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This paper seeks to expand the concept of a contractual natural resource curse and suggests another channel that may not be addressed as one of the resource curse channels in petrostate countries since there remains little understanding of the Resource Curse Hypothesis (RCH), by which economic sanctions bring a new manifestation and shape the prospect of international economic relations. A sample of 21 petrostate economies is investigated over 1995–2018. The empirical results show a symptom of the oil curse from a new transmission channel under the international relations arena. This result supports our argument that the interactive relationship between sanctions and oil dependence affects sanctioned countries' economic growth. Transmission channels determine whether natural resources are either a curse or a blessing. Our study found evidence supporting the concept of the oil resource curse taking place through economic sanctions. Hence, the presence of such a negative link casts new light on the debate concerning the influence of natural resource/oil resource curse on the international relations–growth nexus. Policy research needs to be conducted in understanding and mitigating the resource curse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern times, system energy load forecasting is an extremely important process in a variety of contexts. Moreover, energy load time series fluctuations are influenced by a wide range of factors, ranging, inter alia, from environmental conditions, natural events, and demographics to both regional and global geopolitical contexts, economic conditions, energy sources, policies, and regulations. Given these, this paper examines the integration of news information from the global scene into Greek energy load forecasting schemes through the use of sentiment analysis. Investigating the ways the general emotional footprint of news worldwide affects and can be used in an energy modeling context, we benchmark possible ensemble configurations incorporating a multitude of 31 emotion polarities. Building on our previous work, an ensemble method that exploits specific outputs from a multi-label sentiment classifier and a sentiment analysis procedure under a multivariate forecasting scheme is presented. It is shown, through an empirical evaluation of the results, that the integration of emotion representations related to non-Greek news concerning global current affairs improves the predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asia is becoming one of the most fiercely competitive battlegrounds between India and China. Located at the center of South Asia and with its large geographical area, population, and economic size, superior military strength compared to other countries in the region, India has always been the most influential power in the region. But in the past decade, China's intensified partnership with small countries in South Asia has threatened India's number one position in the region. It is the challenges posed by China in South Asia, inter alia, that have forced India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make various important foreign policy adjustments. To interpret India–China competition in South Asia in aspects of diplomacy, economy, security and defense, the paper uses international relations theories including constructivism, neo-realism (particularly offensive realism) and the balance of threat theory. Although the paper analyzes India–China competition in all three areas of diplomacy, economy and military security, the authors are of the view that, the most fundamental motivation of China and India in this competition is to achieve power and security and not economic objectives. While China's strategic calculation leans towards its ambitions to gain greater power in the geopolitical order, India's strategic calculation leans towards ensuring its security. By using qualitative methods and utilizing secondary data including books, treatises, articles and policy briefs ... , this paper analyzes the strategic calculations of India and China in South Asia. The paper argues that China's intention is to emulate and then overtake India in the very region of India's traditional influence, while India's strategy is to maintain and strengthen its number one position in the region. Though China's influence in the region seems to have overwhelmed over India, India with all its internal forces is also hindering China's penetrating steps into South Asian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Anwar Ibrahim assumed office in November 2022, Malaysia's China policy, including its stance towards the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was again thrust into the limelight. This paper analyses Malaysia's responses towards BRI since 2013 and argues that the "shift" is not to abandon its cooperation or adjust its overall foreign policy with China, but to cater for two sets of domestic considerations – the need for development and inter-elite competition, and eventual regime legitimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the limits of implementing a cyber deterrence strategy in East Asia. Given that national security documents from both Taiwan and Japan indicate the need to deter state-sponsored cyberattacks, there is very little literature that empirically and theoretically investigates the utility of such an approach in this region. This paper looks into the various deterrence constructs and argues that none of them can be implemented without problems. The paper looks further into a deeper level of the conceptual issues upon which deterrence thinking is based and argues that an alternative strategy promoting regional cooperation is not only possible but also desirable in the current political climate. It is later concluded that looking for a one-size-fits-all solution is idealistic, and policymakers should develop security countermeasures that align with the threats posed by the actors they wish to confront. