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2031. China-North Korea: Renewal of the "Blood Alliance"

Author:
Masako Ikegami
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
As North Korea's latest rocket-missile launch approaches, there is speculation whether Beijing can halt Pyongyang's missile ambitions. In my view, Beijing will turn a blind eye towards North Korea's latest provocation, while simultaneously calling for restraint by all parties. Recently, the China-North Korea “blood alliance,” a concept of allies that originated during the Korean War, has been renewed, and it is in China's interests that North Korea consolidates its “absolute deterrence” capability to deter US forces in the region.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, and North Korea

2032. No Hedging in Canberra: The Australia-US Alliance in the "Asian Century"

Author:
Nick Bisley
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has just completed a lightning visit to Australia for formal discussions with newly installed Foreign Minister Bob Carr. In spite of the political turmoil that brought Carr to office, the Australia-US alliance is in the best shape of its 60-year history. Having begun as a Cold War convenience, about which the United States was not enthusiastic, it has become a key part of Washington's regional role and a cornerstone not only of Australia's defense and security policy, but of its broader engagement with the world. The arrival in early April of the US Marine Corps to begin six-month training rotations in Darwin is emblematic of the alliance's standing and its evolution.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, Asia, and Australia/Pacific

2033. US Agricultural Exports to ASEAN Grow - But Face Competition

Author:
Michael McConnell
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
ASEAN countries have long been an important international market for US agricultural exports. The United States, in 2011, exported almost $9.6 billion of agricultural products to ASEAN, making it the sixth-largest export destination for US farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses—behind Japan ($14 billion) and just behind the European Union ($9.6 billion), but well ahead of South Korea ($7 billion). Moreover, the value of agricultural trade between the United States and ASEAN almost doubled between 2007 and 2011, with the top four ASEAN markets in 2011 for the United States being Indonesia ($2.8 billion), the Philippines ($2.1 billion), Vietnam ($1.7 billion), and Thailand ($1.3 billion). With a population of 614 million and strong economic growth, it is expected that ASEAN will continue to be an important market for US agricultural products. However, the United States is likely to face increasing competition, particularly from China, Australia, and New Zealand, all of which have free trade agreements (FTAs) with ASEAN.
Topic:
Agriculture, Demographics, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:
United States, China, Europe, East Asia, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand

2034. "Linsanity," Social Media and US-Asia Relations

Author:
Elina Noor
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks' former benchwarmer and now worldwide basketball sensation, is the new Cinderella Man or “Linderella” of basketball, and maybe even more. As the National Basketball Association's (NBA) first American-born player of Chinese-Taiwanese descent, Lin has notched impressive game statistics, sparked new “Lin-go” around his name, and enraptured fans from Queens to the Bay Area, Zhejiang to Taipei, and Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur.
Topic:
Mass Media and Youth Culture
Political Geography:
United States, China, New York, East Asia, Asia, Australia/Pacific, and Kuala Lumpur

2035. Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone and the Nuclear-Weapon States

Author:
Peter Crail and Xiaodon Liang
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Following a decade-long impasse, the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) is finally on a path to being endorsed by the world's five recognized nuclear-weapon states—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Agreement by these nuclear powers to respect the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia and to provide legal assurances that they will not use such weapons against zone members helps to strengthen the commitment by regional states not to pursue nuclear weapons, and contributes more broadly to global nonproliferation and disarmament efforts,
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, United Kingdom, France, and Southeast Asia

2036. U.S.-China Competition in Asia: Legacies Help America

Author:
Robert Sutter
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
As Sino-American competition for influence enters a new stage with the Obama administration's re-engagement with Asia, each power's legacies in the region add to economic, military and diplomatic factors determining which power will be more successful in the competition. How the United States and China deal with their respective histories in regional affairs and the role of their non-government relations with the Asia- Pacific represent important legacies that on balance favor the United States.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, and Asia

2037. Taiwan: Crisis Deferred, But Maybe Not For Long

Author:
Denny Roy
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Taiwan's elections on January 14, which for the first time combined polls for the presidency and the legislature, displayed further positive evolution in Taiwan's now well-established democracy. The results also precluded an immediate disruption in relations between Taiwan and the PRC, which is good news in Washington. In Beijing's view, however, the goal is not stability across the Taiwan Strait, but unification. Chinese impatience might weigh more heavily on President Ma Ying-jeou, and by extension on the United States, during Ma's second term.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Democratization, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, Washington, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia

2038. The Emerging Strategic Dynamic in Southeast Asia

Author:
Marvin C. Ott
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Southeast Asia, long quiescent in a turbulent international environment, has suddenly become the focal point of what promises to be the signature strategic contest of the 21st century—between the United States and China. But the evolving dynamic is far more complex than a simple binary face-off between an established superpower and an emerging rival. The overarching backdrop is the profound and ongoing economic transformation of Asia. Three centuries of global economic, political and military domination by the industrialized West has given way to a fundamentally new configuration. Economic modernization that began with Japan has spread to the Sinicized populations of the region and beyond, including Southeast Asia. The global center of economic gravity has shifted westward across the Pacific—and economics is the foundation of power. The world has entered the oft-touted “Asia-Pacific Century.”
Topic:
Cold War, Communism, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, and Southeast Asia

2039. Learn by Doing: Expanding International Internships/Work Abroad Opportunities for U.S. STEM Students

Author:
Debbie G. Donohue and Sabeen Altaf
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Education
Abstract:
Technological innovation is a driving force in every national economy worldwide, including the United States. The U.S. economy requires innovative programs to educate, develop, and train the next generation of globally competent scientists and engineers. Recent studies have identified a pressing need for a U.S. workforce that is more globally aware, more competent in foreign languages and intercultural skills, and more familiar with international business norms and behaviors. In the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), however, few academic programs provide adequate training and educational preparation in these areas. According to the 2011 IIE Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, 3.9 percent of U.S. students who received credit for study or work abroad were engineers, while math and computer science students made up only 1.5 percent of U.S. students studying abroad. These two majors represented the smallest share of U.S. students abroad, other than those majoring in agriculture. While close to 10 percent of U.S. undergraduates study abroad before graduation, less than 4 percent of engineering students participate in study abroad programs; as a result, very few are gaining the global education they will need to be competitive professionals in the global workforce.
Topic:
International Relations, Education, and Immigration
Political Geography:
United States

2040. Valuing Study Abroad: The Global Mandate for Higher Education

Author:
Scott J. Freidheim
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Education
Abstract:
Scott Freidheim spoke at the British Academy's International Conference in London in March 2012, presenting U.S. perspectives on study abroad as part of an international panel. At the conference, the British Academy and the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) released a joint position statement, Valuing the Year Abroad, that advocated support for funding a third year abroad for British undergraduate students and that drew on case studies from a survey they conducted among study abroad alumni. With representatives from the United States, China, and Germany, the international panel was invited to discuss British government and higher education policy on study abroad, and other countries' policies and best practices in study abroad.
Topic:
International Relations, Education, and Globalization
Political Geography:
United States, China, London, and Germany