Abstract
The US–India deal on civil nuclear cooperation, in spite of the Indian non-proliferation commitment, has potential adverse impacts on global non-proliferation undermining the basic bargain behind the NPT. In order to overcome such adverse impacts the author proposes to move towards a “universal nuclear disarmament” under which every nuclear weapon holder will be asked to make contributions towards nuclear disarmament. The US, for example, will be asked to ratify CTBT, negotiate a successor to the START I Treaty and engage in strategic dialogues with Russia and China.
The author proposes to apply a proportionate reduction of nuclear warheads weighted according to the size of each arsenal. This way, while the US and Russia will be asked to drastically reduce their arsenals, the other holders will also be asked to start reducing their warheads even in a symbolic manner of by just a few bombs each
Read more here (purchase required)
Country or Region: United States
Zhu, Liqun
Abstract
This rejoinder to Daniel Twining’s article in the last issue of The International Spectator argues that both China and the United States recognise how important their relationship is for the world and the Asia-Pacific in particular. But the risk of tension on the security front has increased recently due to the US’ policy toward maritime disputes that has actually involved meddling between the parties involved, and its ‘pivot’ to Asia which targets China with more military engagement in the region. The China–US relationship has never been an easy one with the US certain of its primacy and China proud of its glorious past, which almost makes a conflictual power transition a self-fulfilling prophecy. Management of the relationship is the key for both countries to bring about more cooperation and to rein in competition. Co-evolution, a new type of relationship among major countries, is the only way out, in which the logic of interaction is ‘live-and-let-live’ rather than mors tua, vita mea.
Read more here (purchase required)
Xiaotong, Zhang
Abstract
The Chinese policy and academic communities have mixed views about the US-led TPP, either viewing it as a strategic attempt at encircling China, or as a positive spur for domestic reform and opening-up. Although the Chinese government adopted an open and flexible attitude towards the TPP, it has moved strategically by accelerating the negotiations of the RCEP and China–Korea FTA, as well as updating its FTA with ASEAN. A more interesting development is China’s new initiatives for building two grand silk roads, one to Central Asia, leading on to Europe, and the other to Southeast Asia, leading on to the Indian Ocean. Both represent China’s renewed confidence in finding its role in Asia.
Read more here (purchase required)
Waldron, Arthur
Abstract
We may expect regional response to the tension and conflict in Asia begun by China in 2009 gradually to transform the international order in that region, where the United States has been the active great power. Today the United States is so overextended in commitments and so lacking in force structure (and political will) that she can no longer play that role. Nor, however, has China succeeded in her initial assumption that regional powers would defer to her vastly increased military power. Unless China finds a way to extricate herself, we may expect regional powers, each strengthening herself, to grow closer together as a group in which Tokyo plays an unaccustomed central role, both in diplomacy and arms supply, although in coordination with the United States. North Korea is also highly dangerous. The likely outcome is greater military strength generally, with South Korea and Japan nuclear powers.
Read more here (purchase required)
Vivoda, Vlado
Introduction
The U.S. shale gas revolution is the most significant development in the global energy industry in the past decade. The ongoing transformation of the United States from the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas into a potentially significant exporter over the next decade could be beneficial in terms of availability, affordability, and potential sustainability for not only the United States’ energy security but for Asia’s as well.
Read more here
Mealy, Marc
Introduction
The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sat down with Marc Mealy, Vice President of Policy for the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, to discuss U.S.-ASEAN relations and the implications of recent developments in the Southeast Asia region.
Read more here
Busch, Marc
Introduction
The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sat down with Dr. Marc Busch, a member of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Standards and Technical Trade Barriers for the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Commerce, to discuss the Trans Pacific Partnership and how it relates to the future of international trade politics.
Read more here
Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbaek
Abstract
The paper analyses the new geo-political and geo-economic strategic relationship between China and Southeast Asia. Is Chinese soft power encroachment into Southeast Asia creating greater stability, does it jeopardize US interests and what is the impact on the regime-types, economic restructuring, and the state-civil society relationship? The paper is divided into four parts. The first explores the historical and especially the contemporary changes in China’s geo-economic bilateral relationship with Southeast Asia through its bilateral trade, the role of FDI, the role of the ethnic Chinese Diaspora, and other political and economic factors. The second focuses on China’s role in the new emerging geo-political relations on a multilateral scale through new regional security, military and politico-economic institutions. The third part contains a brief exposure of shifting US bilateral and multilateral interests in the region – both geo-economic and geo-political; however the bulk of this section is devoted to a comparison of the differences and similarities of US and Chinese approaches in Southeast Asia. Finally some concluding remarks are offered.