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam and India became exceptional friends in the context of globalization and global and regional security in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. India paid a significant consideration to South East Asia and expanded its role in this region in the early 21st century. Meanwhile, Vietnam is one country that experienced a thriving economy in its international and regional integrations. This country has a pressing demand for bilateral and multilateral cooperation with all countries in the world. Especially, the objective of rising India's soft power along with its hard power contributed to promoting India's benefits and involvement in Southeast Asia and Vietnam. Likewise, Vietnam has been fully aware of India's intervention in disputes in the South China Sea and its well-meaning plans to tighten relations with Vietnam over various fields. Vietnam considered India as a partner to conduct Vietnam's soft power. Since Strategic Partnership (2007), Vietnam has accelerated this relation through cultural exchanges, cultural projects, and shared values of Indian culture. Thus, the image of Vietnam becomes familiar to Indian people. Likewise, India encouraged Vietnam to hold cultural events and academic seminars to exchange ideologies, opinions, and plans for many domains. Vietnam is also a goal of India's soft power in Southeast Asia. This paper aims to examine cultural diplomacy in Vietnam's foreign policy in Vietnam–India diplomatic relations mainly based on theories of Liberalism, public diplomacy, and soft power. Thus, it clarifies cultural diplomacy in Vietnam and India's foreign policy. Finally, the author would like to anticipate the scenario of Vietnam–India cultural diplomacy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the Narendra Modi's administration, India has been implementing a pragmatic foreign policy following realistic principles toward China. By using methods of policy analysis, in combination with content analysis and discourse research, the paper demonstrates that India's policy toward China under the Prime Minister (PM) Modi's leadership is a set of strategic responses of a rising power to an assertive neighbor who is rising at global level. This set of responses includes a policy of cooperation when it sees China as a partner, a policy of containment when it sees China as a rival, a policy of conflict management when it sees China as a neighbor who has direct territorial disputes; and a policy of balance of power when it sees China as an opponent. The authors of the paper are of the view that one of the key elements in India's policies toward China is that it is a combination of both cooperation and competition aspects. In addition, it is to be seen that India has simultaneously used various channels to implement these policies toward China to secure its national goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The qualitative results of this paper will not change if we assume that the sunk cost is a fraction of HT ht . Country HT ht has a higher level of ownership restriction compared to country HT ht . We also assume that there is no cost of moving to country HT ht or country HT ht from outside. Hence, country HT ht has no incentive to undercut country HT ht unless the tax rate is positive and substantially high. [Extracted from the article]

The paper analyzes the challenge to India from China, and the dilemmas faced by India in shaping an appropriate response. A two-level theory analysis indicates that some diminishing cooperation is possible at the global level, for example over environmental issues. However, regionally, this has been overtaken structurally by increasing sharp confrontation along the Himalayas and by rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition across Asia and the Indo-Pacific. This has been overlaid in 2020–2021 by the particularly negative effect on Indian relations with China of the clashes and casualties at Galwan and the impact of Covid-19. Given this sharpening challenge, the paper finds that India's cherished axiom of full strategic autonomy now has to be tempered in its response by balancing dictates, particularly in the light of Stephen Walt's balance of threat model. India's responses pose various dilemmas in terms of effectiveness and counter-productiveness. Geopolitically, dilemmas continue to revolve for India around how far to invoke a Tibet Card and a Taiwan Card in its One China policy; and how far India can shape an immediate web (in effect around China) through strengthening security links with Vietnam, Mongolia and South Korea. Dilemmas also follow from how far India should pursue tighter security/military arrangements with more powerful China-concerned states like Australia, Japan, France, and above all, the United States. Geo-economically, India's dilemmas revolve around how to respond to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and to China's Maritime Silk Road scheme. Looking forward, an important factor will be how far India pulls away from Covid-19 disruption to the economy, and how far it will need to divert long-term economic funding away from immediate short-term military projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan has emerged as a critical strategic actor in East Asia amidst intensifying US-China structural competition since 2010. Southeast Asia/ASEAN is an important dimension of Japan's foreign policy expansion. This paper argues that Japan's foreign policy is driven by the aim of becoming an alternative source of strategic stability in Southeast Asia/ASEAN as opposed to the United States and China. This is explained by analysing Japan's foreign policy in regional balance of power and ASEAN-led multilateralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia has been actively seeking to improve its status and has gradually developed a trinity of national–regional–world status, consisting of independent status, regional leadership status and middle power status. In the context of China–US strategic competition, Indonesia is more sensitive to the consolidation and pursuit of its status. In response, Indonesia not only inherits the traditional diplomatic policy of "rowing between two rocks" and refuses to take sides between China and the US, but also tries to lead the ASEAN countries to develop a "third way" in the Indo-Pacific region. This paper analyzes Indonesia's perception of and response to China–US strategic competition from the perspective of status politics, arguing that status politics plays a key role as the underlying logic of Indonesia's "free and active" diplomacy — maintaining close relations with both China and the United States at the material level can enhance Indonesia's economic and military status, and maintaining autonomy at the social level can gain international recognition of its