Asia - International Studies of Strategic and Geopolitics

Economics key to Japan’s new security strategy

3Jan

By ISSGNo Comments

Asia

Economics key to Japan’s new security strategy

Russian reduction of energy exports and Western sanctions show importance of ‘weaponization of interdependence’ Economic security, or keizai anpo, continues to loom large in the Japanese strategic debate. Since 2019, the Japanese government has rapidly put in place new positions, organizations and bills related to economic security. According to Takayuki Kobayashi, former minister for economic security, the term refers to securing “the Japanese state and national interest through economic measures.” To achieve this objective, the Japanese parliament passed the Economic Security Promotion Act in 2022 to strengthen supply chain resilience, protect critical infrastructure, develop emerging technologies and prevent technology outflow. There’s a history to this It is not the first time t...

3Jan

By ISSGNo Comments

Asia

Can the world trust China again?

Flip-flop on ‘zero-Covid’ shows a willingness to take huge and risky bets at a time Beijing needs to open its markets and politics For almost 20 years, the US bet on China first offering to be a responsible stakeholder and then being a member of the G2. Yet, according to the US, China turned down both suggestions, and now the bilateral trust is gone. Once trust is gone, it’s gone forever, or at least for a long time. How can China recover the confidence of America, which props up general trust from the world? The US apparently feels right or wrong; it doesn’t need to have China’s faith since it has that of the world. But what about China: Can China do without trust? When there is no trust, there’s some kind of conflict and attrition that can slip into war. This, in a tiny nutshell, is C...

Geopolitics of Border Dispute in South Asia: A Case Study of Nepal-India Border Dispute

3Jan

By ISSGNo Comments

Asia

Geopolitics of Border Dispute in South Asia: A Case Study of Nepal-India Border Dispute

By Saroj Kumar Aryal This article aims to analyze Nepal-India border disputes row of 2020 from a perspective of changing geopolitics of South Asia. The sphere of ‘geopolitics’ as a subject of study has evolved extensively in the 21st century. The classical definition of geopolitics can be coined as it is the study of how the political and geographical environment in which a force is projected — whether ideological, cultural, economic, or military — affects and is influenced by it. However, now each activity in the world system that involves great powers is connected with geopolitics. For instance, geopolitics of space and the sea, which does not necessarily have to be connected with geography. The existing border disputes in South Asia have always been subjected to a geopolitical s...

Pakistan and East Africa’s emerging giant

29Dec

By ISSGNo Comments

Africa, Asia

Pakistan and East Africa’s emerging giant

ETHIOPIA, Africa’s second most populous country, situated at a strategic location in the “Horn of Africa” near the Gulf of Aden-Red Sea, has now become the region’s fastest-growing economy. Since the early 2000s, Ethiopia’s annual GDP growth has averaged above 10%, making it one of the world’s highest rates. The government’s strong and ambitious economic development strategy proved to be the primary driver of this unprecedented rate of growth. In recent years, owing to its rapid economic expansion and rising strategic importance in the region, Ethiopia has become East Africa’s emerging giant. With the newly initiated “10-Year Development Plan 2021-2030”, based on the 2019 “Home-Grown Economic Reform Agenda”, the Ethiopian Government has set its goals to maintain tremendous economic gro...