February 24,2017 Open Forum

The Limitations of “Global Korea’s” Middle Power

2010 was a pivotal year for the Republic of Korea: as host of the G20 Leaders’ Summit—the first non-G7 and non-Western country to do so—the relatively small country earned international recognition as a significant force in the global arena. If the 1988 Seoul Olympics was South Korea’s debut on the international stage, then the Seoul G20 Summit was the equivalent—its opportu..

Balbina Y. Hwang
anti-globalization , BRICS , Cold War , G20 , G7 , impeachment , liberalism internationalism , middle power , Middle Power Diplomacy , MIKTA
February 10,2017 Open Forum

Xinjiang and the Trans-nationalization of Uyghur Terrorism: Cracks in the “New Silk Road”?

President Xi Jinping’s ambitious “One Belt, One Road” strategy has magnified Chinese concern for the security of its long restive northwestern province, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Xinjiang, as Owen Lattimore argued, throughout much of recorded history constituted (along with Tibet and Mongolia) the “marginal Inner Asian zone” of Chinese expansio..

Michael Clarke
9/11 , Afghanistan , Al Qaeda , Central Asia , counterterrorism , critical theory , East Turkestan Islamic Movement , energy , globalization , Iraq
February 09,2017 Special Forum

Competing in a Shared Order in Asia

Arguably the leading challenge for US national security strategy in the coming decade is to recalibrate the US role for a more multipolar world order. The geopolitical as well as ideological foundations of the postwar order are under increasing strain.1 States with regional or global ambitions such as Russia, China, and Iran are challenging both the rules of the order and who sets them. Along..

Michael J. Mazarr
A2/AD , AirSea Battle , anti-globalization , Asia pivot , Balance of power , East China Sea , hegemonic stability theory , Iran , military buildup , Multipolarity
February 09,2017 Special Forum

A Multipolar Nuclear Asia in the Trump Era

On December 22, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump used his electronic bully pulpit to opine on nuclear weapons policy. “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses,” he tweeted, seemingly unprovoked by any global happening.1 He likely was reacting to a series of meetings with US Air Force and US Navy..

Christopher Clary
Arms Race , Cold War , Extended deterrence , first , India , military buildup , Multipolarity , mutually assured destruction , nuclear cascade , Nuclear deterrence
February 01,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2017)

The leadership vacuum created in December has raised questions about the legitimacy of both the domestic and foreign policies of the South Korean government. With opposing party candidates leading the poll for the 2017 presidential election likely to be advanced, they are calling for reversing controversial Park administration foreign policies like THAAD deployment, the 2015 “comfort wo..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
Abe Shinzo , Balance of power , balancer , comfort women , Denuclearization , GSOMIA , isolationism , Kaesong Industrial Complex , Korea Air Defense Identification Zone , One China policy