Japan’s Russia Policy: Looking Back on 2016 and Ahead to 2017

Building closer relations with Russia was undoubtedly one of the main priorities of Japanese foreign policy in 2016. This was made clear by Prime Minister Abe in his […]

Synopsis of Washington, DC Meetings on Trump and the Korean Peninsula

A presidential transition in the United States understandably raises concern in allied countries heavily dependent for security and diplomacy. The transition from Obama to Trump is more unsettling […]

US-Japan-India Trilateral Relations: Opportunities and Challenges

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan in November and made clear his desire to make relations with Japan, already quite strong, a key priority for Delhi in the […]

Russia’s Far East Transborder Pains: China Threat Syndrome and the Tragedy of the Anticommons

The Russian Far East (RFE) has come a long way in the last fifteen years. The signature image of the region’s largest city of Vladivostok is no longer […]

Balancing China: Moving Beyond the Containment Fallacy

At a multinational defense forum with ASEAN nations’ defense ministers in late September, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter repeated his call for like-minded nations to “catalyze the […]

One Belt, One Road: A New Roadmap for a Sinocentric World?

Nele Noesselt1 Chair for Chinese Politics, University of Duisburg-Essen In May 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce […]

Asian Security after US Hegemony: Spheres of Influence and the Third Wave of Regional Order

The Asian security landscape is unsettled. The region is quickly becoming multipolar. Hedging strategies—even by US allies—are now commonplace. Intra-regional trust remains low amid myriad territorial and strategic […]

On the Brink of a Breakthrough or Doomed to Fail Again: Will A Fresh Effort at Repairing Russo-Japanese Relations Bear Fruit?

Of all major countries, Japan has been the only one to pursue relations with Russia on a generally positive trajectory since the 2014 Ukraine crisis. Recently, the pace […]