SIGN UP FOR INSIGHTS

Geopolitics

Japan

History Hurts: Japan and Korea Should Dial their Dispute Down

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Domestic politics trumps diplomacy: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a strong line on Korea to boost his approval ratings

Japan

In Trade War, Japan and Korea Need Anger Management

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Leaders on both sides need to see the advantages of long-term close relations over fractious bickering

China

Whose Rules-Based International Order is it Anyway?

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Attempts by "like-minded" Western allies to strengthen the global system will have limited impact if their aim is to assert liberal values rather than shape a new order.

China

Holding Their Own? - China-Africa Relations Mature

Thursday, August 8, 2019

The rapid expansion of China-Africa economic ties led to questions about a new colonialist dependency. While concerns about debt and oversight persist, the relationship has evolved. Johannesburg-based African business expert Dianna Games argues that it is up to African countries to build the capacity to deal effectively with Beijing.

ASEAN

Belt and Road in Southeast Asia: Inevitable Storms

Thursday, July 11, 2019

China recognizes that poor governance and lack of transparency of Belt and Road Initiative projects could undermine its strategic interests in Southeast Asia. While Beijing will continue to build economic cooperation networks in the region, China’s interests could collide with those of other major powers, leading to geopolitical storms, which ASEAN member states will have to weather, argues Xue Gong of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

China

With Belt and Road Projects, Consider the China Risk

Thursday, July 11, 2019

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been heralded as both the largest cooperative infrastructure programme in global history and an attempt by Beijing to achieve world domination. In reality, the opportunities and risks are more nuanced, writes George Abonyi, Senior Research Fellow and Visiting Professor, at the Sasin School of Management of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

China

Time for a European Response to China's Belt and Road

Thursday, July 11, 2019

In response to China's Belt and Road Initiative, European countries should develop their own infrastructure program for emerging Asia-Pacific economies.

China

The Power of Three: How US-China-Japan Dynamics Shape Asia Pacific

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Japan could be the lynchpin the keeps US-China relations from going off the rails.

Global

High-Speed Rail Rivalry: Can China and Japan Drive Sustainability?

Thursday, June 20, 2019

This month, G20 leaders will endorse guiding principles for “quality infrastructure investment”, a priority for Japan. China’s support of these principles signals a willingness to address criticism of its Belt and Road Initiative. China and Japan, rivals in delivering high-speed rail, appear open to collaborating on projects that would meet high sustainability standards, writes Motoko Aizawa, President of the Observatory for Sustainable Infrastructure, who for 12 years headed the Policy and Standards Unit in the Environmental and Social Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

India

India in the World: Modi's Moment in the Sun – or the Shade?

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

India’s desire to be taken seriously as a major international player is legitimate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters are counting on him to secure the nation’s position as a global power. But his handling of domestic problems and relations with Pakistan and other neighbors raises questions about whether Modi is the man to put India irrevocably on the world map, writes Mumbai-born journalist and author Salil Tripathi.

China

How the Rules-Based International Order Took Root

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

The US and China differ in their perceptions of what a rules-based international order should be.

China

Could the US and China Have Avoided Escalating Their Trade War?

Thursday, June 6, 2019

The rise in trade tensions between the US and China may be due to the American side’s failure to appreciate the implications of China’s not being a rule-of-law country – that administrative action, not laws on the books, get things done in China, writes Zhiwu Chen, Director of the Asia Global Institute (AGI) and Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Asia Pacific

Staying the Course: Australia Set to Continue Asia-Pacific Strategy

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Australia faces a range of complex geopolitical and security challenges, which include managing its close strategic and economic ties with the United States and its important trading relationship with China. The unexpected election victory of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s center-right Coalition government means that Canberra is likely to maintain its current foreign and defense policies, writes John Blaxland of Australian National University (ANU).

China

Chinese Waves: The Limits to Beijing’s Influence in the South Pacific

Thursday, May 2, 2019

China’s engagement with the states of the South Pacific Ocean has accelerated in recent years. But while policymakers and academics in Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island states increasingly talk about China’s growing influence, Beijing actually operates in the region under a number of constraints and there are limits on the role it can play.

China

Progress on a Nuclear-Free North Korea Stalled, Not Halted

Thursday, March 14, 2019

As the dust settles on the Hanoi summit, critics argue that the absence of an agreement between Trump and Kim is a sign that diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea has failed. But even without a roadmap to denuclearization, the summit promotes important goals in these early stages: dialogue, a continued freeze on nuclear testing, and hope for a gradual lifting of economic sanctions.

China

What Is Xi Jinping’s Major Power Diplomacy?

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Since Xi Jinping ascended to the presidency, he has spearheaded a reorientation of China’s major power diplomacy. With China’s foreign policy in the spotlight during the annual meeting of its legislature, Yoshikazu Kato of the Asia Global Institute outlines his thoughts on what this diplomacy is and how it came about.

ASEAN

The Philippines’ Maritime Conundrum

Thursday, January 31, 2019

The Philippines, a major maritime nation, must better protect its resources and exclusive sovereign rights. The South China Sea disputes, where China has exerted increasing dominance over one of the planet’s vital waterways, have been a sorely-needed wakeup call.

China

China and the Rise of Africa

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Chinese investment in Africa supports the continent’s growth, but as concerns of a “new colonialism” arise, what will define the future of China-Africa relations?