I didn't catch this until today, but apparently Michael Green, CSIS Japan Chair and participant in the drafting of the latest Armitage-Nye Report, had an op-ed on US Asia Policy in the Washington Post last Tuesday (via CSIS).The title pretty much says it all: "America's Quiet Victories in Asia."Green's point is that the US position …
Month: February 2007
Feeling the chill
The chill to which I'm referring, of course, is the chill that has set in between Tokyo and Washington.Without looking particularly hard, I found two very clear signs of a growing appreciation among Japanese opinion makers that the US-Japan alliance is experiencing a bit of turbulence.On the front page of today's Yomiuri, in an article …
Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 3
This is the third of three posts looking at the contents of the newly released second Armitage-Nye Report (the first two can be found here and here). An article about the report can be read here from the FT, which remains the best international English-language source of Japan-related news. (And the report can be downloaded …
Continue reading Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 3
Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 2
Continuing from my previous post, this post will focus on the second Armitage-Nye Report's vision of Asia. My thoughts on the report's recommendations for the US-Japan alliance can be read here. (The report can be downloaded from CSIS here.)All of the report's predictions and policy recommendations stem from a principle stated on its first page: …
Continue reading Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 2
Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 1
Having read the new Armitage-Nye Report published by CSIS -- once again, available here -- I shall, as promised, provide more thorough commentary on its contents.As previously noted, the report is subtitled "Getting Asia Right Through 2020," with its purpose being to outline US Asia policy for the next two to three presidential administrations, regardless …
Continue reading Dissecting the second Armitage-Nye Report, part 1
The Second Armitage-Nye Report
Published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the report can be downloaded here. The event launching the report can be viewed or listened to at the same site.I have only scanned the report, but compared to the initial 2000 report, it is much more focused on shaping the region (hence the subtitle, "Getting …
What a difference a year makes
A year ago I was throwing myself into work on my M.Phil dissertation, which analyzed change in the US-Japan alliance since the end of the cold war. Those changes continued right up through the moment of submission (North Korea's missile test was the week before the deadline).The alliance seemed like it was bounding from strength …
Breaking for book notes
Another day, another session of the budget committee, with the opposition once again raking the Abe Cabinet over the coa...by which I mean soberly discussing Japan's policy goals and requirements.As such, I want to take a brief break from tracking the current Diet session to post some notes on a book I recently finished reading.But …
Now, the waiting game
So the six-party talks have produced a tentative agreement -- although it seems that there's no sign of a timeline, and at this point all North Korea has agreed to do is close the Yongbyon reactor that has apparently fuelled its nuclear weapons program, with no mention of what happens to North Korea's existing arsenal.Japan …
Nagata-cho, day one
My service in Kanagawa Prefecture is at an end. I am now making the long commute -- along with most of the Tokyo metropolitan area, it seems -- to central Tokyo, to Nagata-cho, Japan's Capitol Hill.No time was wasted today, as I was very rapidly thrown into the Nagata-cho life this morning. Almost immediately upon …
Tobias S. Harris 