ISDP Voices

For much of 2017, President Trump’s foreign policy, the Sino-Indian military stand-off in the Himalayas, and North Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear program have dominated discourse on security issues in East Asia. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the complex relationship between Japan and China, despite the fact that it greatly affects regional and even global […]

The aftermath of COP 21 on Climate Change held in Paris in 2016 saw the withdrawal of a major global actor, the United States. The lack of commitment to environmental and climate-related matters the country has demonstrated under the Trump administration, gives China the opportunity to emerge as the new international standard-bearer of these issues. […]

Recent years have seen an increase in Japanese activity in Africa, something which has not gone unnoticed by China, a long-time player on the continent. Competition, largely in East and Sub-Saharan Africa, takes the form of winning infrastructure and development projects. However, such projects are far from simply economic, and the outcome of developments in […]

The meeting between high-level North and South Korean officials on January 9 was the first inter-Korean dialogue since December 2015. Following months of escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the recent meeting offers a welcome opportunity to deescalate the mounting sense of crisis. The two sides agreed not only to North […]

Luc Walter warns of the potential dangers of terrorists utilizing cryptocurrencies to conceal their activities. At the end of November, it was widely reported that Bitcoin’s value had risen to more than $10,000, an increase of nearly $9000 over the course of 2017. Like other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin uses decentralized control as opposed to the centralized […]

The recent October 31 terror attack in Manhattan, during which eight people were killed and eleven seriously injured, has again raised the question of Central Asian involvement in Jihadist activity. Few details about the chief suspect, 29-year old Sayfullo Saipov, have emerged so far but some general observations can be made. Saipov has been identified […]

In two weeks time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin will convene their fourth meeting this year alone. The meeting will take place during the 2017 APEC summit in Vietnam. The frequency of their meetings is significant. Russia-Japan relations turned cold in 2014 when Japan, along with the G7, sanctioned Russia after its annexation […]

On September 25, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his intention to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election on October 22. The results of the election saw his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holding on to its two-thirds majority. The newly formed center-left Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) came in second, and Tokyo governor Yuriko […]

On October 18, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will hold its National Congress of the Communist Party of China (NCCPC) a key event in terms of reallocating power. During this event, the Central Committee is expected to see 70% of its 376 members to leave in favor of newcomers. Historically, female participation in the […]

As tensions escalate between the U.S. and North Korea, Seoul finds itself with little room to improve inter-Korean relations argues Alec Forss. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Democratic Party swept into power last May pledging to institute a fresh start in relations with North Korea. After nearly a decade of conservative governments which […]