China and East Asia

September 2007
Japan’s Slow-Motion Transition
by Arthur Alexander
"As the Japanese manage economic adjustment at their preferred pace, they may be left even further behind than when they started, despite real progress over the past decade."

September 2007
Taiwanese Politics Gets Interesting Again
by Michael Fahey
"Chen, never having won a sweeping popular mandate, and understanding after the 2004 legislative election that he would face a hostile legislature for the rest of his time in office, has largely devoted himself to reshaping Taiwan's view of itself."

September 2007
America’s Asia-Pacific Strategy
by William T. Tow
"If Washington is effective in linking its Asia-Pacific and global security postures, it can maintain its status as a preeminent power in the region. If it fails, it may find itself involved in a dangerous and unstable multipolar rivalry. . . ."

September 2007
China’s Confounding Religious Revival
by Richard Madsen
"The government wants to control religion and harness its philanthropic energies to create social stability—until such time as religion can be completely strangled."

May 2007
China in Africa: A Mixed Blessing?
by Alex Vines
"The challenge is to find openings to engage China, to ensure that past mistakes of postcolonial development and investment in Africa are not repeated. . . ."

April 2007
Malaysia at 50: Midlife Crisis Ahead?
by Bridget Welsh
"It remains to be seen whether Malaysia will continue on its historic path of avoiding ethnic conflict, promoting economic growth, and allowing political choice, albeit limited choice."

April 2007
Thailand’s Elusive Equilibrium
by Catharin Dalpino
"The challenges facing the interim administration create a difficult environment in which to undertake constitutional reform. . . ."

November 2006
The Lessons of North Korea’s Test
by LEON V. SIGAL
"Countries that seek nuclear weapons are insecure. Trying to isolate or coerce them can easily backfire."

November 2006
What If a Nuclear-Armed State Collapses?
by MICHAEL O'HANLON
"The nuclear danger posed by the potential for state failure in a North Korea or a Pakistan is one of the most menacing facing the international environment."

September 2006
US-China Economic Relations: The Next Stage
by JOHN FRISBIE and MICHAEL OVERMYER
To advance and maintain a mutually advantageous economic relationship, China and the United States should elevate economic engagement to a more comprehensive level.

September 2006
Driven to Protest: China’s Rural Unrest
by LIANJIANG LI
"Beijing may wish to keep the rural population as apolitical and passive as possible, but it must understand that this is fast becoming an impossible task."

September 2006
Little Emperors or Frail Pragmatists? China’s ’80ers Generation
by YUNXIANG YAN
"If idealism, compassion, and naïveté are defining features of youthhood, the '80ers in China are hardly youthful. If efforts to resist and subvert the dominating ideology and symbolisms of the establishment are the core of youth culture, then China's youth hardly have a culture of their own."

September 2006
Rumsfeld’s Take on the Chinese Military: A Dissenting View
by DENNIS J. BLASKO
"The Pentagon's 2006 report provides little credible new information to support its suppositions about China's lack of transparency, undeclared motivations, or 'military expansion.'"

September 2006
China’s Charm Offensive in Southeast Asia
by JOSHUA KURLANTZICK
"Many Southeast Asians now regard China as a benign presence to be emulated—a sharp contrast with current regional views of the United States."

September 2006
Japan’s Historic Change of Course
by KENNETH B. PYLE
Japan is on the threshold of a new era in the way it relates to the international environment. As it becomes an assertive political-strategic actor, foreign observers will once again be surprised. . . ."

September 2006
Vietnam’s Bumpy Road to Reform
by SOPHIE QUINN-JUDGE
"As in China, political and intellectual reform in Vietnam has lagged behind the stunning transformation of the economy."

September 2006
The Withering of Philippine Democracy
by PATRICIO N. ABINALES and DONNA J. AMOROSO
"The 'democracy' brought about by people power is not working for the benefit of the majority of poor Filipinos. It has simply returned to power the clans and warlords that once dominated pre–martial-law politics. . . ."

May 2006
China’s Africa Strategy
by JOSHUA EISENMAN and JOSHUA KURLANTZICK
"Beijing has enjoyed considerable success in Africa, building close ties with countries from Sudan to South Africa, becoming a vital aid donor . . . , and developing military relationships with many of the continent's powers."

April 2006
America Confronts the Asian Century
by MORTON ABRAMOWITZ and STEPHEN BOSWORTH
"The United States has been the regional power in Asia since the end of World War II. But change is under way."

April 2006
Asia in Transition: The Evolving Regional Order
by DAVID SHAMBAUGH
"The emerging and evolving Asian system today is a mixture of realist, liberal, and constructivist elements—with major powers vying for influence, while interdependence deepens, and behavioral norms and multilateral institutions develop. Such cross-trends may not make for conceptual clarity, but they do constitute the current reality."