November - December 2025
Through the early fall of 2025, the Lee Jae-myung administration confronted multiple simultaneous pressures: managing an increasingly transactional US alliance under President Trump’s second term, navigating the deepening […]
The summer of 2025 marked a pivotal juncture for South Korea’s foreign policy, as shifting great-power dynamics and intensifying bloc rivalries tested Seoul’s diplomatic agility. Alliance management with […]
The inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung comes at a precarious moment for South Korea, with tariff disputes and seismic shifts in foreign policy threatening to overshadow any honeymoon […]
On April 3, South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol over his illegal declaration of martial law. His removal from office has ushered […]
In just a few months since early 2025, US President Donald Trump’s impact on South Korea’s policy direction has been profound. On North Korea, Trump’s North Korea policy […]
Two tendencies in 2025 stood out in Chinese writings on Northeast Asia: gaining a further edge on Russia and temporarily improving relations somewhat with Japan and South Korea. […]
Chinese articles on geopolitics and economics in great power and Asian relations are far more numerous than Russian, Japanese, and Korean articles. Rather than select a wide-ranging sample, […]
One important theme in Chinese publications of 2024 and early 2025 is the triangular ties among China, the US, and Russia in the context of a rapidly transforming […]
In late 2024, Chinese analysts proposed that Chinese symbiosis theory and the Belt and Road Initiative can help the “Global South” overcome factors that hinder its collective rise, […]
In mid-2024, one Chinese analyst argued that the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) undermines efforts to advance regional economic integration, either via APEC or by using […]
The late summer of 2025 was not a hopeful time for Japan. Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru announced his resignation, and uncertainty persisted over which LDP politician would be […]
From a zenith of optimism in 2023–24, Japan fell into a nadir of pessimism by mid-spring 2025. Troubles loomed in multiple directions. The special Japan–US relationship, earlier strengthened […]
The foreign policy news in Japan over the first fifty days of Donald Trump’s second term as president was all about Trump. It was overwhelmingly negative. In the […]
The last third of 2024 was nothing less than a disaster for Japanese foreign policy. After the publication of memoires detailing the seedy side of the momentous decade […]
In the summer of 2024 Japanese were reflecting on Prime Minister Kishida’s legacy following his announcement that he would step down in September, were following Russia as its […]
Country Report: Russia History issues pervaded summertime Russian coverage of East Asia, including views of WWII and the Korean War. They arose in discussions of the September 3 […]
With Trump cutting trade deals, Xi Jinping seeking to rally states behind his notion of globalization, the EU and NATO steeling themselves to support Ukraine more fully, and […]
In the early spring of 2025, Russian coverage of East Asia reflected confidence in foreign policy as well as a quest to solidify successes. One article recognized achievements […]
Praise for China permeated Russian writings in the winter of 2025, sometimes backed by contrasts with Russia’s foreign policy choices in the late 1980s. Rejection of “universal values” […]
Russian writings on the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2024 and into 2025 took note of shifts in leadership in South Korea and Japan as well as […]
National Commentaries
“ROK-Australia-Japan Cooperation”
A Perspective from the ROK
The South Korean perspective toward ROK-Australia-Japan cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region is distinctive, given divergent threat perceptions and sensitivity to Chinese responses. What makes South Korea distinctive from […]
Dongkeun Lee
A Perspective from Australia
Amid a proliferation of new minilateral groupings in the Indo-Pacific, there is fresh momentum building behind a new arrangement: a trilateral featuring Australia, Japan and South Korea. On […]
Tom Corben
A Perspective from Japan
On the eve of a critical US presidential election, US allies would be well advised to prepare for any eventualities. Donald Trump’s “America First” thinking leaves all uncertain […]
Ryosuke Hanada