August 30,2017 Open Forum

Giving a New Jolt to Strategic Triangle Analysis

In 2017, the US response to Sino-Russian relations has again risen to center stage. Donald Trump has sought to tilt US policy toward Russia, while at times warning strongly against China. In contrast, Congress and many alarmed by the way Russia interfered in the US presidential elections have sought to harden policy against it, while in some cases prioritizing more incentives for China to do ..

Gilbert Rozman
alliance building , axis of convenience , Donald Trump , national identities , Strategic Triangle , Vladmir Putin , Xi Jinping
August 30,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2017)

Trump’s shadow hung heavily over summer developments in East Asia, as covered in Japan’s media. There was talk of US isolation, retreat in leadership, and failure in managing North Korea. Yomiuri on July 31 cited press accounts abroad without any heartening news for the Japanese public; explanations ranged beyond Trump to the broader US society—inequality, cultural despondency,..

Editorial Staff
ARF , comfort women , Donald Trump , history war , Kono Taro , Senkaku Islands , South China Sea
August 23,2017 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 5, No. 4

A relatively quiet summer for think tanks was punctuated by an unusual degree of trepidation about developments in the Asia-Pacific region and US policy responses. Discussions in early summer, when US-South Korean relations appeared threatened, gave way to warnings in August about US-North Korean tensions that could lead to conflict as well as Sino-US relations, decisive to regional pea..

Editorial Staff
BRI , East China Sea , KORUS FTA , OBOR , South China Sea , THAAD , TPP , trilateralism , Trump-Moon summit , Trump-Xi Summit
August 22,2017 Open Forum

Mongolia’s Shrinking Foreign Policy Space

More than a quarter of a century has passed since Mongolia broke free of Soviet tutelage and set out to chart an independent course in foreign policy. Given the country’s staggering geopolitical handicap—the inescapable embrace of Russia to the north and China to the south—Mongolia has done remarkably well. Playing China against Russia and the other way around, Ulaanbaatar has so f..

Sergey Radchenko
Dalai Lama , Khaltmaagiin Battulga , Miegombyn Enkhbold , OBOR , resource nationalism , Vladmir Putin , Xi Jinping
August 21,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2017)

The divide over Russia’s Asian policies came into the open and sharpened as hopes for Trump changing US policy have been dashed and Putin’s prominent role at the Belt and Road Initiative summit failed to yield tangible benefits. The mainstream view calls for staying the course, tweaking the label from “Turn to the East” to “Greater Eurasia” while rejectin..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
Eurasian Economic Union , Greater Eurasia , OBOR , SCO , Silk Road Economic Belt , THAAD , turn to the East
August 18,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2017)

In mid-2017, Chinese analysts were preoccupied with the North Korean nuclear crisis and the South Korean decision to deploy THAAD. They identified uncertainties in the South Korea–China relationship and defined an emerging East Asian regional structure. They also assessed the Trump administration’s foreign policy and criticized Japan’s public diplomacy efforts. North Korean Nu..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
comfort women , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , ICBM , secondary sanctions , Strategic accountability , THAAD , TPP , UN sanctions
August 17,2017 Open Forum

The Strange Rapprochement: Russian Military Pressure Tactics on the Northern Territories Issue

For the past several years, Japanese diplomacy has paid great attention to relations with Russia. After the second Abe cabinet was established in 2012, beginning with his visit to Russia in April 2013, Prime Minister Abe adopted positive diplomacy toward Russia, realizing as many as 18 summits by the time of the July 2017 G20 sidelines meeting with President Putin. This is the greatest number..

Koizumi Yu
1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration , Japan-US Security Treaty , Northern Territories , Senkaku Islands , Southern Kuriles
August 16,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2017)

President Moon made his international debut at the summit with President Trump in Washington and at meetings with the G20 leaders in Germany. His debut was generally considered successful. On the surface, the first meeting between Moon and Trump appeared to be a meaningful one, reaffirming the solidarity of the alliance between South Korea and the United States. However, it also demonstrated ..

Editorial Staff
comfort women , G20 , KORUS FTA , Moon Jae-in , THAAD , Trump-Moon summit
July 29,2017 Special Forum

Introduction

Over the summer of 2017, all eyes have been on the Northern Tier of Asia: North Korean relations with the United States, Sino-US relations and the Korean Peninsula, US-ROK relations, and Japan as a factor in these cases with Russia occasionally entering the picture. The Trump effect further south in Asia has drawn much less attention. In this collection of four articles, we cross Asia’s..

Editorial Staff
BOR , BRI , Donald Trump , freedom of navigation , Malabar naval exercise , South China Sea , TPP
July 29,2017 Special Forum

Australia

Australia is perhaps the ideal incubator for ideas, invectives, and occasionally, idiocies regarding a foreign policy challenge facing many if not most states today—how to navigate the disruptive transition occasioned by America’s decline and China’s rise. Relatively secure in its geographic isolation, with insufficient material capabilities either to look after itself or tip th..

Darren J. Lim
1951 ANZUS Treaty , Donald Trump , FONOPs , Malcolm Turnbull , OBOR , Shangri-La Dialogue , TPP-11