Asia

The most noticeable shift of diplomacy and security strategy in Xi Jinping’s government is the evolution of peripheral diplomacy. China’s East Asia strategy is especially evolving in response to Washington’s…

What equilibrium means to geopolitical balance of power maneuvering, equality means to national identity resentments over gaps perceived as unjust. When South Korea gained favor as the “linchpin” of U.S.…

South Korea’s nation-building project during the Cold War relied heavily on strong state direction designed to generate a sense of cohesion and national identity. These strategies were conceived and executed…

It is tempting to see in developments in contemporary Japanese politics indications of a fundamental shift in Japanese national identity. Resist that temptation. There are changes afoot in Tokyo, but…

  In this episode, we talk with Dr. Adam Cathcart of the University of Leeds and of Sino-NK about China-North Korea relations. Dr. Cathcart has just written an Academic Paper Series report…

      President Obama wasn’t the only leader who had to make important visits to multiple Asian countries this past April. Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, had to make an important…

  The Francis Effect is everywhere. Time Magazine named Pope Francis their 2013 Person of the Year, another magazine dedicated specifically to covering Pope Francis has been started in Italy,…

Public opinion can help to both shape and inform public policy. A president with strong approval numbers across ideological divides has significant scope to make policy decisions. While a national…

South Korea’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement sets a target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 percent by 2030 (relative to their peak in 2018). Korea also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (Figure 1, Panel A). The targets are ambitious, as Korea was the world’s thirteenth-largest GHG…

In the early weeks after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempted imposition of martial law and his subsequent impeachment by the National Assembly, the response in Japan among foreign policy specialists and in the mass media was uniformly supportive, even admiring, of the resilience of Korea’s democratic institutions. “Yoon’s action was undemocratic and inexcusable,” a senior…

Contributors (last name alphabetical): Je Heon (James) Kim, Joo Young Kim This timeline is the third part of a series that covers major events in the aftermath of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. This part covers the events from the request by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for an…

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024, and his subsequent impeachment on December 14 have plunged the country into its worst political crisis in nearly 40 years, with some signs of a negative economic impact. The economy was already showing signs of weakness before the December political…