China and East Asia

September 2011
No “Jasmine” for China
by Bruce J. Dickson
“Political protests in China are a far cry from those that created the Arab Spring.”

September 2011
Japan’s Post-Catastrophe Politics
by Steven Vogel
“Japan’s political leaders have failed to deliver decisive action precisely when the country needed it most—when it faced its most devastating crisis since World War II.”

September 2011
Does Economic Integration Augur Peace in East Asia?
by Scott L. Kastner
“At the end of the day, it is not clear that economic ties will act as a significant constraint on state behavior when high-stakes issues are on the table.”

September 2011
The Korean Peninsula on the Verge
by Charles K. Armstrong
“It has become apparent that a policy of isolation, sanctions, lack of dialogue, and ‘strategic patience’ has not worked to weaken North Korea or alter its behavior, much less bring the regime down.”

September 2011
Deep Danger: Competing Claims in the South China Sea
by Marvin C. Ott
“The South China Sea is a growing focus of concern in Washington, at the headquarters of the US Pacific Command in Honolulu, and in a number of Southeast Asian capitals.”

September 2011
Myanmar: The Next Failed State?
by Joshua Kurlantzick
“China, other Asian nations, and the United States remain unprepared for Myanmar to spark a refugee crisis, a large-scale conflict along its borders—or even a nuclear breakout.”

September 2011
Perspective: Indonesia’s Image and Reality
by Donald E. Weatherbee
The world’s largest Muslim democracy is an international success story, but domestic corruption and resistance from fellow ASEAN member-states hinder Jakarta’s ambitions.

September 2011
Book: China According to Henry
by William W. Finan Jr.
Henry Kissinger in his latest book parts company with international-relations realists who believe China’s rise will necessarily entail conflict with the United States.

September 2011
The Month in Review
by the editors of Current History
An international chronology of events from April through July 2011, country by country, day by day.

September 2011
Map of China and East Asia
by the editors of Current History
Map

April 2011
Why India Is Becoming Warier of China
by Shashank Joshi
“Beijing’s recent behavior has strengthened hard-liners in India by legitimating the assumptions on which their worldview is built.”

February 2011
The New Mercantilism: China’s Emerging Role in the Americas
by Eric Farnsworth
“Beijing offers to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean the opportunity to forge a path independent of the United States and liberal economic orthodoxy.”

September 2010
A New China Requires a New US Strategy
by David Shambaugh
“The worst thing Washington could do is to operate on autopilot, to assume that past strategies and policies (which have generally served the United States well) are ipso facto indefinitely useful.”

September 2010
Australia Faces a Changing Asia
by Michael Wesley
“Tensions between Australia’s strategic alignment and its economic alignment . . . heighten Canberra’s anxieties about having to choose between security and prosperity in the event of a confrontation between the United States and China."

September 2010
Japan’s Long Road to Competitive Politics
by Steven Vogel
“The Democratic Party of Japan achieved a historic victory in 2009, one that will have a lasting impact on Japanese politics. Yet the party since then has delivered . . . too much political overhaul and too little policy substance.”

September 2010
North Korea: How Will It End?
by Christoph Bluth
“[Adopting] unification as the central goal of policy toward the Koreas . . . . would constitute the first step on the road toward a resolution of the crisis on the peninsula.”

September 2010
China’s Population Destiny: The Looming Crisis
by Wang Feng and Mara Hvistendahl
“China’s population is likely to peak less than 15 years from now, below a maximum of 1.4 billion. After that will come a prolonged, even indefinite, population decline and a period of accelerated aging.”

September 2010
The Uncertain Fate of “Chindia”
by Shalendra D. Sharma
“Although Sino-Indian relations have greatly improved over the past decade, . . . [u]nresolved territorial disputes, China’s unconditional support of Pakistan, and growing competition for energy resources and regional influence could quickly derail hard-won gains.”

September 2010
Thailand: From Violence to Reconciliation?
by Catharin Dalpino
“Thailand runs the risk that future protest, a right and a mainstay of liberal democracy, will escalate quickly into violence and eventually be constricted as a matter of course.”

September 2010
Perspective: Asia’s Dangerous Security Dilemma
by Paul Godwin
The military modernization that Beijing regards as defensive is provoking apprehension and countermoves. The resulting dynamic could threaten the regional stability that all sides want.