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October 17, 2008 | Japan's North Koreans

E. Ben Heine: The stability of Kim Jong-Il’s regime has depended to a significant degree on financial and material support from Japan’s North Korean minority. This paper analyses the history and organization of North Koreans living in Japan and outlines its significance in future Japan-DPRK relations.

May 21, 2008 | Is China the New Japan?

Andrew D. Bishop: As it becomes - supposedly - obvious that China might one day “rule the world,” it’s urgent we take a look at the facts behind the fears, and reassess our expectations.

October 25, 2007 | Asia's International Order

Henrik Schmiegelow: I warn that Asia is building pillars to support a future international order. Reacting to the functional integration and regional community-building led by ASEAN and the big three—China, Japan, and India—will be “the West’s greatest challenge.”

July 13, 2007 | The Rise of Liberal Japan

Joseph S. Nye: We cannot overlook Japan as a global powerhouse. How its people and government respond to emerging China will be “one of the great questions for this century.”

July 2, 2007 | How Japan Fuels Global Financial Instability

Thomas Palley: China is not the only Asian economy perpetuating trade deficits. Japan’s rock-bottom interest rates also play a part.

October 31, 2008 | All Eyes on the Yen

Japan’s central bank has reacted to last weeks rise of the yen as well as to the falling stock market by cutting interest rates. ++ If Japan decides to move towards “zero interest” it would become the “source of almost free money for anyone with an appetite to invest.” ++ The US is faced with a smiliar situtation as the Federal Reserve has also been cutting rates, giving

October 28, 2008 | "30 Years of China-Japan Relations"

30 years after the signing of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty, the two countries are now more than ever in a position to create positive change in Asia and abroad. ++ The two countries can cooperate on “the regional financial crisis; nuclear disarmament of North Korea; global warming; and creating a regional immediate response system for natural disasters or infectious diseases.” ++

October 23, 2008 | Japan's Partisan Politics Stifles Foreign Policy

Japan’s Lower House is expected to approve a bill extending the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. ++ The presiding committee failed to use this opportunity to discuss other important foreign policy issues, such as contributions to Afghanistan and the deteriorating situation in Pakistan, the primary recipient of Japanese fuel. ++  Instead, “the two-day

October 1, 2008 | The US Needs a Global Line of Credit

The US is following a pattern similar to Japan’s financial crisis in the 1990s, but ignoring the principles and method with which to handle it. ++ Unlimited liquidity in the market is needed and the world should help share the burden. ++ The US must ask the global community to provide $5 trillion for troubled financial institutions. ++ This should come from those who have collected dollar

May 23, 2008 | Overseas Deployment Law Endangers Democracy

The Japanese government is asking to be granted permanent authority over the use of military force. ++ Currently every foreign deployment of troops requires separate legislative approval and is bound by strict legal parameters. ++ While accountability and transparency in the process of authorizing military engagement has improved in most democracies, the proposal would amount to a carte blanche,

May 20, 2008 | Food Prices Will Continue to Rise in Asia

Due to unilateral export restrictions imposed by grain producing countries, the Japanese government recently raised the price of imported wheat it sells to flour-milling companies by 30%. ++ The surge is expected to be passed on to the consumer soon. ++ Grain producers should provide a stable supply, if they want access to farm markets in other nations, and Japan should play a leading role in

May 9, 2008 | Japan: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Japan increasingly faces a dilemma in its relationship with China. ++ On the one hand intensifying already close economic relations with China is vital for the continued recovery of Japan’s own economy. ++ On the other hand China’s growth gives it greater regional power at the expense of Japanese influence, and creates new security concerns. ++ Japan should confidently embrace its “role as a

April 29, 2008 | Russo-Japanese Relations Are Improving

Japan and Russia’s planned cooperation in fields of energy, transportation, and the environment require settling their territorial dispute. ++ So as to expand its influence in the booming Asia-Pacific region and maintain its volumes of energy exports, Russia may cede sovereignty of the northern islands to Japan. ++ Successful negotiations would enable crucial collaboration on North Korea

April 10, 2008 | Europe Votes Democrat, but Asia Tends Republican

The three largest Asian Powers China, India and Japan have good reason to hope for a Republican US President. ++ China and India see the world more in terms of classic balance-of-power equations. ++ Balancing a rising China is important to Japan. ++ India and China are especially interested in more free-trade oriented policies and were sympathetic to Bush’s pro-Indian strategic

March 17, 2008 | US Decline is Bad for Japan

War in Iraq might decrease US ability to preserve peace in East Asia - a serious concern for Japan. ++ Japan relies on the Middle East for 90 percent of its oil - stability in the region is vital. ++ North Korea will never dismantle nuclear weapons without US influence. ++ Japan should maintain close relationship with US - decline in US power is not in Japan’s national interest.

March 6, 2008 | The US Should Avoid Japan's Economic Mistakes

The US economy is facing a post-bubble recession rather than a cyclical downturn. ++ As homebuilders and consumers - a sector representing 78% of GDP, are being hit the hardest, the Fed’s monetary easing policies which favor consumption are proving ineffective. ++ The focus should be on exports and infrastructure spending instead of attempts to maintain unsustainably high rates of personal

February 29, 2008 | Japanese Foreign Policy: Doing Less with Less

Japan is donating ever less in aid, partly because chequebook diplomacy has been judged a failure. ++ Japan could increase its international contribution by utilizing its well equipped defence forces, but self imposed restrictions mean they have just 50 peacekeepers abroad. ++ Japan is increasingly ambitious about foreign affairs but with a shrinking aid budget and military phobia, Tokyo is doing

November 29, 2007 | Restrain, Modesty, and Multilateralism: A New American Grand Strategy

The last 16 years provide valuable hindsight into the grand strategic approach of the United States and highlight the need to reshape American foreign policy around the principle of restraint, argues Barry R. Posen, director of the security studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Writing for the American Interest, he points out that US policy makers have struggled to

May 31, 2007 | Bruegel Says Worldwide Exchange Rates Adjustment Would Fight Current Account Deficits

The March 2007 Bruegel Policy Brief reveals that imbalances in global current account positions are not sustainable and need adjustment. A 15% depreciation of the dollar and an appreciation of Asian currencies is needed in order to:

• reduce the US current account deficit,
• faciliate China’s focus on domestic demand and reduce its accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, and
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April 16, 2007 | Kiroku Hanai on Consolidation of US-Japanese Economic Partnership

If Japan intends to preserve its status in world trade, it must negotiate an economic partnership agreement with its biggest trading partner, the US, warns journalist Kiroku Hanai. Japan already lags behind South Korea and China in completing bilateral trade agreements and has recently shied away from free trade because of its weak agricultural sector, preferring instead multilateral negotiations

April 12, 2007 | Robert D. Kaplan on When North Korea Falls

North Korean nuclear tests are symptoms of an unheralded threat: not the exertion of North Korean strength, but the prospective collapse of Kim Jong Il’s government. Weakness in Pyongyang could result in desperation, a WMD attack on the South, or full-on military engagement with Seoul. Drawing on this possibility of collapse, Robert D. Kaplan discusses opportunities for:

1. Reconstruction and

April 12, 2007 | Claus Leggewie on US Environmental Leadership

Europeans should look to the United States as an emerging global leader in energy policy, says Claus Leggewie of Giessen University. The Director of the Center for Media and Interactivity describes a “greening” of the US political climate, fostered by rising oil prices in conjunction with recent natural disasters. The energy policy shift in the Bush Administration is mainly driven by security