August 31,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2014)

An article by Sun Ru in Zhongguo zhoubian distributed in its August 2014 posting took a close look at the US-Japan-South Korea triangle as it was strengthened by the three-way summit in March. It explained that the United States occupies the leading position in this triangle and has succeeded in temporarily getting the other two states to recommit to the triangular framework and support its rebala..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)
Arms trade , CK FTA , equilibrium , hegemonic thinking , India , public relations battle , Six-Party Talks , Southeast Asia , values-based diplomacy , Xi-Park Summit
August 19,2014 Topics of the Month

India’s New Leadership and East Asia – 3

As befits a leading member of the Indian prime minister’s National Security Advisory Board, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri in his rejoinder adeptly lays out the nuances of India’s China policy—and highlights how New Delhi has leveraged strategic partnerships with Washington and Tokyo against Beijing, not as part of any containment alliance but to give India space to pursue its independent interests. H..

Daniel Twining
contested sovereignty , hedging , India , industrial corridors , Look East vs. Look West , military co-production , Military Modernization , Vietnam
August 12,2014 Topics of the Month

Multilateralism in Northeast Asia – 3

One of the main difficulties in my discussion of Russian foreign policy in Asia—indirectly alluded to in Elizabeth Wishnick’s comments—is a sense of uncertainty about Russia’s direction. While my analysis registers the undeniable closing of ranks between Beijing and Moscow, I fall short of proclaiming the death of multilateralism and highlight sources of tension between China and Russia th..

Sergey Radchenko
Alliance , colored revolutions , polarization , Vladimir Putin , Xi Jinping
August 11,2014 Open Forum

Southeast Asia’s Developing Divide

The Asan Forum’s introductory Topics of the Month article on the present state of Northeast Asian strategic competition and regionalism by Sergey Radchenko shares much in common with this article. The authors summarized in Multilateralism in Northeast Asia I contend that: 1) there are developing geostrategic divides in Northeast Asia just as the Cold War divided the region; 2) the causes of the ..

Malcolm Cook
ASEAN rebalancing , developing divide , foreign direct investment , FTAs , maritime-continental divide , multilateralism , Regionalism , Southeast Asia
August 11,2014 Open Forum

What to Make of Xi Jinping’s Vision for Asian Security?

In May 2014, presidents Obama and Xi both gave important national security addresses. At West Point, Obama presented a broad vision for the future of US global leadership, where he stated that the United States, “from Europe to Asia,” remains the “hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.”1 In Shanghai, speaking at a summit of the Conference on Confidence-Building Measures in A..

Joel Wuthnow
CICA , major venue diplomacy , Maritime Silk Road , New Silk Road , peripheral diplomacy , SCO , vision for Asian security
August 11,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2014)

On May 25, Yomiuri shimbun carried an article by Kitaoka Shinichi, who had chaired the advisory panel that had debated national security and defense capabilities. With the aim of identifying where the legal system for security relations was inadequate, his panel had found many barriers in the interpretation of the Constitution to acting in collective self-defense. Respecting the Constitution was a..

Editorial Staff
collective self-defense , New type of great power relations , North Korea card , peripheral diplomacy , propaganda war , Ukraine , Vietnam
August 11,2014 Open Forum

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: A Fading Star?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) stands at a pivotal point in its history. On the one hand, the growing ties between Russia and China as well as the withdrawal of the Western powers from Central Asia and Afghanistan could provide it with more cohesive leadership and more opportunities to become Eurasia’s dominant security institution. On the other hand, the SCO faces competition from ..

Richard Weitz
Afghanistan , Central Asia , CICA , CSTO , energy , Eurasian Union , mutual reassurance , security threats , Ukraine
July 25,2014 National Commentaries

US Perspective

"Sino-Russian Relations"   The Ukraine Crisis and the Future of Sino-Russian Relations President Vladimir Putin has described the improvement of relations with Beijing as one of his major foreign policy accomplishments. While this rapprochement has had concrete economic and political benefits, Russia tended to view relations with China instrumentally, using China as a “card..

Jeffrey Mankoff
Anti-Western sentiment , Arms sales , Central Asia , CICA , Eurasian Union , financial sanctions , gas pipeline , naval maneuvers , revisionist axis , SCO
July 25,2014 National Commentaries

French Perspective

"Sino-Russian Relations"   China-Russia Partnership: Perceptions in Beijing and Tokyo According to Beijing and Moscow, relations between China and Russia have never been better. One could argue, however, that the solidity and future of the “global strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing can be questioned. In spite of a series of common interests on the global sc..

Valerie Niquet
Balance of power , divergent threat perceptions , G2 , Putin’s visit to Japan , Russia’s double game , soft balancing , Southeast Asia , the EU