Rajaram Panda

Tacit Chinese endorsement of the policies pursued by North Korea and Myanmar has emboldened them to persist with policies that are detrimental for peace and stability in the region.

• Published: June 17, 2010
• IDSA Comments

Getting the economy back on track would be Kan’s top most priority. Kan views ties with the US as the core of Japan’s foreign policy, though he also greatly values the relationship with China.

• Published: June 09, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The one country that has not condemned North Korea’s role in the sinking of the Cheonan is China, which has its own strategic and economic compulsions to back North Korea.

• Published: June 01, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The Cheonan incident came at a very inopportune time for North Korea, irrespective of the fact whether Pyongyang had any hand in it or not.

• Published: May 11, 2010
• IDSA Comments

President Barack Obama's foreign policy orientation towards East Asia seems to be characterised by continuity rather than change, and is not so very different from that of his predecessors. With Japan and South Korea, Obama is trying to revitalise bilateral alliances. With China, he continues on his predecessor's policy of greater engagement, though he has offered some concessions during his visit to Beijing in November 2009. However, North Korea remains a real and huge challenge for Obama to test his engagement in East Asia.

• Published: May 2010
• Strategic Analysis

The security environment of Asia is threatened by the nuclear weapons development programme by North Korea. Threats of economic sanctions by denying economic aid and resolutions by the UN Security Council to punish Kim Jong-il regime have only reinforced Pyongyang's resolve to pursue its chosen path. Not only the future of the Six-Party Talks seems uncertain, there seems to have little hope to bring the recalcitrant country to the negotiating table.

• Published: April 2010
• Journal of Defence Studies

Notwithstanding revelations about the secret nuclear pact, the Japan-US alliance is likely to remain strong and the East Asian security order will continue to be determined by the American presence

• Published: March 16, 2010
• IDSA Comments

With Hatoyama’s determination to wrest policymaking power from bureaucrats in full swing, Japan is likely to witness an intense battle between the political masters and the powerful bureaucrats for supremacy.

• Published: March 02, 2010
• IDSA Comments

The delicately maintained peace in the Korean peninsula once again looks fragile in the wake of the war of words and exchange of artillery fire along the disputed western sea border in January 2010.

• Published: February 15, 2010
• IDSA Comments

Ozawa’s clout, power and influence remain formidable and he is likely to remain an active player in Japanese politics.

• Published: February 10, 2010
• IDSA Comments