December 02,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (November 2019)

China was on Russian minds the most, relegating the Korean Peninsula to second among Asian interests. On the one hand, Putin’s announcement of Russia transferring its missile defense apparatus to China set the tone for optimistic pronouncements of an upgrading of strategic relations, even if the term “alliance” was not in the official lexicon. Some foresaw an alliance, eve..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Eastern Economic Forum , Force of Siberia , free and open Indo-Pacific , INF Treaty , Nuclear non-proliferation , turn to the East
November 27,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 6

Against the shadow of impeachment hearings, the DC think tank community waited on three big developments in the Indo-Pacific region. The Sino-US trade talks riveted the international community with an outcome originally expected in November before the APEC summit was cancelled but still looming. The South Korea-Japan breakdown faced a November 22 deadline when Seoul could end participation ..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , China-South Korea-Japan summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , THAAD , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
November 19,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2019)

On August 24 after Abe surpassed Sato Eisaku as the longest-serving postwar prime minister, Mainichi compared the foreign policies of the two. Sato secured the return of Okinawa and was able to normalize relations with South Korea, while Abe spoke of resolving Japan’s unfinished diplomatic business; yet, on the Northern Territories and North Korea, he has nothing to show, while Sato&rs..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , SCO , THAAD , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

A Russian Perspective

Since 2015 Russia has held meetings of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok as the principal window on its “Turn to the East.” The contents and direction of this policy, as before, was the subject of discussion in September, especially considering that its very curators (for example, Igor Shuvalov) are frequently denying the very fact of the priority of the “Turn t..

Ivan Zuenko
Eastern Economic Forum , Kuril Islands , Russian Far East , turn to the East , Yury Trutnev
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

Every September Vladimir Putin holds a forum in Vladivostok with at least three goals in mind: 1) to propel the development of the Russian Far East; 2) to assert Russia’s place as a power in East Asia; and 3) to showcase one bilateral relationship having transformative potential. In 2019 the guest of honor was Narendra Modi, confirming that Indo-Russian relations are on the upswing. In ..

Gilbert Rozman
Eastern Economic Forum , Eurasianism , G20 summit , Russian Far East. APEC summit , turn to the East
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

An Indian Perspective

In September 2019, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Russia’s Far East. He travelled to Vladivostok to give the keynote at the Eastern Economic Forum and participate in the annual India-Russia leaders’ level summit—the 20th of its kind. The premier’s visit was designed to 1) revitalize India’s Russia relationship so that country remains pa..

Tanvi Madan
"Belt and Road" Initiative , BRICS , Eastern Economic Forum , Eurasian Economic Union , free and open Indo-Pacific , Shanghai Cooperation Organization
October 31,2019 Open Forum

Asian Missiles on the March

In his Asian tour in August, US defense secretary Mark Esper said that he would like to deploy new ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia as soon as possible. That same month, the Pentagon conducted its first test of such a missile since the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, banning such weapons, expired in August. Many Asian states have also been enhancing th..

Richard Weitz
anti-access/area denial , GSOMIA , INF Treaty , New START Treaty , No First Use policy , THAAD
October 18,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 5

No topic stirred as much interest in DC think tanks as the US-Japan-South Korean triangle. In the background loomed North Korea, leading to overlapping interest in the Sino-North Korean-US triangle. The driving force remained Donald Trump, keeping on edge US relations with each of the other three countries. Naturally, the latter triangle was seen also through the prism of Sino-US relations ..

Editorial Staff
Act East Policy , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , New Southern Policy , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
October 16,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2019)

Japanese foreign policy drew increased criticism in the summer of 2019. On the left, there were harsh critiques of Abe’s diplomatic failures with Russia and North Korea (both putting Japan at increased risk), the breakdown of relations with South Korea, and the troubled state of the Japan-US relationship (Tokyo Shimbun, August 5). On the right, optimism was hard to find as well, altho..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , "Hate Korea” , GSOMIA , INF Treaty , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
August 28,2019 Special Forum

Modi’s Middle Way

How many acronyms can one invent to signal a country’s foreign policy interests? Many, if you are Narendra Modi. The Indian prime minister recently spoke about an India-France “In-Fra” alliance. Last year he reportedly coined or popularized the JAI (Japan, America, India) and RIC (Russia, India, China) trilaterals. There’s also his SAGAR concept (Security and Growth for..

Constantino Xavier
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , Japan-America-India trilateral , non-alignment strategy , Russia-India-China trilateral , Security and Growth for All in the Region