::Global Asia::

Chung-in Moon and David Plott

National leadership transitions are always periods of heightened uncertainty, in both domestic and international affairs, as stakeholders take the measure of a new leader, probe his or her resolve and weigh the prospects for a brighter or darker future. This is especially the case when these transitions take place in parts of the world — such as Northeast Asia — where underlying tensions among countries have the potential to threaten peace and stability.

What is unusual, though, is when leadership transitions take place almost simultaneously in all of the key players in a troubled region. That is what happened in Northeast Asia from late 2012 into early this year. New leaders were elected or installed in China, Japan and South Korea. Add to that the relatively young, untested leadership of Kim Jong Un in North Korea, the re-election of US President Barack Obama...

The Politics of the TPP Are Plain: Target China
By Wang Yong

The US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to lay the foundations for a liberalized Asia-Pacific trade arrangement, is clearly targeted at a rising China, but US intentions and the likely outcomes are more complicated than traditional realists might imagine.

It’s China’s Choice to Join In or Stay Out
By Takashi Terada

Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) intended to thwart China? My initial answer is “No,” since it is up to China whether to participate, something that the United States cannot prevent.

Ties That Bind: The Importance of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Visit to India
By Rupakjyoti Borah

Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent trip to India was of huge significance for both India and Myanmar. This was her first visit to India after being released from house arrest, a country where she studied as a student when her mother served as Ambassador of Myanmar to India. The founding-father of Myanmar, Aung San (Suu Kyi’s father) and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru shared a close personal relationship.

For a long time, Myanmar has been the missing link in India’s “Look-East Policy,” which aims at India’s re-engagement with the countries of Southeast Asia and East Asia with which it has always had close historical ties...

NAPSNet Weekly:

Nautilus Peace and Security Weekly – 16 May 2013

Policy Forum:

Climate Adaptation Challenges and Urban Insecurity

Special Report:

Handbook to Support Assessment of Radiological Risk Arising From Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel

The Philippines’ prospects at the UN Tribunal
By Huy Duong

South East Asian Sea Foundation On 25 April 2013 Shunji Yanai president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea appointed the final three of the five arbitrators to...

		Threats to peace and stability are never far from the surface in Northeast Asia, as North Korea’s recent satellite rocket launch and third nuclear test demonstrated. But with new leaders taking power almost simultaneously in China, Japan and South Korea,...

The TPP and the Quest for East Asian Regionalism : Beyond the Spaghetti Bowl
By Inkyo Cheong

The US is touting the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade agreement linking Asian and American economies, as a way to foster greater economic integration and propel growth ...

Navigating Differences: What the ‘Zero Draft’ Code of Conduct for the South China Sea Says (and Doesn’t Say)
By Mark J. Valencia

Disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea continue to be a thorn in the side of ASEAN-China relations, and efforts to craft a Code of Conduct for all parties involved are key to ensuring that disputes...

When Will Japan Tap Its Internet Potential?
By Andy Yee

Japan’s broadband infrastructure is among the best in the world, but a combination of cultural, business and regulatory factors have kept the country from realizing its online potential, writes Andy Yee.

Beware the Tomb of the Known Soldier
By Jennifer Lind

For many of Japan’s neighbors, Yasukuni Shrine is the history problem that simply won’t go away. At a time when the region is already troubled by lingering maritime disputes that are based on competing versions of history,…

Why Narcotics in India Should Be Treated as a Threat to National Security
By Saroj Kumar Rath

India’s history of drug use and cultivation dates back centuries, which is one reason the public sees illegal narcotics as a victimless crime. But in recent years, drug dealing and smuggling have become a countrywide problem as both external terrorists…

From Meltdown to Bounceback: How South Korea Weathered the 2008 Financial Crisis
By Shalendra D. Sharma

South Koreans remember the acute humiliation of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, when the mighty export powerhouse was forced to go hat-in-hand for a bailout to the International Monetary ...

		From Identity to Economy: Shifting Politics in Taiwan By Wu Yu-Shan

		For many young democracies, economic issues create political fault lines. But in Taiwan, the politics of national identity defined the early democratic period and helped bring down the ruling KMT, writes Yu-Shan Wu.



		Taiwan’s Middle-Income Trap: No Escaping Without Services By Chen Tain-Jy

		Taiwan’s economy, built on an export-oriented manufacturing sector, was once a powerhouse of Asia’s emerging economies. But over the past decade or so, growth in personal income has slowed considerably and the Taiwanese economic miracle has begun to fade.



		Strait Forward: The Political Implications Of Taiwan-Mainland Economic Integration By Chu Yun-han

		Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s policy of greater economic integration with mainland China, as well as Beijing’s softer, more pragmatic approach to cross-Strait relations, have helped revive Taiwan’s beleaguered economy and instilled the island with a renewed ...

LONG REVIEWS
		White’s Not Right: The US Cannot Share Power in Asia Letter from Mark J. Valencia

		This book has raised a hullabaloo in international relations circles — and deservedly so. It is a bold book with controversial generalities, caveats and conclusions, and deserves equally bold responses.



SHORT REVIEWS
		The US Must Fear China? Wrong! Reviewed Reviewed by John Delury

		Former US official Donald Gross has written what he hopes will be the antidote to pervasive “China threat” opinions in the public sphere and policies of the US government.

		Under the Skin of Modern Myanmar Reviewed by Taehwan Kim

		An era of imperialism ended long ago, yet nation-building is still under way in today’s Myanmar. In this context, a grand theme of this book is “unmaking Myanmar and remaking Burma” (the official name until the military junta rechristened it in 1989).