Journal of International Studies

China’s reliance on coal has serious environmental consequences, but is keeping U.S. companies in business.

Obama can expect some difficult conversations when he heads to Asia in April.

The U.S. needs to rethink its current position on reopening negotiations with Pyongyang.

The pre-2011 status quo in US-Pakistan relations is not coming back. Now's the time to determine its replacement.

The strategic triangle from the Cold War is returning. Only this time, Russia is the prize.

Tokyo has earned plaudits for its aid approach, but it wants support for its maritime disputes

A high-level bilateral visit in New Delhi this week demonstrates the myriad areas of cooperation between the two.

Offshore engagement presents a middle ground between offshore balancing and deep commitment.

To combat mutual suspicion, the U.S. and China are ramping up their joint humanitarian and disaster relief exercises

An Uyghur leader talks about last month’s incident in Tiananmen Square and the plight of his people.

The “Great Triangle” of the Asia-Pacific region formed by the United States, Russia, and China is particularly important in both geopolitical and military-strategic terms.

In Tokyo all last week, I heard quite a few comments on the recently held inaugural 2+2 meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of Russia and Japan. The initiative for holding such conferences had come from the Japanese side, who were able to sell it to Moscow. For  Japan , it is a big thing: Tokyo only maintains similar formats in relations with its principal ally, the United States, and also with another ally, Australia. Russia, by contrast, is not only a former Cold War adversary, but also a country with which Japan still does not have a peace treaty, which also means that there is a territorial issue between the two. What is then the purpose of the Russo-Japanese 2+2, and what are its prospects? When the Japanese reached out to the Russians with their proposal, one thing they wanted to emphasize was their strategic autonomy. Historically, Tokyo had long been stung by Moscow's view of it merely as a Washington's ward. Of course, the Japanese had told  their ...

BEIJING - After the Plenum that concentrated powers in the hands of China's top leadership and especially President Xi Jinping, the big questions concern how effective these powers will be how much power will go to the central leadership group tasked with designing and implementing reforms and how effective the National Security Council, in charge of external and internal security matters, will be.  Most of the opposition is likely to come from localities, which have the most to lose in this program of concentration of power in Beijing. For this reason, the new role of the judiciary, which according to the Plenum communique will be "authoritative" ( quanwei ), is significant.  This does not mean that the judiciary will be independent from the top leadership of the Party. The Party will give freer rein to judges and prosecutors at the provincial level in going after cases of corruption, which so far have mostly concentrated on the unhealthy ties between local a...

By Bakyt Asanov and Farangis Najibullah 

Fundamental to the ideal and effective governance of any entity is the system, the administrators of the system and the belief of the governed in the system and its administrators. The three must be in concert for good governance to be a reality. It is a dynamic equilibrium that will cease to exist if one element in this balance is pulling in the opposite direction.  Disastrously for Afghans and Afghanistan, all are incompatible at the moment. The system and the administrators have failed the Afghan nation primarily because both are seen as illegitimate by a majority of its people. There was a window of opportunity in the beginning but thanks to colossal corruption and Machiavellian leaders, the battle to win the hearts and minds of the people was lost.  What Afghans themselves want and expect from their political system and leader is in conflict with the imposed democracy and its leaders of the past 95 years. This has become more evident in the past 35 years...

The 1972 Shanghai Communique’s language on Taiwan can help solve a thorny P5+1–Iran issue.

Recent news reports underscore the need for progress on transparency if reforms are to really succeed.

Last week The Gambia decided to cut ties with Taiwan. The implications could be significant. Image Credit: flickr/alveaux An air of uncertainty descended upon Taipei on November 14 when he tricolor Gambian flag was pulled down at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hours after rumors had emerged that Banjul had unilaterally severed ties with Taiwan. By day’s end, it was confirmed that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh had made the move to end nearly eighteen years of diplomatic relations. Taiwan  reciprocated  on November 18, leaving it with only three allies on the African continent, and 22 worldwide. The setback — this was Taipei’s first loss of a diplomatic ally since Malawi cut ties in January 2008 and established relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — immediately gave rise to speculation in Taipei as to whether the so-called  “diplomatic truce”  established between presidents Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan and Hu Jintao in China had come to an...

In applying a football metaphor to the Indo-Pacific the US Navy ought to ask itself some hard questions.

Both inside and outside of China, many expect great things from Xi Jinping. And he knows it.