Wherever the South Korean military expands its capabilities, protesters are there to confront it.
With RIMPAC, South Korea Expands Its Military Footprint
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East Asia
Does Japan Aspire to be a Superpower?
Despite its “peace constitution,” Japan has a growing military footprint.
Echoes of Nomonhan
A little-known 1939 battle in the Mongolian grasslands helped determine World War II and shape the current geopolitics of Northeast Asia.
The Collapse of the East Asian Order
With Japan and South Korea in the middle of a feud, East Asia is on the verge of a serious unraveling.
East Asia Is Invisible
East Asia is invisible to the average American — for better and worse.
Korean Americans and Allies to Participate in “From War to Peace in East Asia,” Events on Korean War
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.
The Celtic Tiger Follows the Asian Tigers to Extinction
The financial collapse of Ireland, coming as the latest in a string of disasters, hardly shocks global public opinion. For people engaged in the development debate, however, it is resonant with meaning.
The Risk of Military Keynesianism
With government budgets shrinking and the economic crisis putting greater pressure on social welfare programs, a shift of money from military budgets to human needs would appear to be a no-brainer. But don’t expect a large-scale beating of swords into ploughshares. In fact, if early signs are any indication, governments will largely shelter their military budgets from the current economic crisis. Call it the new military Keynesianism: the use of military spending to stimulate the economy and pull the country out of recession.
The Paradox of East Asian Peace
At the center of East Asia lies the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the Korean peninsula. The DMZ has been called the most dangerous place on earth. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers face one another across this divide. And yet, the DMZ is also the lifeline between North and South Korea. It connects the two countries by way of the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Electricity, transportation, and communications lines connect the two sides across this dangerous rift. Perhaps most paradoxically, the DMZ itself is a quiet, largely undisturbed zone that is home to perhaps the greatest biological diversity on the peninsula. Unification is, of course, a life-and-death issue for Koreans. It is therefore fitting that the DMZ is a life-and-death zone.
Japan’s Persian Gulf Policies in the Koizumi Era
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has managed to create one of the warmest eras in U.S.-Japan relations by standing in solidarity with Washington through the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq War. But how have these decisions impacted Japan’s crucial energy strategies in the Persian Gulf and its long history of friendly relations with the Islamic world? As Prime Minister Koizumi makes what is likely to be his last visit to Washington as the leader of Japan, the time has come for reflection on the achievements and the failings of the surprisingly long and important Koizumi Era in Japanese postwar history.