Washington Insights, Vol. 6, No. 4

The pace of change amid the perplexity of the Trump administration is proving overwhelming to many in DC, as elsewhere. Alarm about how badly it is handling North […]

Can Vietnam’s Doi Moi Reforms Be an Inspiration for North Korea?

North Korea’s future remains one of the biggest questions of current world politics. Not only because of the complexities related to denuclearization, but also, and potentially even more […]

Country Report: China (April 2018)

China’s foreign relations are under extraordinary flux. Sino-US relations are viewed as more perilous than at any time since 1989 with some even going further back to 1979 […]

Country Report: South Korea (July 2018)

From May to July 2018, South Korean news editorials continued to focus on bilateral dynamics among the two Koreas, the United States, and China. On inter-Korean relations, analysts […]

Unwilling Bystander: Japan Befuddled Strategically in 2018

Compared to “shocks” in 1971-72 and 1987-89, when US policy shifted abruptly toward first China and then the Soviet Union, the shock of 2018 from the US shift […]

Country Report: Japan (August 2018)

As Donald Trump wreaked havoc in international relations, confusing friend with foe, Japan was not at all immune. Unlike European allies, it was left essentially to fend for […]

Country Report: Russia (July 2018)

Zero-sum reasoning prevailed in Russian writings. The United States is the enemy, and it must be weakened, which authors take satisfaction is happening. A contradictory approach to Trump […]

Introduction

On June 12 when Donald Trump met in Singapore with Kim Jong-un, the other four countries in the earlier Six-Party Talks faced a new diplomatic environment, not only […]

US-China Relations

The first handshake between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in front of a backdrop of the American and North Korean flags was surreal in […]

US-ROK Relations

The US relationship with the Korean Peninsula is an interesting variation of a strategic triangle.1 Indeed, the United States’ relationships with North Korea and South Korea are hard […]