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December 11, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (December 2014)

As Abe stumbled in the fall of 2014, his defenders grew more aggressive. Initiatives to Russia, North Korea, and China faced one sort of problem or another. Even […]

Editorial Staff

AIIB, history issues, Japanese Abductees, normal state, Ukraine
November 21, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Russia (November 2014)

Russian articles on Russia’s “turn to the East” are full of confidence, concentrate on the big picture, and constantly repeat assumptions hardened over the previous half-year. Rather than […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

BRICS, India, international relations framework, Russo-Japanese relations, Southeast Asia, turn to the East
November 10, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: South Korea (November 2014)

South Korean newspapers have recently focused on parallels in international relations. As they follow developments in Ukraine and Hong Kong and keep their gaze on North Korea, they […]

Editorial Staff

Agreed Framework, Civilizations, Hong Kong, Regionalism, reorganization of Asia, THAAD, Ukraine
October 29, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: China (October 2014)

Ukraine (Russia), South Korea, India and, as usual, Japan attracted keen attention for their potential to alter the geopolitical environment in Asia. Ukraine’s significance is its impact on […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

Civilizations, hegemonism, India, Look East policy, New Cold War, new defense guidelines, Ukraine, US-ROK alliance
October 20, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (October 2014)

Hopes for Japanese diplomacy had grown faint in the late summer of 2014. Russian relations had stalled, as Russia flexed its muscles with rare military exercises on the […]

Editorial Staff

ASEAN Asian dream, comfort women, Eurasian diplomacy, Japanese Abductees, Northern Territories, Putin’s visit, sanctions, Thailand, Ukraine, US pressure
September 29, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Russia (September 2014)

While the world’s gaze centered on Russia’s relations with the West and the on-again, off-again confrontation over Ukraine, Russian publications paraded a new, more assertive outlook on Russia’s […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

BRICS, Central Asia, dead hikiwake, India, liberal secularism, New Cold War, turn to the East, Ukraine
September 12, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: South Korea (September 2014)

President Park’s “principled diplomacy” has been criticized for a lack of detailed policies. Park set the two diplomatic goals of a “Northeast Asian Peace Process” and a “Korean […]

Editorial Staff

Apologizing compensation", May 24 restrictions, principled diplomacy, reunification charter, sex slaves, small routes to North Korea, universal human rights and history
August 31, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: China (August 2014)

An article by Sun Ru in Zhongguo zhoubian distributed in its August 2014 posting took a close look at the US-Japan-South Korea triangle as it was strengthened by […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

Arms trade, CK FTA, equilibrium, hegemonic thinking, India, public relations battle, Six-Party Talks, Southeast Asia, values-based diplomacy, Xi-Park Summit
August 11, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Japan (August 2014)

On May 25, Yomiuri shimbun carried an article by Kitaoka Shinichi, who had chaired the advisory panel that had debated national security and defense capabilities. With the aim […]

Editorial Staff

collective self-defense, New type of great power relations, North Korea card, peripheral diplomacy, propaganda war, Ukraine, Vietnam
July 25, 2014 Country Reports
Country Report: Russia (July 2014)

New Russian articles suggest that South Korea’s foreign policy is more intriguing than previously anticipated. Explaining that there is talk today of forging a new system of global […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

Gas deal, global governance, New Cold War, New Silk Road, SCO, Sino-Russian alliance, soft integration, threat from the West, Trustpolitik, Ukraine