Asia & the Pacific

26 Items

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File

Broadcast Appearance - VOA

FLASHPOINT IRAN: Britain Plans Broader Sanctions But Lack of IRGC Designation Concerns Activists

| July 11, 2023

Michael Lipin interviews Project on Managing the Atom Associate Nicole Grajewski on why Iran may not benefit much from its new membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

A Factory in China at the Yangtze River, Sept. 2008. China's local officials emphasize short-term economic growth over compliance with antipollution directives.

High Contrast Photo CC

Analysis & Opinions - The New York Times

The United States of China

| March 11, 2014

"But adopting federalism would help to ease one of modern China's most fundamental governance problems: The fact that local officials often implement central policies halfheartedly, if at all. Caught in a system that gives them plenty of responsibilities but no accountability to constituents, China's local officials emphasize short-term economic growth over compliance with directives like antipollution and social welfare targets. The result is that environmental and social policies are often badly implemented. If provincial and local officials had a greater voice in developing policy, they would have a greater stake in the outcome of these policies."

Analysis & Opinions - Power & Policy Blog

The Fallout from Jang Song-taek's Execution

| December 13, 2013

"With the elimination of Jang and the dismantling of his lucrative patronage system, there will be setbacks in Sino-DPRK commercial interactions that will decrease the generation of funds for the Kim regime. In order to fill these funding gaps, it's now more likely that the Kim regime may try to increase revenues from illicit activities like WMD-related sales."

Analysis & Opinions - Power & Policy Blog

What's the Most Critical and Under-appreciated Issue in International Security? World Peace

| February 7, 2013

"...[I]t is clear that the international community possessed neither the analytic tools nor the institutional capabilities to deal with a world order in which ethno-religious groups, and not nation-states, were the primary operative actors. Which brings us back to the question: what if organized state violence and warfare is the exception rather than the rule in international security?"

Book - Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society

    Editors:
  • Kyung-Ae Park
  • Scott Snyder
| December 2012

Following the death of Kim Jong Il, North Korea has entered a period of profound transformation laden with uncertainty. This authoritative book brings together the world's leading North Korea experts to analyze both the challenges and prospects the country is facing. Drawing on the contributors' expertise across a range of disciplines, the book examines North Korea's political, economic, social, and foreign policy concerns.

Book Chapter

The Roles and Influence of the North Korean Military

| December 2012

The armed forces have always played a vital role for states as their guarantor of national security. In addition, the military has often been a political actor with varying degrees of power and influence over budgets, foreign and defense policy, or a full-blown military dictatorship. Some are also significant players in the state economy. This chapter provides an assessment of the North Korean military's role and influence in all three areas — security, politics, and economics — as the country undergoes its second leadership transition to its young leader, Kim Jong-un.

Analysis & Opinions - Forbes

Africa And Obama: What The Continent Should Do In His Second Term

| November 9, 2012

"Africa's national diversity is becoming a burden for diplomatic interaction. It is more efficient for the United States to work with regional groups in Africa than with individual states. This means that efforts to foster regional integration by creating larger markets, simplifying trading rules, reducing corruption, and investing in regional infrastructure to promote movement of goods will go a long way toward strengthening US-Africa relations."

Report - Council on Foreign Relations Press

Global Korea: South Korea's Contributions to International Security

    Authors:
  • Scott Bruce
  • John Hemmings
  • Balbina Y. Hwang
  • Scott Snyder
| October 2012

Given the seriousness of the ongoing standoff on the Korean peninsula, South Korea's emergence as an active contributor to international security addressing challenges far from the Korean peninsula is a striking new development, marking South Korea's emergence as a producer rather than a consumer of global security resources. This volume outlines South Korea's progress and accomplishments toward enhancing its role and reputation as a contributor to international security.

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Quarterly Journal: International Security

Belfer Center Newsletter Spring 2011

| Spring 2011

The Spring 2011 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights the Belfer Center’s continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe – an effort that began in the 1950s. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen global debate on critical issues: God’s Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye.