Great Hopes, Shattered Dreams
President Park Geun-hye entered office with high hopes of making progress with the North by pursuing a more balanced, middle-of-the-road policy than her predecessors. Yet, her so-called “trustpolitik” […]
maximum pressure
The Case of Donald Trump
Donald Trump came to office vowing to make many changes in US foreign policy, whether in terms of labeling China a currency manipulator,1 and addressing the US–China bilateral […]
Country Report: South Korea (May 2019)
Since the diplomatic collapse in Hanoi, talks between the US and North Korea have remained at an impasse throughout April and May, while President Moon Jae-in kept seeking […]
Washington Insights Vol. 6, No. 6
North Korea had slipped into the background, US-Japan ties had lost some significance, and China loomed ever larger as the fall began in DC. Concern was raised that […]
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: China (February 2018)
In early 2018, Chinese analysts assessed the Trump administration’s tariff policies and considered various countries’ policies toward North Korea. They considered the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, China’s South […]
A South Korean Perspective
On November 29, 2017, after conducting its longest-range missile test yet, North Korea declared itself a globe-spanning nuclear-weapons power and insisted that the United States acknowledge it as […]