status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Xi Jinping's role in China's foreign policy from elitepolitics perspective focusing on first, the policy preferences and worldviews of political elites; second, balance of power among political elites; and third, the sectoral interests behind political elites. China's foreign policies have generally developed in line with Xi's policy preferences and worldview. The current balance of power is in Xi's favour. His administration comprises mostly local cadres, whose developmentalist policy preferences are reflected in foreign policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a panel data of 44 countries and 18 industries spanning 14 years, this paper provides a novel insight into the driving force behind the expanding volume of China's export. We match the global input–output database with micro-level data from Chinese manufacturing firms and find a positive effect of imported producer service inputs on domestic manufacturing exports. Foreign producer service inputs assist domestic firms in entering foreign markets and maintaining foreign relations, thus contributing to their exporting performance. The results confirm the specialization effect and information cost reduction effect led by imported service inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), substantive progress has been achieved through the joint efforts made between China and the collaborative parties, attracting great attention from the international community. However, regarding the relationship between BRI and "a community with a shared future for mankind", a concept proposed by President Xi Jinping later, the explanations are diversified in the academia. The diversity indicates that a common understanding of this relationship is yet to be reached, calling for a further discussion. This paper argues that "a community with a shared future for mankind" is China's outlook for the future world facing a period of major change never seen in a century. It is China's vision of international society but transcends the narrative of international society in the international politics studies, because in the former, each party recognizes the deep interdependence relationships (or a form of shared future) among them and between human and nature, thereby willing to negotiate and cooperate to advance the world's economic development, deal with conflict of interests and contradictions among states/civilizations, and resolve the dissonance between human and nature. Thus, a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and sustainable world can be created and preserved. In regard to BRI, it is the platform where China constructs a community with a shared future for mankind through incentive mechanisms and applies its vision of international society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of order is the core of international relations. Both the dimensions of history and reality should be explored in order that the relationship between Japan and the world should be acknowledged in a scientific way. This paper analyzes Japan's cognition and practice from such three aspects as the evolution of Japan's view of international orders from a historical perspective, the post-war international order and "the crisis of liberal international order" and Japan's responses to the international order under the ongoing unprecedented changes in the world. Based on principles of pragmatism, Japan strove to maintain its independence while expressing its respect with the order within the framework of the Hua-Yi Order. In face of the impact of rising Western civilization, Japan attempted to extricate itself from and overthrew the Hua-Yi Order and achieve the objective of "leaving Asia and embracing Europe," and then turned from a follower of the Western dominant order into a challenger. After being defeated in WWII, the US occupation and the democratic transformation, Japan chose to accept and integrate into the liberal international order dominated by the US and gradually formed a unique view of international order through constantly sizing up the international situation, maintaining dynamic adjustment and making efforts to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Faced with the changing international relations nowadays, Japan has been committed to enhancing the "comprehensive strategic activity" and repairing the liberal international order in crisis. The relationship between Japan and the international order not only reflects historical continuity but also presents newly emerging characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past two decades, since the political situation became stable, Cambodia has recorded a very rapid economic growth rate. In the meantime, globalization has progressed both in terms of the expansion of international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. This paper applies small sample cointegration tests and error correction models to reveal the determinants of Cambodia's rapid economic growth. The cointegration test results support the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables concerned. The error-correction models show that expansion of international trade values has caused the rapid economic growth in Cambodia, regardless of the measure of international trade used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran has faced US sanctions in one form or another since its invasion of the US Embassy in Iran in 1979. The 2007-08 period marked the initiation of heightened international sanctions on Iran imposed by the UN Security Council in reaction to Iran's nuclear program. These sanctions were tightened in 2010, when the UN Security Council, the US Congress, and the European Union all implemented separate sets of sanctions targeting either the Iranian nuclear program or the energy and banking sectors. Under the Obama Administration the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) was signed in late 2013 and within months the United States and the EU took steps to waive specific sanctions. In 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed, which lifted nuclear-related sanctions by the UN, EU and US. The Trump Administration on May 8, 2018 announced the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and directed federal agencies to begin to take steps to re-impose the sanctions established under U.S. law that were lifted or waived in order for the United States to meet