Japan: America's New South Korea?

2004 ◽  
Vol 103 (674) ◽  
pp. 280-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Auer ◽  
Robyn Lim

There are signs that Japan will assume the geostrategic role of the ‘new South Korea’-a leverage point against China. Missile defense in particular will transform the us-Japan relationship into a ‘normal’ alliance, taking it in directions not hitherto contemplated.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-84
Author(s):  
O. O. Krivolapov

Studies on missile defense, both in Russia and abroad, have been tradition- ally focused either on capabilities of the US national missile defense system to parry Russian or Chinese strategic nuclear forces, or on regional deter- rence of North Korea and Iran by means of regional missile defense (theater missile defense, TMD). However, the 2019 Missile Defense Review (MDR) emphasized the role of the TMD systems in the regional deterrence of the Russian Federation and China. So far this issue has received little attention and this paper aims to fill that gap. The first section identifies the key points of the MDR concerning the capabilities of regional missile defense for regional deterrence of the major nuclear powers. The author also examines the views of different represen- tatives of the US Department of Defense on this issue, and concludes that the US military-political leadership has a generally positive assessment of the capabilities of the TMD systems to contain Russia and China in case of a regional crisis. In particular, planners emphasize the role of the regional missile defense in countering the ‘anti-access/access-denial’ capabilities and the concept of ‘escalate to de-escalate’ ascribed to Russia. At the same time, US policymakers express in that regard serious concerns about Russia’s and China’s progress in the development of hypersonic missile systems. The second section examines the ongoing debates in Western expert so- ciety on the role of the regional missile defense in terms of deterring Russia and China. The author concludes that in this respect experts can provisionally be divided into two groups. The first group generally supports the arguments of the US military-political leadership and is optimistic about TMD capabili- ties for regional deterrence of Russia and China. The second group is more critical of these capabilities. They point out the lack of accurate data on the combat capabilities of such systems in active warfare and criticize question- able theoretical assumptions of their opponents. The third section provides a critical analysis of the arguments presented in this debate. The author concludes that the current concepts of deterrence based on the use of regional missile defense systems do not fully address possible implications for regional security and strategic stability. The Russian Federation and China possess significant nuclear arsenals, which already make nuclear escalation involving these countries and the United States possible. Adding yet another variable (TMD) into this equation only aggravates the situation.


2004 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 311-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaohui Zhang ◽  
Khondkar E. Karim

This study investigates the current role of the US "too-big-to-fail" (TBTF) policy for US banks in an international currency crisis in late 1997. It has been documented (Zhang, 2001) that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) term loan announcements concerning South Korea in late 1997 significantly increased the implicit value of the US bank loans and investments to South Korea and hence, the equity values of its US bank creditors. Using the market model, this paper examines the potential abnormal performance of the TBTF banks and the non-TBTF banks from different perspectives during mid-November to early December 1997. The evidence indicates the potential effectiveness of the implicit TBTF policy for US banks in the international currency crisis and the existence of the different pricing behavior of different groups of banks.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta

Opponents of secularization theory often emphasize that what can be said about religion in Europe cannot be applied to other regions of the world. They regularly refer to non-European countries where processes of modernization and religious revitalization have gone hand in hand. Therefore, to determine the role of religion in the modern world and the reasons for its changes means dealing with non-European societies. This short introductory chapter to Part IV explains the selection of the three case studies to be discussed in more detail in the chapters that follow: the US, South Korea, and the Pentecostal movement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Woo-Jun Min ◽  
Sukhee Han

At the beginning of 2018, North Korea halted its long-range nuclear- and ballistic-missile development programs and announced that it was willing to denuclearize. Soon afterwards, it reached out to countries including the US, China and South Korea. This sudden change in behavior marked the end of six years of extreme isolation under Kim Jong-un’s leadership. To explain why North Korea decided to reach out when it did, the present study examines the 2006–2018 economic sanctions levied on North Korea under the US maximum-pressure policy, carried out partly in cooperation with China. The findings suggest that economic sanctions were ineffective between 2006 and 2016 for two reasons: the lack of cooperation between the US and China, and China’s policy of assisting North Korea. In 2006–2016, China and North Korea had shared values and high volumes of trade; there were no clear signs of cooperation between the US and China. However, as trade between China and North Korea began to decrease in late 2017 and early 2018, there were signs of cooperation between the US and China, and changes in North Korean behavior. North Korea came to the negotiating table largely to lift the economic sanctions, which were strengthened by cooperation between the US and China. Increased economic pressure compelled North Korea to normalize its relations with the US, China and South Korea.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni A. Travaglino ◽  
Chanki Moon

The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health crisis. Many governments around the world have responded by implementing lockdown measures of different degrees of intensity. To be effective, such measures must rely on citizens’ compliance. In the present study, we drew on samples from the US (N = 597), Italy (N = 606) and South Korea (N = 693) and examined predictors of compliance with social distancing, and intentions to disclose the disease to authorities and acquaintances/friends. Data were collected between April 6th and 8th. We investigated the role of cultural orientations of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism, trust in the government’s action, and self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt related to the disease. Across all countries, vertical collectivism predicted stronger shame whereas horizontal collectivism predicted stronger trust in the government’s action. Only in the US, vertical collectivism was associated with stronger trust. Subsequently, shame predicted lower compliance and intentions to disclose the disease, whereas guilt was associated with stronger intentions to disclose the disease to the authorities, and trust was associated with stronger compliance and intentions to disclose the disease to the authorities. Unlike Italy and South Korea, the association between trust on compliance was not statistically significant in the US, Implications of the findings, and directions for future research are discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document