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2 months ago | 
nbr.org | Jenna Gibson
In his groundbreaking 2004 book on soft power, Joseph Nye described the concept of soft power in a deceptively simple way: “A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries—admiring values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness—want to follow it.” At first glance, the idea that a country can get what it wants in the world without resorting to the costly and dangerous realm of more traditional, “hard” power, is incredibly...
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Dec 18, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Rebecca Strating
Video Bec Strating, Director of La Trobe Asia, examines China‚Äôs territorialization of the South China Sea, both as a defensive response against the perception of encirclement and as a way to extend its control and authority over maritime areas. She describes the four main strategies that China is pursuing in order to achieve the territorialization of the South China Sea. See this video on the Mapping China’s Strategic Space website....
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Oct 28, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Kei Koga |Jasmine Lee |Ji-Young Lee |Ji-young Lee |Lavina Lee
JapanU.S. engagement with Japan and Northeast Asia more broadly has been strong, and Japan hopes this trend will continue under the next U.S. administration to maintain the subregional balance of power.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Nadège Rolland
The global scope of China’s geostrategic ambitions has become more obvious since Xi Jinping’s accession to power. However, expansionist inclinations first became evident in national security and military circles as early as the mid-1980s. Since that period, Chinese strategic thinkers have been mulling over the dimensions of an enlarged space, deemed necessary to ensure China’s survival.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Nadège Rolland
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMAIN ARGUMENTDomestic discussions about expansion, initiated before the collapse of the Soviet Union, are still ongoing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Heavily influenced by classical geopolitics, these discussions are intimately linked with the country’s self-perception of power and hegemonic aspirations. The need to strive for space is accompanied by a persistent fear of foreign containment.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Andrew Erickson
Andrew Erickson considers the “mental map” of China’s leaders—how they regard the physical nature of strategic space—in the context of the maritime expansion being pursued by Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. He uses maps as visual references for understanding China’s evolving maritime geography and the constraints on its power in the maritime domain. Read the essay on the “Mapping China’s Strategic Space” website.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Chung Min Lee |Evans J.R. Revere |Andrew Scobell |Hideya Kurata
North Korea’s Strategic Choices amid Shifting Geopolitics Jenny Town The Gathering Storm: A Confluence of North Korea’s Looming Crises Chung Min Lee The United States and North Korea: New Threats, New Challenges, and the Need for New Resolve Evans J.R. Revere Grappling with Great-Power Competition: China Bandwagons with Petulant North Korea Andrew Scobell Going Tactical: North Korea and Two-State Theory in War Strategy Hideya Kurata The Korean Peninsula’s New Geopolitics: Why North Korea Is...
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Yan C. Bennett
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMAIN ARGUMENTThe U.S. views China’s presence and influence in Melanesia as a contestation of its power in the Pacific due to China’s continuing rise and—as Washington sees it—belligerent and aggressive military and foreign policy. Beijing, for its part, sees the region as necessary to its foreign policy objectives, which include cultivating governments for political ends, acquiring natural resources, and maintaining trade, commercial, and shipping access.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
nbr.org | Anna Powles
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMAIN ARGUMENTStrategic competition in the Pacific Islands region, including in Solomon Islands, has manifested in multiple ways as external actors engage in increased diplomatic, development, security, and defense activities with Pacific Island partners.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
nbr.org | William Waqavakatoga
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMAIN ARGUMENTPacific Island leaders understand that heightened interest and reinvigorated diplomacy in their region are closely related to China’s rise in the 21st century and the escalation of great- power competition. The U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy can be thought of as a U.S. narrative for this contest. But the success of this strategy in the Pacific Islands region may be determined by how well it intersects with the narratives of regional countries.