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 Brad Glosserman

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Brad Glosserman
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2005
No exception for Pyongyang
HONOLULU -- No issue more clearly illustrates the chasm in public perceptions that has developed between the United States and South Korea than the issue of human rights in North Korea.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2005
Japan seizes the moment
HONOLULU -- Japan has put itself at the forefront of international relief efforts in the wake of the devastating Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami. Tokyo is acting both out of concern for the victims and to forward its own political-diplomatic strategy. Japan's reaction has demonstrated the role that Tokyo...
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2004
Mongolia's nuclear-free wish
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea -- Mongolia is a landlocked wilderness the size of Alaska. With a population of only 2.7 million, it is squeezed between two geopolitical giants, China and Russia. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the withdrawal of Russian troops in 1992, leaving the country alone -- and...
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2004
At last, Asia is taking shape
HONOLULU -- For generations, East Asia has been identified as a geographical entity -- it was a region on a map -- but it lacked a coherent identity beyond that. That is changing. East Asia is laying the foundation for an international presence that will rival that of the European Union. Last month's...
COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2004
Asia won't go back to being an also-ran
HONOLULU -- I am often asked why our think tank is located in Hawaii. Apart from the sun, sand, sea and surf, there is a very good reason: The world looks very different from Honolulu. We're parked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo is a lot closer than Washington, D.C. When we look out over the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2004
The alliance hasn't expired
HONOLULU -- Much recent U.S. strategic thinking about Asia has focused on China or the prospect of a nuclear-armed North Korea. These concerns have overshadowed important changes in Japan that have been influenced in part by developments in those two countries.
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2004
Japan-China mind games
HONOLULU -- Two weeks in China have left me concerned about future relations between Japan and China. A smooth and cooperative Japan-China relationship is essential to regional peace, stability and prosperity. Yet increasing interaction at just about every level of the relationship has generated many...
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2004
Nuclear sword of Damocles
NAGASAKI -- The end of the Cold War didn't end the threat of nuclear annihilation. An increasing number of experts worry that the dangers posed by those weapons of mass destruction are increasing as the nuclear nonproliferation regime is increasingly stretched and frayed. The 2005 Review Conference of...
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2004
Prepare for post-Koizumi era
HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro took a beating in last Sunday's Upper House elections. While his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost seats, the real blow seems to be the prime minister's loss of rapport with voters. The magic is gone, and that means his leverage within the party is shrinking....
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2004
Risks of Pyongyang's favors
HONOLULU -- What a week! Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is packing his bags for another trip to Pyongyang to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and the United States has announced a troop transfer from South Korea to combat duty in Iraq.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2004
China's influence soars in Asia
HONOLULU -- A battle for the hearts and minds of Asians has begun. While there has been considerable attention on "the rise of China," we're only slowly beginning to appreciate the meaning of that overused phrase. China's economic influence is well apparent. It has become Southeast Asia's leading trade...
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2004
Japan-America's worldview
HONOLULU -- There's every reason to celebrate as the United States and Japan commemorate 150 years of diplomatic relations this year. The bilateral relationship is the best ever, surpassing even the Golden Age of the "Ron-Yasu" years (1982-87). Credit a decade of preparation, hardworking bureaucracies...
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2004
Fog of politics obscures war
For most Americans, World War II began Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Europeans date the beginning of the war to the 1939 invasion of Poland. Few Westerners appreciate the length and savagery of the Sino-Japanese war that was already in full force even by then.
COMMENTARY
Jan 19, 2004
Okinawans await assurance of lighter military presence
HONOLULU -- During a visit to Okinawa, which has long borne a disproportionate share of the U.S. military presence in Japan, I was peppered with questions about the impact of planned redeployments. Okinawans have high hopes that the moves will lighten their burden. I could not reassure them.
COMMENTARY
Jan 4, 2004
No East Asian card too wild
HONOLULU -- The National Intelligence Council, which does strategic analysis for the U.S. government, recently published parts of its "2020 project" (www.cia.gov./nic/NIC_home.html), examining forces that will shape the world through 2020, region by region. The East Asia analysis posits three "broad...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 28, 2003
Fear of modern terrorism
THE NEW TERRORISM: Anatomy, Trends and Counterstrategies, edited by Andrew Tan and Kumar Ramakrishna. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, Regional Security Studies, 2002, 254 pp. (paper). If the contributors to this excellent survey of "the new terrorism" are correct, then the world needs to be prepared...
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2003
Devil of amity lurks in free trade details
SINGAPORE -- The decision at the Japan-ASEAN summit on Dec. 11-12 to create a new "special relationship" between the two may be historic, but the economic free-trade areas that will provide its foundation look like long shots. Japanese efforts are likely to be frustrated by the same political forces...
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2003
New Zealand seeks bigger splash in Asia
WELLINGTON -- It's clear that New Zealand's size is both a curse and a blessing. The curse is easy to see: New Zealand is so small that it's hard to get the attention of other governments. New Zealand is responsible for 0.22 percent of world trade. There are more Indonesian civil servants than New Zealanders....
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2003
No resting on laurels in Asia
SEOUL -- This is a remarkable moment in international relations. Despite a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, there are no doubts about the U.S. commitment to East Asia. Despite widespread criticism of U.S. policy, Washington currently enjoys "the best relations ever" with both Japan and China....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 23, 2003
N. Korea: where NGOs fear to go
PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS: The NGO Experience in North Korea, edited by L. Gordon Flake and Scott Snyder. Praeger Publishers, 2003, 176 pp., $45 (cloth). Pity the poor nongovernmental organizations trying to work in North Korea. They face a monumental challenge -- aiding a society that is starving and...

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