June 30,2018 Special Forum

Introduction

On June 12 when Donald Trump met in Singapore with Kim Jong-un, the other four countries in the earlier Six-Party Talks faced a new diplomatic environment, not only with North Korea, but also with the United States. Anticipating since March a tectonic shift in the framework for this region, especially in contrast to the alarming security concerns of 2017, these countries found themselves in..

Gilbert Rozman
Moon-Kim summit , Singapore Statement , Trump-Kim summit , Xi-Kim summit
June 30,2018 Special Forum

US-China Relations

The first handshake between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in front of a backdrop of the American and North Korean flags was surreal in many ways. Just a few months before the two leaders had been exchanging insults and threatening nuclear war, to then rush toward a summit that was cancelled at one point and rescheduled just days later. The Trump-Kim summit that to..

Patricia M. Kim
Singapore Statement , Six-Party Talks , THAAD , Trump-Kim summit , US-Japan alliance , Xi-Kim summit
June 30,2018 Special Forum

US-ROK Relations

The US relationship with the Korean Peninsula is an interesting variation of a strategic triangle.1 Indeed, the United States’ relationships with North Korea and South Korea are hard to analyze except as part of this triangle. Traditionally, the tight and robust US-ROK alliance, along with North Korea’s isolation from the international system, has limited if not precluded North Ko..

Darcie Draudt
inter-Korean summit , Singapore Statement , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK alliance , US-ROK military exercises
June 29,2018 Special Forum

US-Japan Relations

In the aftermath of the June 8-9 G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada, which collapsed under the weight of President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum, a photograph circulated—courtesy of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s twitter account—that captured the mood of the meeting.1 In the picture, Trump is seated, arms crossed, gazing placidly ahead, as European leaders, Merkel most closely,..

Brad Glosserman
CPTPP , free and open Indo-Pacific , Japan passing , Singapore Statement , Trump-Kim summit , US-Japan alliance
June 29,2018 Special Forum

US-Russia Relations

The unanticipated outbreak of a Korean peace process replete with unprecedented DPRK-US and inter-Korean summits has upended previous calculations among all the members of the six-party process in Korea. Every interested party is trying somehow to join the summit process.1 We see an acceleration of summits involving all parties to the peace process. Kim Jong-un has already held three summit..

Stephen Blank
Eurasian Economic Union , New Northern Policy , Northern Sea Route , Singapore Statement , Six-Party Talks , Trump-Kim summit
June 20,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2018)

In the spring of 2018, Chinese experts reacted to the Kim–Trump summit and evaluated the prospects for resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, assessed South Korea’s role in East Asian politics, and evaluated Australia’s increasingly interventionist South China Sea policy. They also examined Trump’s China policy and analyzed how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) illust..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
AIIB , BRI , Kim-Trump summit , South China Sea , THAAD , US-South Korea alliance
June 18,2018 Open Forum

Authoritarian Sharp Power: Comparing China and Russia

The notion and practices of “sharp power” are increasingly grabbing our attention. This is so as the ascent of sharp power is taking place amidst the recent retreat of liberalism, and as authoritarian states, China and Russia in particular, vigorously attempt to expand their influence across the globe, utilizing any available means of power, whether soft, hard, or something in bet..

Kim Taehwan*
“Russian World" , China Dream , disinformation warfare , Eurasianism , foreign political influence operations , Sharp power , soft power
June 11,2018 Open Forum

An Exchange with Alexander Lukin on Russo-Chinese Relations: The New Rapprochement

Below is a dialogue consisting of questions asked by Gilbert Rozman after reading the new book and responses by Alexander Lukin clarifying the arguments of the book. First are some comments to set the stage, considering that Russian thinking about East Asia is important in the 2018 context of intense diplomacy over North Korea, rising Sino-US tensions, and reorganization as China’s pr..

Gilbert Rozman , Alexander Lukin
BRI , democratism , EAEU , free and open Indo-Pacific , SCO , THAAD
June 07,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (June 2018)

Kawakami Takashi in Kaigai Jijo No. 3-4, linked Trump’s chaos to America’s decline, leading to a breakdown in the world order. Giving rise to this is the power shift between Washington and Beijing, which is accompanied by a civilizational transfer from the West. US fatigue from the fight against terrorism has accelerated this shift. Instead of ideology, civilizational elements a..

Editorial Staff
Abe-Trump summit , BRI , China-Japan-Korea summit , Deal diplomacy , free and open Indo-Pacific , RCEP , trade war