October 23,2015 Open Forum

Japan and the TPP Conclusion: Regional Order, Negotiations, and Domestic Adjustment

It took five and half years for 12 member states to reach general agreement over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which in encompassing 40 percent of the global economy now proposes to emerge as the largest free trade agreement (FTA) in history. Qualitatively, TPP can be viewed as one of the most ambitious FTAs ever. Dubbed the “platinum standard,” the agreement imposes greater tariff conc..

Terada Takashi*
China , Economic Relations , FTAAP , Regionalism , TPP
August 18,2015 Open Forum

Striking the Twenty-first Century Trade Agreement: The Case of Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and US-Northeast Asian Economic Relations

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations are reaching their final stage. There is a good chance that they will be concluded within a month or two. While this economic pact presents new directions toward solidifying US linkages to the Asia-Pacific region, the contents of the negotiations—particularly on intellectual property (IP) and investment—present future challenges to US economic relat..

June Park
Economic Relations , Intellectual property , Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement , Trans-Pacific Partnership
July 29,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2015)

Russian publications have turned decisively to the establishment of a new world order opposed to US-led “vertical globalization.” It centers on Asia, capitalizing on North Korea to influence South Korea’s choices, assuming close Sino-Russian ties at the core of the new order, and envisioning the BRICS and SCO summits as building blocks. Contemptuous of the notion that Russia is isolated, art..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRICS , Economic Relations , North Korea , Regionalism , SCO , US-Sino rivalry
June 12,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario I: This Triangle Will Take Shape

In the period 1949-1989, the Northern Triangle comprised of China, the Soviet Union, and North Korea played a formidable role in a hot war and then in the Cold War, despite the Sino-Soviet dispute over more than half of this period. In this context, there was a virtual Sino-Soviet alliance, although they fiercely competed for greater influence in Pyongyang. The essence of the triangle was: 1) the ..

Gilbert Rozman
US Pivot to Asia
June 11,2015 Special Forum

Introduction: Decomposing and Assessing South Korea’s Hedging Options

Increasingly scholars have opined that South Korea’s response vis-à-vis a rebalancing United States and a resurgent China—like that of other Asian states (except Japan and the Philippines)—is neither pure-balancing nor pure-bandwagoning, but a less straightforward approach commonly termed “hedging.”1 That is, rather than completely siding with one power against the other, Seoul has opte..

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*
hedging , ROK-Sino Relations
May 18,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (May 2015)

Preparations for the May 9 Victory Day celebrations showcased Russia’s relations in Asia more than in Europe despite the fact that May 9 has long been recognized as V-E (victory in Europe) Day. While Kim Jong-un was expected until he suddenly had a change of plans, Xi Jinping was clearly the guest of honor. Articles focused on both bilateral Sino-Russian relations and the wider Asian context in ..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
EEC , SCO , Silk Road Economic Belt , Ukraine
April 30,2015 Open Forum

Synopsis of the Asan Plenum 2015: Is the U.S. Back?

[Agenda] The overall theme, “Is the U.S. Back?" provided the context for discussing in various panels timely issues concerning international relations in East Asia. Given the stress on US policy, this synopsis begins with views regarding Obama’s “rebalance to Asia,” proceeds to discussions of Sino-US relations, and continues with themes where the US role loomed more in the background or..

Editorial Staff
AIIB , Cyberwar , Russian Pivot to Asia , Sino-US Relations
April 30,2015 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 3, No. 2)

Different options have recently been aired before Washington think tanks for the regional architecture of Asia/the Asia-Pacific/the Indo-Pacific. Comparisons of four of these and the responses to some by the audience should be instructive. They are: 1) deferring to China centered on the South China Sea, promoting sinocentrism; 2) endorsing an invigorated EAS, capable of establishing the Asia-Pacif..

Editorial Staff
APC , EAS , mililateralism , NAPCI , pivot to Asia , Sinocentrism , sub-regional multilateralism , TPP
April 30,2015 Open Forum

Mongolia’s Dilemma: A Politically Linked, Economically Isolated Small Power

Mongolia operates under the geopolitical and economic forces of rising China, reactive Japan and Russia, and retrenching America. It strives to preserve its nomadic, democratic, and Buddhist identities while accommodating currents of Western, Chinese, Russian, and Islamic civilizations. Thus, like other small powers, it faces new opportunities and uncertainties as the over-arching geopolitical, ec..

Mendee Jargalsaikhan
Abegeopolitics , Khaan Quest , Mongolia