This Week at ISN

25 - 29 June 2012 This week our Regional Perspectives on Power series focuses upon Northeast Asia. Is this pivotal region moving towards deeper economic and political integration or will mutual suspicion and balance of power dynamics continue to shape interstate relations?

Northeast Asia: Business As Usual or New Departure?

China: Global Actor or Regional Suzerain?
25 June 2012 / Podcast

Bates Gill at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute argues that prospects for regional integration across Northeast Asia are likely to be tempered by the continued rise of China as a global power. More The Balance of Power in a "Complex" Northeast Asia
26 June 2012 / Special Feature

Stephen Ranger and Yang Gyu Kim discuss whether China, Japan and South Korea are "locked in" to a traditional balance of power dynamic, or if another future path exists. More Regional Cooperation and Integration in Northeast Asia
27 June 2012 / Special Feature

Attempts at fostering greater regional cooperation across Northeast Asia are likely to remain compromised by entrenched political elites and nationalist sentiment for the foreseeable future, predicts Christian Wirth. More Regional Conflicts: Managed But Not Resolved
28 June 2012 / Podcast

The Pacific Forum's Ralph A Cossa predicts that territorial disputes and disagreement over how best to deal with North Korea makes security cooperation in Northeast Asia unlikely. More Disputed Waters, Contested Lands
29 June 2012 / Special Feature

Persistent territorial and maritime disputes in Northeast Asia suggest that the region remains mired in balance of power politics. This map features some of the most prominent examples. More

Security Watch
North Korea's Inept Move May Finally Try the Patience of China
25 June 2012

North Korea's recent failed launch of a rocket catapulted the isolated country back onto the global agenda. While questions remain over the exact timing and motivation for the launch, it is likely to test the patience of China, writes Kerry Brown. More Korean Reunification Would Cast Off China's Shadow
26 June 2012

Mark P Barry discusses how historical memory and the possible 'Finlandization' of the peninsula may enhance

prospects for Korean reunification. More The Nuclear Security Summit and South Korea's Growing International Role
27 June 2012

Despite some domestic criticisms, the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit enhanced South Korea's status as a proactive member of the international system, argues Sang-hyun Lee. More China's Leadership and the Likelihood of Change
28 June 2012

China is preparing to usher in a new generation of leaders. Yet according to Axel Berkofsky, it is better not to expect too much in the way of change. More Rising Tensions Over China's Monopoly on Rare Earths?
29 June 2012

Jane Nakano analyzes how China's dominance of the global rare earths market continues to impact on the economic and strategic calculations of a host of Western consumers. More

ISN Blog
Mongolia: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
25 June 2012

Jenni Muttonen argues that the Strategic Foreign Investment Law introduced in Mongolia reflects two dilemmas the mineral-rich country faces: management of the resource wealth and dependence on its two powerful neighbors. More North America in the Arctic: A Regional Power Disparity
26 June 2012

The US remains the only Arctic state with no Arctic strategy. Marten Lindberg offers an explanation for Washington's lack of interest in this resource-rich region. More Notes from BRISMES
26 June 2012

Filippo Dionigi introduces the main topics examined and views expressed at the 2012 British Society of Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) conference focusing on change and continuity in the Middle East. More Regional Cooperation in Afghanistan: What Makes the Heart of Asia Beat?
27 June 2012

Regional cooperation is pivotal for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Hannes Ebert argues that unless three crucial conditions are met, all attempts to make Afghanistan a safer place are doomed to fail. More Voices from BRISMES
28 June 2012

Cate Mackenzie provides an in-depth look at some of the highlights of the 2012 British Society of Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) conference. More Occupy's Ineffective Media Strategy
29 June 2012

Chrisella Sagers assesses the Occupy movement's tense, and very often adversarial, relationship with the mainstream media. More

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