PAST EVENT
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Washington, DC
On November 10, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings hosted co-authors Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig for a discussion of their new book The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom. Drawing on decades of scholarship and experience, the speakers discussed aspects of life in North Korea and the ways in which the outside world can reach everyday North Koreans so that they can make decisions based on truth rather than propaganda. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Shoichi Itoh, September 14, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Japan’s August 30 general election, in which the long ruling Liberal Democratic Party was swept from power by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), was a watershed event in that nation’s post-War history, writes CNAPS Visiting Fellow Shoichi Itoh. Will the DPJ’s victory lead to substantial changes in Japan’s policy-making process and outcomes? Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Wonhyuk Lim, August 24, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The Korean peninsula served as the battleground for an internationalized civil war from 1950-1953. Over a half-century later, the peninsula is still divided and the Korean question remains unresolved. In this CNAPS visiting fellow working paper, Wonhyuk Lim writes that placing Korean unification within the broader context of regional integration in Asia may be an effective geopolitical strategy for the Korean nation.
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RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Roberta Cohen, July 31, 2009, The Washington Post
The now-defunct six-party talks in which the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia, and China participated focused almost exclusively on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But, as Roberta Cohen argues, with a struggle for succession underway in Pyongyang and some of the country's internal controls reportedly beginning to erode, it's the time to rethink the near-exclusion of human rights from the U.S.-North Korean dialogue. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Roberta Cohen, July 23, 2009, Council on Foreign Relations
The U.S. government's policies toward North Korea in recent years have drawn criticism for focusing primarily on denuclearization, while neglecting human rights issues, even as the country's human rights situation remains dire. Roberta Cohen says arguments against including human rights in discussions with North Korea are flawed and recommends integrating human rights as part of an overall U.S. policy toward North Korea. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Huang Ching-Lung, July 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Senior journalist and CNAPS Visiting Fellow Huang Ching-Lung writes that Taiwan’s media, despite major contributions to democratization, has come to play a controversial and often negative role in the democratization process. Factors such as market competition, lack of professional organization, and ties to political parties have lowered the quality social benefit of journalism in Taiwan, Mr. Huang writes. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Richard Weixing Hu, July 14, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The Asia Pacific region has undergone fundamental changes since the Cold War. Once perceived as institutionally underdeveloped, a wide range of regional community building initiatives has transformed Asia’s institution-building and major power relations. Richard Weixing Hu, CNAPS visiting fellow, writes that this institutional proliferation now poses challenges to regional community building, and explores how a stable regional architecture may be constructed. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Richard C. Bush III, June 17, 2009, House Subcommittees on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment and on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade
In testimony before Congress on June 17, senior fellow and CNAPS director Richard Bush described how North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests have transformed the challenge faced by the international system. Dr. Bush testified that it is now clear that North Korea bases its security on nuclear weapons, and the hope that it will abandon the nuclear option has disappeared. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Michael E. O'Hanlon, June 09, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Iraq and Afghanistan continue to pre-occupy U.S. military planners. But North Korea, with its growing nuclear arsenal, would become America's paramount security challenge if the state were to collapse. Michael O’Hanlon writes that the United States and other nations must begin detailed and coordinated planning for stabilization in the event of collapse of the North Korean state. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Dennis Wilder, June 04, 2009, Financial Times
In recent months, North Korea has unabashedly plowed forward with the development of its nuclear program, an action that threatens to erode regional stability in Northeast Asia. Dennis Wilder examines the role of China in reducing the North Korean threat and explores the causes, pointing to necessary limits of China’s calculated caution toward North Korea. Read More
VIDEO
Richard C. Bush III, May 27, 2009
The United Nations Security Council, President Obama and other global leaders have condemned North Korea’s recent nuclear test and the launch of several short range missiles. Richard Bush, director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, examines North Korea’s bold actions and considers how the United States might respond.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Linbo Jin, May 27, 2009, The Brookings Institution
On May 25, 2009, North Korea (DPRK) conducted its second underground nuclear test—believed to be larger than its 2006 test—and drew swift condemnation from the U.N. Security Council and many nations. Linbo Jin outlines the reasons why the DPRK persists in pursuing nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Richard C. Bush III, May 26, 2009, The Daily Beast
As North Korea continues to challenge the international community with its nuclear ambitions, Richard Bush examines Kim Jong Il's reasoning behind the nuclear test. Bush argues that North Korea's latest provocation is an attempt to frame de-nuclearization negotiations on the most favorable terms by putting the Obama administration on the defensive. Read More
PAST EVENT
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
to
Thursday, May 21, 2009
College Park, MD
Together with the ICONS Project at the University of Maryland, Brookings held a two-day exercise on May 20 and 21, 2009 simulating a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Among other results, participants found that accidental war in the Taiwan Strait was less likely than an escalating crisis over real, substantive issues of importance to the two sides of the Strait. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, May 08, 2009
9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
A transformed alliance of the world’s two largest economies—Japan and the United States—could have far-reaching effects on issues such as trade, development, climate change and international security. On May 8, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings and the Slavic Research Center at Hokkaido University hosted a forum to examine the U.S.-Japan alliance and its potential for addressing issues beyond the Northeast Asia region. Read More