East Asia Insights
East Asia Insights is an occasional policy brief that was launched by JCIE in 2006 in order to share a Japanese perspective on critical issues and challenges facing the region. The briefs are authored by Hitoshi Tanaka, a senior fellow at JCIE and chairman of the Institute for International Strategy at the Japan Research Institute. He previously served as Japan’s deputy minister for foreign affairs. Opinions expressed in East Asia Insights are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of JCIE.
Confronting Uncertainty in East Asia
March 2018
From a Japanese perspective, the defining characteristic of East Asia’s regional order today appears to be the high degree of uncertainty that prevails about what might come next. Geopolitical uncerta…
Five Factors That Could Lead to War with North Korea
September 2017
What are the five factors that could lead to war with North Korea? They include the domestic turmoil in both political systems and the fact that differences between American and North Korean political…
Breaking the Impasse with North Korea
May 2017
This report makes recommendations on how the international community can rapidly respond to the intensification of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, in order to prevent massive bloodshed…
How to Manage Geopolitical Instability in East Asia
February 2017
This issue discusses the concern surrounding Trump’s anti-globalization sentiment and the surge of populism associated with it, and how these developments may throw the international liberal economic…
Shoring Up the US-Japan Alliance under the Trump Administration
December 2016
This edition of East Asia Insights discusses the sense of uncertainty regarding the future role of the United States in East Asian affairs, following President Trump’s election; the report focuses on…
Trump’s Rhetoric and the Future of the US-Japan Alliance
July 2016
This issue discusses the question that has been brought up by the results of the US election: Will US alliance relationships, including the alliance with Japan, weaken as part of the retreat to isolat…
Six Challenges for US-Japan Cooperation in Asia
February 2016
In this issue of East Asia Insights, Hitoshi Tanaka outlines six challenges that carry the potential to undermine US-Japan cooperation and calls for close, careful US-Japan consultation and cooperatio…
Proactive Diplomacy for Peace Under Japan’s New Security Legislation
October 2015
This issue focuses on how Japan can best position itself to play a more active—but unequivocally peaceful—diplomatic and foreign policy role by making clear how it will reconcile its need to be more p…
The Next Step for the US-Japan Alliance
July 2015
This issue suggests ways in which Japan and the United States should build upon the success of Abe’s visit to the US in late spring, by focusing on long-term efforts to take a more multifaceted approa…
Bolstering East Asian Cooperation 70 Years On
February 2015
This issue, in honor of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, reflects on the progress made and the steps needed to ensure that such tragic events are never repeated.