PDF
Sharma, Ashok
Introduction
In January of this year, Malcolm Turnbull made his first visit to the United States as the prime minister of Australia. Turnbull met with President Obama, as well as with business and defense leaders to discuss a range of international security and economic issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The main issue at the forefront of conversation was that of the U.S.-Australia security alliance, particularly with regard to China’s increased military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Though he has not wavered from his predecessor’s firm support for the partnership, PM Turnbull has taken a moderate view on China. During his visit to the United States, Turnbull remained impartial and urged all parties to refrain from further military build-up on the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Hoping that the Chinese government will abide by international rules, Turnbull looks to maintain Australia’s lucrative economic ties with the growing power.
Read more here
Pham, Quang Minh
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to answer the question why the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should play a central role in constructing new security architecture in East Asia. The main argument of the paper is that, unlike other regions, a number of factors account for the complicated conditions observed in the East Asian region that provide a chance for ASEAN to be a central player in this process, promising because small and middle powers rarely can abuse power.
In order to achieve this objective, the paper is divided into three parts. The first part will analyze the major obstacles to the building of a constructive new China-Japan relationship akin to the post-World War II (WWII) ties between France and Germany. The second part analyzes the pivot to Asia by the United States to consolidate its role as regional facilitator. The third part shows why ASEAN can take the lead as a driving force or catalyst in fostering regional cooperation, because as mentioned above neither China nor Japan can do it at this stage. The paper concludes that despite the fact that ASEAN still faces many weaknesses and limitations, it continues to serve as a central player in an emerging architecture where, so far, no new alternative has appeared.
Read more here (purchase required)
Ng, Thiam Hee
Introduction
With the completion of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, economists and policymakers have turned their attention toward the trade agreement’s implications for Southeast Asian economies. Four countries in the region – Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam – are signatories of the deal, and, until this point, discussion on both the domestic and international fronts has focused on how each of them will benefit from greater openness to the trade of goods. However, the TPP also includes provisions to liberalize entry into each of their respective service sectors, a component of the agreement that has garnered little attention and that will uniquely impact these countries’ economies. Because liberalization in the services sector has traditionally lagged behind that of the goods sector, the passage of the TPP has the potential to herald a new era of greater openness in Southeast Asia.
Read more here
Monshipouri, Mahmood, and Manochehr Dorraj
Introduction
Last year’s inking of the resolution ending the nuclear standoff between the P5+1 and Iran provides hope for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It also offers a unique opportunity to gauge the consequences of multilateral diplomacy by testing Iran’s willingness to fulfill its international obligations, as well as the great powers’ ability to respond positively by adopting a new constructive working relationship with Tehran.
The challenges facing the sustainability of the deal notwithstanding, the Iranian nuclear program signals the first significant opportunity for the nation to directly negotiate with the West – particularly with the United States. Yet, a number of key questions remain: why and how has the nuclear deal fallen short of a grand bargain? And what will it take to thaw the U.S.-Iran relationship, which has been long strained by deeply rooted mistrust, hostility, and conflicting policies?
Read more here
Mishra, Manoj Kumar
Introduction
Soft power has been an integral concept in the discipline of international politics since the late 1980s, when Joseph Nye first introduced the notion to explain the changing dynamics in American foreign policy. Hard power, as Nye defines it, consists of a state’s ability to shape the perceptions and behavior of other states according to its own preferences through coercion and economic rewards. A country’s ability to sway other states toward its preferences is known as soft power.
Although the term itself is relatively new, India adopted soft power as a tool in its foreign policy approach long before Nye formally conceptualized the term. Many scholars attribute India’s soft power potential to its democratic values, tolerance for diversity, economic growth, and rich cultural values. However, these qualities are not unique to India and, indeed, many Western countries have used soft power more effectively than India.
Read more here
Hayton, Bill
Introduction
The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs sat down with Bill Hayton, a longtime reporter for the BBC whose latest book, The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia and Vietnam, was published in September, to discuss rising tensions amongst China, its regional neighbors, and the United States in the Asia Pacific.
Read more here
Levy, Philip
Introduction
Perhaps there is something about playing hard to get. The more difficulty existing participants have concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, the more eager outside countries have been to join. Taiwan is the latest aspirant: President Ma Ying-jeou has made the pursuit of TPP membership a top priority. It is not especially difficult to see why Taiwan would want to join the TPP; it is somewhat harder to see how it might pull off the feat.
Read more here
