asia Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Asia’s Mad Arms Race

by Conn Hallinan | May 23, 2012

Asia is currently in the middle of an unprecedented arms race that is not only sharpening tensions in the region but also competing with efforts by Asian countries to address poverty and growing economic disparity. The gap between rich and poor—calculated by the Gini coefficient that measures inequality—has increased from 39 percent to 46 percent in China, India, and Indonesia. Although affluent households continue to garner larger and larger portions of the economic pie, “Children born to poor families can be 10 times more likely to die in infancy” than those from wealthy families, according to Changyong Rhee, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank.

Asia Is Up in Arms

by John Feffer | Mar 23, 2012

The geopolitical centre of gravity, as measured in arms spending and transfers, has shifted to Asia.
The top five arms importers over the last five years, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), are from Asia. And, led by deep-pocketed China, Asia is poised to overtake Europe for the first time in modern history in overall military spending. The Cold War ended in Europe in the early 1990s. But Asia continues to buy and sell weapons as if the Cold War never went out of style.

Why 2012 Will Shake Up Asia and the World

by John Feffer | Oct 5, 2011

Washington, which has focused for years on North Korea’s small but developing nuclear arsenal, has barely been paying attention to the larger developments in Asia. Nor will Asia’s looming transformation be a hot topic in our own presidential election next year. We’ll be arguing about jobs, health care, and whether the president is a socialist or his Republican challenger a nutcase. Aside from some ritual China-bashing, Asia will merit little mention.

Korean Americans and Allies to Participate in “From War to Peace in East Asia,” Events on Korean War

by fpifadmin | Jul 25, 2011

On July 27, 2011 scholars from the Institute for Policy Studies, South Korea, and the Washington Peace Center will hold a special discussion on the status of the Korean War Armistice and why a peace treaty to end the Korean War matters today in the context of the current military issues facing East Asia and the overall need for peacebuilding in this region.

China and America Jostle in Middle East

by Richard Javad Heydarian | May 10, 2010

This century has witnessed China’s emergence as the main challenger to the superpower status of the United States. In a dramatic fashion, China is beginning to establish its foothold in the highly strategic, energy-rich region of the Middle East by forging strong ties with regional powers and gradually challenging the U.S.-Israeli regional dominance. Thanks to decades of double-digit economic growth and accelerating military modernization, China now has both the need for and the capability of engaging the Middle East.

Asia’s Axis of Evil?

by John Feffer | Jul 30, 2009

The two pariahs of Asia, North Korea and Burma, often get mentioned in the same breath. With no one else to depend on, these two countries would appear to be natural partners. Indeed, the Obama administration has been gathering circumstantial evidence that North Korea is providing Burma with nuclear technology so that they can both thumb their noses more aggressively at the international community. There are satellite images of Burma’s underground tunnels. The Japanese recently arrested a North Korean and two Japanese businessmen for attempting to sell Burma a magnetometer, a component of missile guidance systems. The Kang Nam, the North Korean ship that the Pentagon was recently tracking, was bound for Burma with a pile of who-knows-what on board.

Iran’s Next Leadership?

by John Feffer, Bernd Kaussler | May 20, 2009

On June 12, Iran’s electorate will go to the polls to decide whether to keep Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as their president or replace him. If Ahmadinejad loses, as the latest polls suggest that he might, it will be the first time since 1981 that Iranians have denied a president a second term.

Will China Save the World from Depression?

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | May 19, 2009

Will China be the "growth pole" that will snatch the world from the jaws of depression?

Strategic Dialogue: Counterterrorism in South Asia

by John Feffer, Sharad Joshi, Fouad Pervez | Apr 15, 2009

This is part of a strategic dialogue on Pakistan and counterterrorism. See Fouad Pervez’s initial argument here and Sharad Joshi’s argument here.

The Second Shockwave

by John Feffer, Michael Klare | Mar 18, 2008

While the economic contraction is apparently slowing in the advanced industrial countries and may reach bottom in the not-too-distant future, it’s only beginning to gain momentum in the developing world, which was spared the earliest effects of the global meltdown. Because the crisis was largely precipitated by a collapse of the housing market in the United States and the resulting disintegration of financial products derived from the “securitization” of questionable mortgages, most developing nations were unaffected by the early stages of the meltdown, for the simple reason that they possessed few such assets.