Asia

This paper examines policies in the renewables sector across various countries and where political tensions could generate suboptimal outcomes for the sector’s development. In its analysis of supply- and demand-side…

With North Korea becoming increasingly politically isolated, there are few channels through which the international community can remain engaged. Despite the distaste most have for Pyongyang politics, more than 24…

This paper compares Sino–South Korean management of bilateral economic and political tensions; it argues that China’s WTO entry has provided an external institutional framework for managing disputes on the economic…

On 19 December 2003, the leader of Libya, Col. Muammar El-Qaddafi, shocked the world by abruptly stating that his country was renouncing its attempts to develop weapons of mass destruction…

  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…

By Jenna Gibson With South Korea’s low birth rate on the mind of scholars and policymakers, the country’s schools have found themselves on the front lines of the country’s demographic crisis. Enrollment in elementary schools around the country in 2015 was 2,672,843. In 2000, that number was 33 percent higher, at 4,020,141. And as the…

By Troy Stangarone One question confronting the United States, South Korea, and the rest of the international community is how to convince North Korea to return to denuclearization talks. Having tried varying degrees of dialogue, negotiations, and sanctions, the options available entail a refinement of the current sanctions approach, the acceptance of North Korea as…

By Troy Stangarone North Korea has conducted its fifth nuclear test, the second test in less than a year. In combination with its efforts to advance its ballistic missile programs and develop second strike capabilities, Pyongyang has demonstrated that it is committed to developing a usable nuclear warhead in spite of international pressure to halt…

By William Brown The short answer is yes, but probably not the way Kim Jong-un was thinking.  An increase in the domestic use of U.S. dollars, brought on by lack of trust in the North Korean won, at last seems to be stabilizing Pyongyang’s monetary system and may be creating an environment conducive to normal…