The U.S.-South Korea FTA is broken and not worth fixing.
60-Second Expert: Nix the FTA
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Asia & Pacific
The Spectacle of the Disappeared
Translating a play usually involves only translating the source text’s language while retaining details of periods, characters, names, settings, etc. In the Philippines, a concerted nationalistic effort begun in the late 1960s saw classics of world theater translated into Tagalog.
60 Second Expert: Okinawa and the Alliance
Despite claims by Washington and Tokyo that the controversy over the relocation of a Marine Air Base in Okinawa has been resolved, it seems increasingly likely that this will become a recurring crisis, threatening to undermine the U.S.-Japan relationship, unless addressed appropriately.
Postcard from…Takae
The residents of Takae, a small village in the hills of northern Okinawa, are no strangers to the American military. Since 1957, they’ve been living next to the world’s largest jungle warfare training center – and many of them are old enough to remember the days when the U.S. Marine Corps hired locals to dress up as Vietcong for its war games.
Okinawa and the Changing U.S.-Japan Alliance
Although the clash between Washington and Tokyo over U.S. military bases on Okinawa has been officially treated as a relatively minor dispute, it has laid bare very serious underlying problems that will continue to plague the alliance. The United States expects greater Japanese engagement and cost-sharing to ensure regional security. To maintain regional stability, Japan must either become more engaged (requiring increases in military spending, and the political and social will to change existing laws and norms) or the alliance must remain asymmetric. Both of these alternatives face perhaps insurmountable obstacles in the local opposition to base expansion and the financial realities facing Japan and the United States.
Forget the FTA Fix, Just Say No
The free trade push has begun again. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak are calling for ratification of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by the two countries’ trade representatives in April 2007 but has yet to be approved by either the U.S. Congress or the South Korean parliament. Aware of how unpopular the agreement remains, President Obama wants the U.S. Congress to delay the approval vote until after the mid-term elections in early November but before the mid-November G-20 meeting in Seoul.
Rekindling China-Japan Conflict: The Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands Clash
Why did the Japan Coast Guard, on September 7th, arrest a Chinese fishing boat captain and detain his ship, setting off the most serious China-Japan conflict in decades? Investigative journalist Tanaka Sakai offers no definitive answer in the following historically-and geopolitically-informed analysis of the roots of the conflict. He does show, definitively, that the Japanese action marked a striking departure from policies that have been in effect since at least 1978 when China and Japan resumed diplomatic relations and Deng Xiaoping crafted an agreement to defer action on competing claims to the Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands.
Getting Into Bed With the Devil in Indonesia
The Obama administration’s rationale for lifting a ban on U.S. contact with Indonesia’s special forces is that it will serve to improve Unit 81’s human rights record.
Would a U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan Drive India Into China’s Arms?
Much as the United States needs to withdraw from Afghanistan, it needs to keep in mind the effects that our military standdown would have on India.
Japan’s Three Elections
Prime Minister Kan is on board with the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, but the island’s residents and politicians are considerably less sanguine about it.