its commitments in the JCPOA. On November 5, 2018, all pre-JCPOA - U.S. sanctions on foreign firms that conduct transactions in all of Iran's core economic sectors, including energy, banking, shipping, and manufacturing, went back into effect. These include sanctions on "petroleum-related transactions" and transactions by foreign banks with Iran's Central Bank. In addition,700 Iranian and third country entities have again been designated by the United States as sanctioned entities, meaning that foreign firms that transact business with these entities could face virtual exclusion from the U.S. economy. With the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, in 2018, the US finds itself as a lone player in a world where the EU, the PRC, Russia and a group of MENA countries have no intentions to comply with these re-imposed sanctions. The purpose of this paper, consequently, is to assess the spillover effects which can be expected to result from the US re-imposition of Iran sanctions on relevant MENA countries, the PRC, Russia and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the potential dangers of adversarial debt management in China between central and local authorities. It draws lessons from Germany's recent mishandling of the Greek debt crisis to illustrate nuances and stresses the wisdom of cooperation and mutual support in restoring balance to local Chinese finance. Inclusive economic theory provides additional insight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Vietnam have increased significantly in recent years and are distributed unequally between provinces. This paper aims to investigate the locational determinants of FDI in 62 Vietnamese provinces and whether spatial dependence is a significant factor that both researchers and policy-makers should take into account. We report that province-specific per-capita income, secondary education enrolment, labor costs, openness to trade, and domestic investment affect FDI directly within the province itself and have indirect effects on FDI in neighboring provinces. The direct and indirect effects coexist with spill-over effects and spatial dependence between provinces. Our findings indicate that FDI in Vietnam reflects a combination of complex vertical and export platform motivations on the part of foreign investors; and an agglomeration dynamics that may perpetuate the existing regional disparities in the distribution of FDI capital between provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using panel data of a group of 39 middle-income countries over 1981-2006, this paper examines how globalization in general and inward and outward FDI in particular affects inequality. Depending on geographical region and economic system, each component of globalization affects inequality in three groups of countries in different ways: open to inward FDI tends to affect income distribution adversely in transition economies and Latin American countries, but marginally improves income distribution in countries of the reference group. In contrast, open to outward FDI is positively associated with inequality in the reference group whereas negatively associated with that of the other two groups of countries. Crucially, improvement in human capital appears to be the single most reliable way to reduce inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the complex landscape of Japan's diplomatic engagement in Southeast Asia, spanning from the late 1990s to the present day, and explores the transformative role that Japan has played in post-conflict peacebuilding and regional security. Japan has reinforced diplomatic relations with conflict-affected Southeast Asian countries in the post-Cold War era, contributing to security cooperation in the region under the recent Japan's diplomatic direction of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korea and India have had a Special Strategic Partnership in place from 2015 and the India-Korea diplomatic relations have entered its 50th year, but still the full potential of the relationship has not been tapped into by both sides. Korea's New Southern Policy and India's Act East Policy did provide some momentum and some significant progress in the cultural, people-to-people links were seen, but when it came to strategic and hard security issues, this relationship fell short. Even in the economic sphere, the two sides signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2009, but still there are talks underway for updating the CEPA. But now with Korea devising its new Indo-Pacific strategy and India being one of the strong advocates of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept, there is scope that this relationship will now delve into strategic issues that are haunting the geo-political climate of the Indo-Pacific region. Finally it seems the time is opportune for the two countries to develop a credible strategic and security partnership. This article after tracing the trajectory of the India-Korea relations from 2015 onwards, analyses if now with Korea unveiling its Strategy for a Free, Peaceful and Prosperous Indo-Pacific, will India finally figure in its strategic calculus? If India will also perceive Korea as an important partner for furthering its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the prospects for the Belt and Road (BRI) in the Philippines? How will Marcos' foreign policy impact BRI projects in the country? The authors argue that the BRI's prospects are less optimistic now because (i) the Philippines' experience with Chinese infrastructure projects during Duterte's time was not overwhelmingly positive and (ii) China continues to occupy the West Philippine Sea. China's BRI missed its chance of capitalising on the political climate during the Duterte administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng, as a kind of rare and valuable Chinese materia medica with the largest global trade volume, has been widely applied in many fields, such as medicine, food, health care, and production of daily chemical products. It is widely used in Asia, Europe, and America. However, its global trade and standardization present different features and an uneven development in different countries or regions. As the main country for its production and consumption, Panax ginseng in China is characterized by its large cultivation area and high total yield and is mainly sold as a raw material or primary processed product. By contrast, Panax