Pacific Focus

Turbulent East Asia: Issues and Problems

While in the throes of dynamic changes, East Asia is replete with challenges and opportunities. How to cope with challenges and turn them into opportunities will remain a daunting task for policy-makers as well as academics. In an effort to shed new light on the critical issues facing the region and to provide clues to their solution, we’ve pulled together recent articles that have been published in Pacific Focus, a journal specializing in political and security issues and regionalism concerning the Asia-Pacific. This virtual issue encompasses security, nuclear proliferation, China’s rise, energy, and democracy. – Euikon Kim, Seung-Ho Joo and Jinman Cho

Introduction

Denuclearization of Northeast Asia and the USA's Choice: Introduction
Euikon Kim

Security

The Security of Northeast Asia
David C. Kang

China, Russia, and the Challenge to the Global Commons
Richard Weitz

Barack Obama and North Korea: A Study in Presidential Transition
Curtis H. Martin

Moscow-Pyongyang Relations under Kim Jong-il: High Hopes and Sober Reality
Seung-Ho Joo

Nuclear proliferation and terrorism

Political Prospects for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Northeast Asia
Leon V. Sigal

North Korean Nuclear Nationalism and the Threat of Nuclear War in Korea
Peter Hayes, Scott Bruce

Implementing a Korea–Japan Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone: Precedents, Legal Forms, Governance, Scope, Domain, Verification, Compliance and Regional Benefits
Michael Hamel-Green

Politics of Anti-Terrorism Policy in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study of the Philippines and Indonesia
Dong-Yoon Lee

The rise of China

The "Century of Humiliation," Then and Now: Chinese Perceptions of the International Order
Alison Adcock Kaufman

Rethinking the South China Sea Issue: A Perspective of Sino-US Relations
Yiwei Wang

China's “Soft” Naval Power in the Indian Ocean
Toshi Yoshihara

Why Does China Reassure South-East Asia?
Xuefeng Sun

Energy and Resources

Promoting an Energy Partnership in Northeast Asia
Karla S. Fallon

China’s Quest for Energy Resources on Global Markets
Denise Eby Konan and Jian Zhang

Shaping State Identity: International Law and Whaling in Japan
Petrice R. Flowers

Civil Society

The Politics of NGOs and Democratic Governance in South Korea and Japan
Sook-Jong Lee and Celeste Arrington

State-society Relations in South Korea after Democratization: Is the strong State Defunct?
Sunhyuk Kim, Chonghee Han, and Jiho Jang

People's Exit in North Korea: New Threat to Regime Stability?
Kyung-Ae Park