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Welcome to Our December 2012 Issue

Dear Reader,

“What’s in a name?” Juliet famously asked Romeo in William Shakespeare’s heartrending play Romeo and Juliet. American policymakers, unlike Juliet, appear to have felt that names really do matter when they quietly chose a few months ago to relabel America’s “pivot” to Asia — detailed in a Defense Department document published in January 2012 — as a “rebalancing” toward Asia. Perhaps they recognized that the word “pivot” carried too many veiled connotations of a martial arts move, and thought “rebalancing” suggested a more measured American approach to Asia. After all, the US never left Asia.

Whatever the nuances are to that subtle name change, there is no disguising the widespread concern that America’s new strategy toward the region may be motivated by an effort to contain a rising China. This is especially the case in the context of China’s more aggressive posture in recent years over maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas.

The US rebalancing is also clearly, in part, about a redeployment of US military forces as their involvement in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan winds down. In the collection of essays in our cover package in this issue of Global Asia, we examine the implications of the new US strategy and whether it will enhance peace and security in the Asia-Pacific or harden the ongoing rivalry between the US and China for influence in the region, laying the foundations for possible armed conflict in the future.

Also in this issue, we feature a pair of essays by Seoul Mayor Won-soon Park and SK Holdings Chairman and CEO Tae-won Chey on the rise of social enterprises and the possibility that this new model of economic activity will more effectively deliver social goods and services than the current ones. While the social enterprise movement is global in reach, South Korea is leading the way in Asia, as these two pieces illustrate.

Elsewhere in this issue, we look again at the disputes in the South China Sea; what Burma’s leadership of ASEAN in 2014 will mean for the country and for ASEAN; China’s potential role as a stabilizer in Central Asia; the new Great Game in Afghanistan and India’s part in it; the increasing role of border states in India and Pakistan in forging reconciliation between the two countries; the possibility for economic reform and opening up in North Korea; a novel proposal for breathing new life into the Six-Party Talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem; and why Japan seems to be so obsessed by the issue of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens decades ago, hindering better relations in Northeast Asia.

As 2012 winds down and we all look ahead to 2013 and the many changes, both good and bad, that it will surely bring, all of us at Global Asia would like to wish you and your families all the best for a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Sincerely yours,

Chung-in Moon, Editor-in-Chief

David Plott, Managing Editor

December 2012
Vol.7 No.4

The US ‘Pivot’ to Asia:
Is It Just About Containing China? Letter to Readers
Cover Story

The US ‘Pivot’ to Asia: Is It Just About Containing China?

