Controlling the South China Sea enables Beijing to project power into the Indian Ocean.
The Impact of Chinese Maritime Policies on India
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Senkaku Islands
Obama’s Half-Pivot to Asia
If Obama thought his short pass through Pacific would boost the much-vaunted U.S. “pivot” to Asia, he soon discovered that the world is not cooperating with his best-laid plans.
Obama in Asia: Washington Extracts Rent-free Basing from the Philippines
By linking itself to Washington in its territorial disputes with China, the Philippines risks getting caught up in a superpower conflict.
Abe Road
Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s chauvinistic surge has inflicted unmistakable damage on its national brand image.
The Asia-Pacific Pivot: More Smoke Than Firepower
The lumbering aircraft carrier known as the United States should be executing a pivot that lives up to its name: a shift from the martial to the pacific.
The Sun Also Rises: Resisting Militarism in Japan
It’s a critical time to support Japanese efforts to oppose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s nationalist refashioning of his country.
China’s Struggle over Air and Sea
China has grown more willing to assert historical claims to its sphere of influence, but it would be a mistake to regard this as “aggression” that requires an American response.
A Brewing Storm in the Western Pacific
A storm is brewing in the Western Pacific. As the Asia-Pacific region descends into a period of destabilizing conflict, the Philippines is quickly becoming a frontline state in the U.S. strategy to contain China—the central thrust of the Obama administration’s...
The Hashimoto Controversy and Japan’s Failure to Come to Terms with its Past
The words were so brazen that they have created a firestorm globally. Characterized as “outspoken” and “brash” in the international media, Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto has claimed that “comfort women”—the thousands of Asian women who were forced to serve as prostitutes during the Second World War—were “necessary” for the morale of Japanese troops.
Washington Debates the Pivot to Asia
Over the last two years, the Obama administration has executed what the president has termed the “Pivot to Asia” strategy, whereby the United States’ global military force posture is being reconfigured to focus on the Asia-Pacific region as Washington’s central front. Containment of China is the aim of the Pivot strategy, which has drawn criticism from liberal critics of the policy.