ASIAN STUDIES

Hannah Kitners
(Postgraduate Student, MA IREL Global Program, Webster University, Missouri, USA)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 8 October 2017

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

The South China Sea (SCS) is an area of great contention within the Asia-Pacific region. As China continues its rise as a major global power, its pursuit of sovereignty in the SCS increases. China uses several strategies to justify its sovereignty claims over large swaths of the maritime area. These strategies create concern for other Southeast Asian countries that are also making sovereignty claims in the maritime region...Read more

Hannah Kitners
(Postgraduate Student, MA Global Program, Webster University, Missouri, USA)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)Publication date: 11 September 2017

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Re-search Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

China has a complex relationship with its geographic neighbor, North Korea. Their long and historic relationship has been tumultuous at times, but China’s prominent policy is to promote stability and peace in the Korean Peninsula (Chung & Choi, 2013). In order to promote this policy, the Chinese government maintains a certain level of affiliation with the isolated North Korean regime in terms of trade, commerce, aid and assistance (Taylor 2013). North Korea benefits from this policy because it allows them to have some economic stability and keeps the state from failing. In the minds of the Chinese leadership, this affiliation provides Beijing with some amount of leverage over Pyongyang that no other country has (Chang, 2016). China uses its unique relationship with North Korea to gain geopolitical advantage in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the rest of the international community....Read more

Brig. Vinod Anand
(Security Analyst)

Copyright: Institute for Transnational Studies (ITS), Italy - Publication date on (www.rieas.gr) – RIEAS - on 6 August 2017

The concept of ASEAN’s centrality has been much talked about as being one of the most cherished principles of the multilateral organization; however, there is no clear or detailed definition of the term. Yet the underlying theme or implicit in this concept is ASEAN’s ability to shape and influence the decisions that affect the organization and its members and also facilitate solutions. The South China Sea dispute has been one such issue where the members of ASEAN have been unable so far to present an integrated approach due to a variety of reasons ranging from narrow national interests to different foreign policy orientations. Such weaknesses of the ASEAN platform are bound to be exploited by a rising hegemonic and imperial power like China who continues to expand its core interests and continually changes the status quo....Read more

Julia Suryakusuma
(The writer is a public-intellectual, social-critic, columnist, researcher, author of “Julia’s Jihad” (2013) and several other books. She is based in Jakarta, Indonesia)

Copyright: This article appeared in the Jakarta Post and is reprinted with permission. Publication date at RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 2nd April 2017

When my older sister who lives in Germany came to Indonesia recently, we gave her the royal treatment. Well, she’s family after all, and had not visited in 12 years.

So if a family member hadn’t visited in 47 years, the royal treatment would be quadrupled, right? Well, that’s how long it had been since a Saudi monarch had come to Indonesia. The last time was the visit of King Faisal in 1970, so when King Salman of Saudia Arabia came in February the reception was pretty over the top....Read more

Interview conducted by Dorothea Poupaki and Athina Christaki, Junior Researchers at the Research Institute for European and American Studies (R.I.E.A.S.), based in Athens, Greece.

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication on 26 February 2017.

During the latter half of the 20th century, the Republic of China (Taiwan) created an economic miracle, and alongside Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, became known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers." Meanwhile, Taiwan transited from the authoritarian one-party rule to a full-fledged democracy. Taiwan follows a steady path and faces with grace and decency all the challenges and burdens that come up. Read more

Igor Dirgantara
(Lecturer at Faculty of Social Politics, University Jayabaya, Jakarta, and Director Survey & Polling Indonesia (SPIN)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 14 January 2017.

Approaching the polls February 15, 2017, competition has been increasingly rigorous among the three candidates who are contesting in the Jakarta Gubernatorial Election (Pilgub) 2017, namely, incumbent duet Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat (Ahok-Djarot), Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni (Agus-Sylvi), and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno (Anies-Sandi). Many said that the fight in Jakarta gubernatorial election this time is a ‘proxy war’ of the rivalry among the political elites Megawati Soekarno Putri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prabowo Subianto. ...Read more