March 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

A powerful, animating ego is a prerequisite to success among national politicians, but US President Donald Trump takes self-confidence—and the blinders that come with it—to unprecedented heights. Characteristic of his drive and ambition is his claim at the Republican National Convention, after securing the party’s nomination to be its 2016 presidential candidate: “Nobody knows..

Brad Glosserman
FFVD , Hanoi summit , Nobel Peace Prize , Singapore Summit , Six-Party Talks , Thae Yong-ho
March 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

Trump: Negotiator-in-ChiefAs US President Donald Trump wraps up his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with the announcement of a major foreign policy victory, we are reminded of Senator Howard Baker’s famous words in the Watergate hearings: “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” When the most powerful leader in the world is deeply engaged i..

Lee Chung Min*
Hanoi summit , King Kojong , Munich Agreement , Singapore Summit , US-ROK alliance
March 01,2019 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is a very lucky man.  Despite a plethora of scandals that have erupted since he took office for the second time as prime minister in December 2012, scandals that would have toppled previous cabinets—Morimoto Gakuen, Kakei Gakuen, serious shortcomings and gaffes by his cabinet officers, government manipulation of employment data, etc.—he is well on his ..

Glen S. Fukushima
comfort women , Hanoi summit , Kurile Islands , Make America Great Again , Singapore Summit
February 25,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights Vol. 7, No. 1

The first two months of 2019 have been an anxious time in DC, not only because of the suspense over government shutdowns but also because of the uncertainty over major forthcoming events. There is far more alarm being registered in anticipation of the second Trump-Kim summit than in the run-up to the Singapore summit. The trade talks with China could produce a genuine trade war or, more lik..

Editorial Staff
America First , code of conduct , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hanoi summit , Singapore Summit , TPP-11
February 21,2019 Open Forum

North Korea’s Regional Integration: An Enduring Dilemma for China, South Korea, and the United States

North Korea’s integration into the regional community has emerged as a key point of realignment in Sino-South Korean relations since the 2016-2017 fallout over US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).  Presidents Xi Jinping and Moon Jae-in advanced Pyongyang’s diplomatic engagement by securing three meetings each with Kim Jong-un in 2018, complemented by a historic US-Nor..

See-Won Byun
AIIB , America First , New Northern Policy , One Belt One Road , Panmunjom Declaration , Sunshine Policy , THAAD , TPP
February 21,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (February 2019)

In the winter of 2018–2019, Chinese experts assessed the Modi administration’s pursuit of closer maritime security ties with Southeast Asia and evaluated the weakening foundations of Chinese–Indian relations. They also examined Japan’s new “strategic independence” and analyzed the implications of the current easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula. Indian–Sou..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
“One China” , Act East Policy , BRI , free and open Indo-Pacific , Indian Maritime Security Strategy , the Quad , TPP
February 14,2019 Open Forum

The 1954 Geneva Conference on Korea: From Armistice to Stalemate

For fifty days in 1954, many of the Cold War’s preeminent figures met in Geneva to deal with “the Korean question,” how to reunite and bring peace to a Korean Peninsula that had been divided since 1945 and which had just endured three years of devastating warfare.  The ongoing war in Indochina was also on the agenda but for the US delegation was a secondary concern.  Althou..

Mark Tokola
Armistice , Geneva Conference , Kim Il-sung , Korean War , Syngman Rhee
February 07,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (January 2019)

Sino-Russian relations remain the bedrock of Moscow’s Asia policy, as reaffirmed by when the Russian ambassador to China recounted at the start of 2019 how relations had been growing closer. The perceived sharp downturn in Sino-US relations only adds to the Sino-Russian momentum. One prospect is to take advantage in 2019 of the 70th anniversary of the normalization in 1949 or of the 2..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
BRI , EEU , G20 , Greater Eurasia , INF Treaty , SCO , Trump-Kim summit , turn to the East
January 31,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (January 2019)

The end of 2018 and the first weeks of 2019 saw the South Korean media obsessed with North Korea and its diplomacy with the United States and China. Prospects for a second US-DPRK summit were a repeated concern throughout this time frame. Donald Trump’s summit with Moon Jae-in at the G20 summit was viewed from this angle. Hopes for opening a railroad connection between North and South..

Kim Kimberly
G20 , Panmunjom Declaration , Pyongyang Declaration , Trump-Kim summit , Xi-Kim summit