In our latest Impossible State podcast, David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, joins guest host Victor Cha of CSIS to discuss the second edition of their book, Nuclear North Korea: A Debate…
By Maria Krol Sinclair — Mongolia’s election of President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who gained political prominence for stirring up fear of Chinese influence in Mongolia, is the latest development in a historically fractured Sino-Mongolian relationship. Fear of Chinese investment and intervention…
In this episode, we review the Asia-related sections of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and explore Congress’s role in framing U.S. policy toward Asia. Returning to the podcast to unpack these topics are Dr. Michael Green, Japan…
By Richard M. Rossow & Hemant Krishan Singh — It is time for the United States to recognize that the Indian Ocean is the next front line of world geopolitics and the emerging arena for a new “great game.” China’s…
By Brian Harding — Among its five treaty allies in the Asia-Pacific, the U.S. alliance with Thailand is the clear outlier. Forged in a strategic moment long past, when the two sides saw Thailand as a potential domino in the…
By Nguyen Thanh Trung — The award by the permanent court of arbitration in the Philippines-China case over the South China Sea is two years past, but its effect remains in doubt. When the arbitral tribunal’s decision came out, it…
By James Andrew Lewis, William Alan Reinsch, Scott Kennedy, & Stephanie Segal — Yesterday, the White House weighed-in on investment restrictions pertaining to China’s practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property (IP), and innovation. While most observers were expecting a…
In this episode, we assess China’s engagement with multilateral institutions and global governance. Joining the show to track China’s transition from institutional outsider to cautious observer to international insider in global governance are Dr. Scott Kennedy, Deputy Director of the…
By Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry — On June 12, U.S. president Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a bilateral summit in Singapore. Prior to the meeting, U.S. and North Korean officials engaged in weeks…
By Jane Nakano & Andrew Stanley — A group of senior members of the Trump administration, led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, met with Chinese counterparts recently to discuss ways to defuse the current tension over the bilateral trade imbalance.…