March 23, 2013
In the ’50s, the fear of depression had prompted Americans to resort to military capitalism, leading to the creation of the military-industrial complex they are now downsizing. The lesson, however, was apparently lost in Asia : a MIC is relatively easy to set up, very expensive to run and exteremely difficult to dismantle. With the… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
April 10, 2012
The 20th ASEAN summit took place last week in Cambodia. It ended after two days with a Phnom Penh Declaration, which basically reiterates the members’ commitment to establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. The summiteers were greeted in the capital’s Peace Palace by huge billboards depicting the smiling faces of the Chinese president Hu… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
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, ASEAN, Asia, China, Japan, trade bloc |
November 9, 2010
The US Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing has prompted near-universal condemnation by the financial leaders of Germany, China, Brazil, the ASEAN and the EU. From The People’s Daily to Der Spiegel, newspapers are full of criticism and dire predictions of an impending international currency war, which is bound to result from the flooding… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
October 31, 2010
The 17th annual ASEAN summit and related meetings (East Asia Summit – EAS, ASEAN plus One and ASEAN plus Three) have taken place last weekend in Hanoi amid heavy security. For the first time, the United States and Russia were invited to hear the decision of the EAS asking them to join the 16-nation group… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
October 28, 2010
In a surprising turn of events, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has this week launched his new “Look East” trade and foreign policy, during a week-long state visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. India’s main concern these days is that of increasing the country’s foreign trade volume at least to pre-crisis levels. In Japan, premier… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
October 21, 2010
The US State Department’s summer diplomatic offensive in South-East Asia has been complemented in Japan by calls to strengthen the US-Japan alliance and to design new collective security structures aimed at containing China. Thus, in a recent article (“Keeping the US engaged in Asia”) published in East Asia Insights, Japanese former deputy foreign minister (LDP)… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
October 20, 2010
Whilst the German and French leaders have initiated at Deauville the resetting of their countries’ relationship with Russia, the United States is, according to Robert Kagan, in the process of “resetting the reset”. In a Washington Post article on the subject published on October 1st (“America: once engaged, now ready to lead”), Kagan claims that… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
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, Central Europe, China, E.U., India, Japan, New American Century, Russia, USA |
October 13, 2010
This week Hanoi hosted the first-ever ASEAN defence ministers meeting plus (ADMM+), attended by 18 defence ministers. The ten ASEAN ministers were joined by their counterparts from China, the US, India, Russia,Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The stated aim of the meeting was to create a framework for regional cooperation on security matters.… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
September 30, 2010
On the 4th and 5th of October, Brussels will host the 8th ASEM summit, involving 45 countries from Asia and Europe. The 16 Asian nations attending and representatives of the 27 EU countries will be admitting Russia, Australia and New Zealand as full members of ASEM. The summit’s theme this year is “Quality of Life”,… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
The diplomatic tensions between Japan and China concerning the fishing boat incident in the East China Sea would have passed unnoticed a short while ago. Not this time. Judging by the latest developments, the US State Department seems determined to prevent the formation of an Asian trade bloc in the region at any cost. Mrs.Clinton’s… » read more
Posted by Spotlight on Geopolitics
