Asia

The Chinese narrative emerges most clearly from Chinese-language publications on the great powers, including the United States, and on challenges in East Asia, notably in 2010 those related to North Korean belligerence and regionalism involving both Northeast and Southeast...

Like U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Beijing a little over a year earlier, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington in January 2011 did not produce breakthroughs. There were, to be sure, agreements and pledges on issues...

Who, When and Where?  A top Chinese leader arrives in the capital of Country X for his first visit in five years. The relationship between the countries is routinely described as one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships...

Reaching the Summit? A top Chinese leader arrives in the capital of Country X for his first visit in five years. The relationship between the countries is routinely described as one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships and is...

“Regional Security in East Asia: Sustaining Stability, Coping with Conflict, Building Cooperation?” was the topic of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s annual Asia Program conference, held in cooperation with the Reserve Officers Association on November 1 in Washington, D.C....

Taiwan’s November 2010 Elections: Few Surprises and Limited Lessons In many respects, the outcome of the “five capitals” mayoral elections was unsurprising. President Ma Ying-jeou’s ruling Kuomintang won three of the contests and the rival Democratic Progressive Party won...

Abstract Soft power, like so much else in relations between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, is asymmetrical and freighted with implications for U.S. policy and U.S.-China relations. For China, soft power largely serves—or strives—to reduce alarm (or...

Abstract Over the past fifteen years, a quiet strategic shift has occurred in Japan. During the cold war era, Japan’s defense was oriented towards the Soviet threat north of Hokkaido. However, under the very real threat of North Korean...

Abstract Mongolia is not a hapless object on which the great powers may act at will. Like other small states existing on the periphery of great powers, Mongolia has—and does exercise—political agency. Its policies and actions affect not only...

The concept of ‘‘soft power’’—defined by Joe Nye as ‘‘the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion’’ — has proven a seductive one for Japan. Since the concept was popularized in the 1990s, Japanese...