Political leaders, policymakers and academics around the world have scrambled to analyze America’s strategic ‘pivot to Asia’ announced formally by US President Barack Obama in November 2011 and detailed by his defense chiefs in January 2012. Not surprisingly, friends and foes alike of US foreign policy have zeroed in on the 900-pound gorilla in the room: Is the pivot, which has in recent months conveniently been renamed a ‘rebalancing,’ really all about containing China?
- Patrick M. Cronin (79)
  As the World Rebalances in the Asian-Pacific Century, So Must the United States
  As the world's center of economic gravity continues to shift to the Asia-Pacific region, the US decision to refocus its foreign policy toward Asia is motivated by both long-term interests and short-term events. By Patrick M. Cronin
- Michael McDevitt (86)
  America's New Security Strategy and Its Military Dimension
  Much has been made of the military implications of America's pivot to Asia, especially in the context of perceptions that the US is engaged in an effort to contain China. By Michael McDevitt
- Wu Xinbo (93)
  Not Backing Down: China Responds to the US Rebalance to Asia
  With its rebalancing toward Asia, could the US be on a path to conflict with China? Fudan University Professor Wu Xinbo examines China’s response to the new US strategy. By Wu Xinbo
- Donald K. Emmerson (81)
  Challenging ASEAN: The US Pivot Through Southeast Asia's Eyes
  Washington is deepening its involvement in ASEAN in terms of both security and trade. At stake is ASEAN’s vaunted centrality as it negotiates a path between the two big powers. By Donald K. Emmerson
- Malcolm Fraser (84)
  Overbalancing: The Folly of Trying to Contain China
  As the US reorients its foreign policy toward Asia, with the attendant redeployment of military assets to the region, fears are spreading that the American pivot is really aimed at containing the rise of China. By Malcolm Fraser
- Richard A. Bitzinger (160)
  Will the US Pivot Trigger a New Regional Arms Race?
  Some who fear that the US rebalancing toward Asia will stoke US-China rivalry also worry that it could lead to an arms race among countries in the region. By Richard A. Bitzinger
- Kang Choi (85)
  Advice from a Good Friend: A South Korean View on the US Rebalancing
  Kang Choi examines how South Korea, as a close US ally, views the US policy and how it should be implemented.
- Noboru Yamaguchi (90)
  Facilitating the US Pivot: A Japanese Perspective
  While America's allies and partners in Asia have largely welcomed the US decision to shift the focus of its foreign policy toward this region, numerous questions remain about the degree of American commitment. By Noboru Yamaguchi
Features
- Nguyen Manh Hung (156)
  Drawing a Line in the South China Sea: Why Beijing Needs to Show Restraint
  Beijing's more aggressive stance on maritime disputes in the South China Sea in recent years may signal the first stages of China's effort to wrest hegemony of the Asia-Pacific region from the US. By Nguyen Manh Hung
- Pavin Chachavalpongpun (79)
  Burma as ASEAN Chair in 2014: Interests, Agendas and a Road to Redemption
  With Burma chairing ASEAN in 2014, the country will finally become a full member of the alliance it joined uneasily in 1997. By Pavin Chachavalpongpun
- Georgiy Voloshin (151)
  From Observer to Stabilizer: China's New Role in Central Asia
  China seems to be the only regional power capable of bringing the ever more unstable pattern of Central Asian security under control. By Georgiy Voloshin
- Ramesh Thakur (84)
  A Changing Chessboard: The New Great Game in Afghanistan
  As Western forces wind down their military presence in Afghanistan, there are widespread concerns about the country's future security and stability. India has quietly re-emerged as a player in a new iteration of the Great Game. By Ramesh Thakur
- Tridivesh Singh Maini, Manish Vaid (161)
  'Just Lines on a Map': How Border States are Redefining India-Pakistan Relations
  Tridivesh Singh Maini and Manish Vaid point to increasingly vibrant trade relations and business interactions between key border areas that could herald the foundations of a lasting Indo-Pakistani reconciliation. By Tridivesh Singh Maini and Manish Vaid
- Young-hoon Lee (83)
  A Taste for Change? Economic Reform and Opening in North Korea
  The economic situation in the North is especially bad now, at a time when Kim Jong Un is still consolidating his hold on power. By Young-hoon Lee
- Peter Hayes (84)
  A Breakthrough Six-Party Summit in 2013? Why Not?
  Efforts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program and to resolve the outstanding security issues that plague the search for peace on the Korean Peninsula seem intractable. By Peter Hayes
- Asger Røjle Christensen (204)
  Japan: Abducted by Its Abductions Saga
  The murky circumstances surrounding the Cold War abductions of 13 Japanese citizens by North Korea have proven to be a major stumbling block to diplomatic progress in Northeast Asia. By Asger Røjle Christensen
Book Reviews
- David C. Kang (162)
  The Next Battle for Hearts and Minds
  Australian academic Hugh White's new book makes a compelling case for why the US should share power with a fast-rising China. Reviewed by David C. Kang.
- Börje Ljunggren (185)
  Is China Bound to Grind to a Halt?
  Börje Ljunggren, a former Swedish ambassador to China, surveys a range of books that seek to explain China’s economic and political emergence and predict the future, and offers his own insights. By Börje Ljunggren
- John Delury (150)
  From Mao to Inspector O
  A new Inspector O mystery by James Church and Mao's part in the Korean War by Shen Zhihua. Reviewed by John Delury.
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