I am going to spare you of my thoughts on the debt ceiling circus in Washington and its foreign policy implications in East Asia. (I’ll leave that to Krugman and Richardson, both of whom I think are spot on). Instead, I’d simply like to direct your attention to a political cartoon I stumbled across recently that […]
First, a stunning set of pictures of North Korea taken by AP photographer David Guttenfelder, who was on a longer leash than usual during his recent visit to Pyongyang. Second, a quick detour from the realm of foreign policy into that of East Asian historical research, my other hobbyhorse. Anyone looking for the cutting edge […]
For those interested in the current state of military affairs on and around the Korean peninsula, a recent report out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Korean Military Balance, is worth a look. Spearheaded by CSIS’s indefatigable Anthony Cordesman, the report provides a fine-grained analysis of the strategic balance of forces on the […]
“The United States has always been a Pacific power because of our very great blessing of geography. And India straddling the waters from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean is, with us, a steward of these waterways. We are both deeply invested in shaping the future of the region that they connect. And there are […]
By way of wiping off the dust that has collected on this blog I would like to draw attention to a thoughtful piece of analysis by APARC’s Daniel Sneider, published recently by the National Bureau of Asian Research. The thrust of his argument: “In 2009 the DPJ came to power in Japan, ending a half-century […]
Apropos my last post, a work of art entitled “1945-1998” by Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto. This piece is one part of a larger project of his on nuclear explosions. More on Hashimoto and the project here.
Recent reports from the Japan have, once again, complicated the history of Japan’s seemingly steadfast commitment to its Three Non-Nuclear principles – non-production, non-possession, and non-introduction of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil. (It is important to note that this is not the end-all, be-all of Japan’s nuclear stance: the four pillars of Japan’s nuclear policy […]
A documentary on the political history of modern China, produced by the C.I.A circa 1967. It’s definitely worth a look. The link is here, if the flash player isnt working for you. (H/T Henry Hoyle)
Hot on the heels of WSJ’s Real Time Japan comes PanOrient News, a new Japan-themed internet service. According to its launch announcement: “PanOrient News is a collaboration between Shingetsu Institute Executive DirectorMichael Penn and the company’s founder, Khaldon Azhari, aiming to challenge the frail grip of the existing English-language news services in Japan with an […]
The National Bureau of Asian Research has just published a collection of essays on the US-Japan Alliance entitled, A New Stage for the U.S.-Japan Alliance? The roster of contributors is impressive: Troubled Alliance Kenneth B. Pyle Return to Basics: Recalibrating the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance Michael Finnegan Redefining and Reaffirming the U.S.-Japan Alliance Michael J. Green […]
As tension mounts in the Korean peninsula in the wake of the Cheonan incident, it is worth taking stock of the various diplomatic options on the table. It is too early to predict what kind of pressure will be applied to the rogue regime for its belligerency this time around, but, importantly, a chorus of […]
An approaching deadline doesn’t permit me time to pick this apart, so I’ll leave that to you. A 12 Step Recovery Plan for the US-Japan Alliance by Michael Green and Nick Szechenyi of the CSIS Japan Chair: 1) Don’t give up on Futenma (Yet.) 2) Call a Time Out if the Deal Collapses 3) Damage […]
Richard Samuels and Robert Madsen have a thoughtful piece on US-Japan relations in The National Interest, in which they push for a “limited liability partnership”: “a cooperative scheme in which Tokyo’s military role is scaled back significantly and the U.S. presence in Japan is rendered less onerous.” The strength of the article lies in its […]
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has just released its annual Bluebook, which is available in Japanese here. (Unfortunately, if past years are any indication, it will be months before a proper English language translation comes out.) [Clarification: what I’m discussing here is the executive summary of the Bluebook, not the 200+ page report. […]
Henry Hoyle, the China blogger at FPA, has done a bang up job explaining this week’s Nuclear Security Summit and its implications for US-Chinese relations – and Chinese diplomacy in general. As Hoyle suggests, a number of events prompted Chinese President Hu Jintao’s last-minute decision to attend the Summit, including the Department of Treasury’s decision […]