Kim summit , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK military exercises
August 07,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2018)

As Donald Trump wreaked havoc in international relations, confusing friend with foe, Japan was not at all immune. Unlike European allies, it was left essentially to fend for itself—with no clear partner. Japanese media registered concern, then alarm, and finally a degree of resignation. The late spring and early summer of 2018—when Trump left Abe and others aghast at the G7, made extravag..

Editorial Staff
BRI , CJK summit , comfort women , Senkaku Islands , TPP-11 , trade war , Trump-Kim summit
July 24,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2018)

Zero-sum reasoning prevailed in Russian writings. The United States is the enemy, and it must be weakened, which authors take satisfaction is happening. A contradictory approach to Trump is apparent: he is fighting valiantly against vested US interests, but his actions are contributing to a rapid decline in US influence. Optimism for Russia centers on its prospects for filling some of the v..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
AIIB , BRI , CVID , EEU , Khasan-Rajin railway , SCO , Trump-Kim summit
July 19,2018 Open Forum

Balancing China & Transcending Pax-Americana: India and Japan as Emerging Strategic Bookends

In late May 2018, the Japanese press announced that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are finalizing plans to conduct counter-terrorism exercises with the Indian army in the northeast part of India later in the year1—the first overseas combat training exercise of its kind for the traditionally homebound Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF). In July 2017, an India-Japan agreement for cooperation..

Thomas F. Lynch III
Act East Policy , Confluence of the two seas , Indo-Pacific , Look East , Malabar exercise , nonalignment strategy
July 02,2018 National Commentaries

An Indian Perspective

India-China relations have undergone surprising twists and turns in the past few years. Seemingly, complicated deadlocks and dramatic reconciliation efforts mark the relationship between the two Asian giants. This trend has only grown since Narendra Modi assumed the office of the prime minister of India in 2014, and President Xi Jinping acquired the status of the most powerful Chinese leader ..

Rahul Mishra
"Neighborhood First" , BRI , BRICS , Doklam , Quad , SCO , Shangri-La Dialogue