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
March 10,2015 Open Forum

Washington Insights: February 2015

Triangularity figured heavily in DC seminars over the first two months of 2015. With the United States and China standing at opposite ends, coverage ranged from ASEAN to India to South Korea to Japan. Russia and North Korea also entered the picture at times, adding to the array of triangles or, on occasion, introducing a quadrangular angle. Accepting that the Obama administration is pushing TPP an..

Editorial Staff
normal nation , Revisionism , ROK-Japan Relations , TPP
March 02,2015 Topics of the Month

The Negative Soft Power of the China Dream – II

As Ming Wan writes in his commentary in The Asan Forum on the “China Dream,” Chinese leaders use New Year’s celebrations as an opportunity to sum up the achievements of the recent past and to chart new directions for the future. Here, I discuss such New Year’s activity to argue that soft power works in interesting and unexpected ways in China. Joseph Nye famously defines soft power as ..

William A. Callahan
Anti-Japaneseism , China Dream , nationalism , negative soft power
March 02,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (February 2015)

South Korea preoccupied Japanese media more than China, recognized as a threat, North Korea, posing an ever greater threat, and Russia, which was transfixing the media elsewhere. Conservatives were obsessed with the “comfort women” issue and linked progressive dishonor of Japan with South Korean disrespect and campaigns in the United States and elsewhere to sully Japan’s name. The realist po..

Editorial Staff
historical revisionism , Murayama Statement , Yasukuni Shrine