The balance of power is one of those concepts that gets the most attention when it’s shifting. Or wobbling. When people are talking about it, it’s time to be worried. And everybody is worried. As Grandma observed, family arguments are getting too loud when the whole village is gossiping about whether the marriage will survive. Read […]
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is steadily loosening the shackles of its postwar pacifist constitution. The April announcement of the new U.S.-Japan defense guidelines aims to bolster U.S.-Japanese defense cooperation without preset geographical limits and enables “seamless and effective” alliance responses to security threats. Read Here – National Interest
China on Tuesday issued its first white paper on military strategy. Presenting the concept of “areas crucially related to overseas interests,” the white paper highlights four critical security domains, including the ocean, outer space, cyberspace and nuclear warfare, while stressing the significance of maritime warfare preparation. This is the ninth defense white paper and a […]
When it comes to Asian companies investing abroad, Italy has traditionally been a rather neglected destination. Asian companies remained spooked by the weakness of the Italian investment climate after decades of red tape and political interference. As a result there are no large Japanese or South Korean plants in car-making and consumer electronics. These companies […]
Post-conflict Sri Lanka’s engagement with China was pure pragmatism. It had little to do with turning away from India or the West. Had Sri Lanka not taken the risk to turn to China and other countries in the East such as Japan and Korea for the sake of good relations with India or the West, […]
The warming of relations between China and South Korea coincides with Beijing’s harder line towards the North, which drifts further into isolation. While Kim was reported to have rashly snubbed earlier Chinese invitations to meet President Xi, it is now suggested that the North Korean leader has run afoul of Beijing after ordering the execution […]
The Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead, has long been a problem for Chinese and Koreans. The Chinese media often refers to the shrine as “notorious.” Read Here – Businessweek
China’s rising assertiveness and uncertainties about America’s response to it are causing middle powers in Indo-Pacific Asia to look beyond traditional approaches to security. India, Australia, Japan and some ASEAN countries are expanding security cooperation with each other. The next step should be the creation of ‘middle power coalitions’: informal arrangements where regional players cooperate […]
China’s highly nationalistic new leadership may no longer simply accede to the existing international economic and security order; instead it appears to want to change that order, even if that means harming some of China’s most important trade ties. Read Here – Businessweek
looking beyond borders 