In March 2024, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held their 10th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Seoul, marking the first such gathering in almost six years. A week later, in their trilateral technology dialogue, the United States, South Korea, and India explored possibilities for collaboration in key … Read more
“With God’s help, we will lift Shanghai up and up, ever up, until it is just like Kansas City,” Kenneth Wherry, then the mayor of a small town in Nebraska, proudly proclaimed in 1940. It was a glaring display of race-driven paternalistic attitudes of the 19th and 20th centuries. Nearing a century later, the United … Read more
The recently released “The State of Southeast Asia 2024 Survey Report,” published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, has garnered significant attention due to its noteworthy findings. One of the key highlights of the survey is China’s ascendancy over the United States as Southeast Asia’s preferred alignment choice amid the ongoing China-U.S. rivalry. However, a closer … Read more
At the 2024 Sea-Air-Space defense conference hosted by the Navy League from April 8-10, U.S. Navy leadership and major defense contractor executives convened in a setting more somber than it appeared. The gathering at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, just eight miles due south of the U.S. Capitol, was overshadowed by the results of a damning … Read more
On April 11, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio became only the second Japanese prime minister to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Kishida’s speech was received positively, yet he surprised many with his bold statements. While acknowledging the current challenges in the world and political climate in the United States, Kishida did not hold … Read more
After wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional, and international issues in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio have agreed to deepen and widen defense and security cooperation as “Global Partners for the Future.” In doing so, the allies plan to counter China’s forceful maritime expansion, North Korea’s rapid nuclear and missile … Read more
Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has basked in an outpouring of respect and appreciation in Washington this week. He was feted by U.S. President Joe Biden at a state dinner at the White House. The event was attended by a host of celebrities, such as Robert de Niro, as well as top brass from the … Read more
The governments of Vietnam and the United States are calling for greater transparency over a $1.7-billion canal project that is being built by a Chinese state-owned firm in southern Cambodia. The 180-kilometer-long Techo Funan Canal, which is scheduled to begin construction later this year, will connect the country’s capital Phnom Penh to the coastal province … Read more
U.S. President Joe Biden praised Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “bold” leadership on a series of global crises as he welcomed the Japanese leader to the White House on Wednesday for wide-ranging talks that touched on the delicate security situation in the Pacific, the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and more. Kishida’s official visit, which … Read more
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s state visit to the United States – highlighted by his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 10 – crystallizes the fundamental tenets of the Japanese post-war security architecture, while also affirming the new reorientations of the U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific. This comes at a time of significant … Read more