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2. US-Southeast Asia Trade is Increasing, but so are Deficits
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Conventional narratives are either supported by facts or overcome them. Recent increased trade flows between the US and the ten economies of Southeast Asia suggest that the predominant narrative of the commercial displacement of the United States by China in Southeast Asia is incorrect. However, the United States’s growing trade deficits and shrinking surpluses with Southeast Asia do bolster an American mercantilist narrative that bilateral deficits are an economic loss for the US caused by Southeast Asian governments’ unfair trade policies.
- Topic:
- Global Markets, Economy, Trade, and Deficit
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Southeast Asia, and United States of America
3. ASEAN-Australia Relations: The Suitable Status Quo
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Australia’s dialogue partner relationship with ASEAN is more suitable for Australian interests in Southeast Asia than the idea of ASEAN membership. Australian membership in ASEAN is currently not possible. Australia’s dialogue partner relationship with ASEAN supports Australian policy autonomy and Australia’s engagement with Southeast Asia. The ASEAN–Australia dialogue partner relationship has significant room for growth.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Partnerships, Regional Integration, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Australia and Southeast Asia
4. Northeast Asia's Turbulent Triangle: Korea-China-Japan Relations
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Northeast Asia is one of the most important crucibles of global economic and strategic change, and it is far from a stable one. The modern histories of China, Japan and South Korea were forged by Japan's colonisation of China and Korea and the Korean War that divided the peninsula and saw China on the side of North Korea and Japan on the side of South Korea. This recent history has left the bilateral relations on each side of this turbulent triangle strained by a lack of trust, popular antipathy and unresolved territorial disputes. As noted in the project's Beijing workshop, the stalled trilateral free trade agreement negotiations between the three Northeast Asian neighbours, launched with great hope in 1997, have been the victim of this turbulence and strain.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, Human Rights, Bilateral Relations, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- Japan, China, Asia, and North America
5. Australia and Japan: Allies in Partnership
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook and Thomas S. Wilkins
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The post-Cold War era in the Asia-Pacific has not witnessed the triumph of low over high politics. Rather, it has seen the simultaneous intensification of both economic integration and security cooperation and competition. This is true both at the level of the region, and for China and most other countries in the region.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Cold War, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Asia, and Australia
6. Balancing act: Taiwan's cross-strait challenge
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook and Craig Meer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Taiwan is in the middle of a deep social transformation that is redefining the way its people identify themselves, how it sees its place in the world and, most urgently, its relationship with China. Taiwan's metamorphosis, and China's reaction to it, are making it more difficult to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait. Washington and its regional allies, including Australia, need to understand these changes better and to incorporate responses to them into their policies.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- China, Washington, Taiwan, Asia, and Australia
7. Election Watch: Japan — Japan's party system: shifting the political axis, releasing economic reform
- Author:
- Malcolm Cook
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- Changes in Japan's party system offer new hope for Japan's long-delayed economic reform as the axis of voting power accelerated its shift to the urban areas. The upcoming Upper House1 elections will provide another opportunity to see how far these changes have come and how permanent they are. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated post-war Japanese politics due to the party's overwhelming support in Japan's declining rural areas. The LDP's iron grip on the rural vote has created and been maintained by a nexus of interests between LDP politicians, favoured construction companies and rural voters. This rural public works "glue" has been one of the main reasons the Japanese government has been unable to address its drastically declining fiscal position. The political power of Japan's small farming sector also explains why Japan's bilateral and multilateral free trade diplomacy has not progressed. The November 9 Lower House election results and the rise of a real alternative to the LDP promise to help Prime Minister Koizumi's three-year fight to "modernise" the LDP and make it more appealing to urban and younger voters. November 9's results also suggest that if Koizumi loses this intra-LDP battle, then in the next Lower House elections the LDP will lose. So whether Koizumi is successful or not, economic reform chances in Japan have been boosted. Australia's largest trading partner is better placed for free trade talks bilaterally and globally and to address its worrying fiscal situation, the largest threat looming over Japan's future prosperity.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Japan, Israel, East Asia, and Australia