ginseng produced in South Korea is mainly sold in manufactured products. Besides, European countries, as another consumption market of Panax ginseng, pay more attention to the research and development of its products. Although Panax ginseng has been widely recorded in various national pharmacopoeias and regional standards, the current standards of Panax ginseng differ in quantity, composition, and distribution, and the existing standards cannot be enough to meet the demands of its global trade. Based on the above issues, we systemically summarized and analyzed the status and features of Panax ginseng standardization and put forward suggestions on the development needs of international standardization of Panax ginseng to guarantee its quality and safety, regulate the order of its global trade, and resolve trade disputes, thereby promoting the high-quality development of the Panax ginseng industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent years, the world has faced a growing anti-trade rhetoric, which has been translating in a strong appeal of domestic trade protectionist measures, situation that has been undermining trade multilateralization. The current paper examines the extent to which multilateral trade liberalization affects domestic trade policy liberalization. The analysis uses a panel dataset comprising 166 countries over the period 1995-2014. It suggests evidence that multilateral trade liberalization is strongly conducive to domestic trade policy liberalization. Moreover, as countries further develop, they experience a greater impact of multilateral trade liberalization on domestic trade policy liberalization. The take-home message of this analysis is that domestic protectionist trade policy measures would likely undermine the multilateralization of trade and prompt trading partners to react in the same way. This would ultimately result in trade wars, which would be damage for domestic economies and the world's economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations between agents of complex networks are generally determined by their attributes, so we can instead study the corresponding bipartite network formed by agents and their attributes to gain a higher-dimensional perspective. General bipartite community detecting algorithms implicitly contain a fixed generation step to determine the intra-correlations of the two separate vertex sets (denoted as instance set and attribute set), thus ignoring problem-related heuristics. Inspired by this, we propose a bi-community detection framework concerning the problem-related features that directly takes such intra-correlations into account, and can be freely combined with different objective functions and optimization algorithms to cope with various network structures such as directed graphs with negative edge weights. The framework is adopted to analyze international relations on the dispute and alliance datasets, whose results contain the relevant events that support the establishment of each community and are highly consistent with Huntington's theory. In addition, we analyze the impact of the instance–instance, instance–attribute, and attribute–attribute relations on the detection result through control experiments, and conclude that for the general community searching algorithms (including the bi-community case), appropriately taking these three relations together into account can help obtain different reasonable detection results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the United States has placed the Indo-Pacific at the centre of its foreign policy and national security strategy. While the Trump administration introduced the United States' first strategy for the Indo-Pacific, the administration fell short of implementing an effective policy that catered to the regional realities on the ground. The Biden administration has improved upon its predecessor's shortcomings in the diplomatic domain but has yet to implement a comprehensive economic strategy for the region. This article compares the distinctive diplomatic, economic and security characteristics of the Trump and the Biden administrations' Indo-Pacific strategies and argues that the latter administration crafted a more effective, albeit incomplete, strategy for advancing US interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that there is no overarching regional organisation for the Indo-Pacific, there has been a proliferation of minilateral and plurilateral groupings focussing on ensuring a free, open and a rules-based Indo-Pacific. The Quadrilateral alliance comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan falls into this category. India has always maintained a non- aligned foreign policy position. In recent times, however, with the mushrooming of these groupings, "issue-based partnerships' partnerships" is the foreign policy road that India has embarked upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Japan have fought against the epidemic through high-level contacts, donation and so on. The Chinese proverb "mountains and rivers on foreign land, wind and moon under the same sky" gave warmth of friendship to the bilateral relations. However, since Yoshihide Suga won the election, the Sino-Japanese relations have taken a worsening turn. The current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida further takes counterbalancing China as top priority. The "anti-COVID-19 diplomacy" in 2020 had very limited improvement on Sino-Japanese relations. It is clear that since the implementation of the U.S. strategic competition policy against China, Japan, without hesitation, turns to the "national interest theory" and "international contribution theory" by positioning to counterbalance China. Japan has become one of the few Asian countries that have completely sided with US in the China–US strategic competition. Since the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations, the principle of "good-neighborhood" has been totally replaced by the seemingly determined approach of "counterbalance" proposed by Japanese politicians. Japan has gone beyond the issue of its neighboring areas, trying to assist the United States' strategic containment of China, which has added a new variable to China's neighboring diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia–China relations are at a turning point 50 years after diplomatic recognition. While the past five decades have witnessed extensive growth in economic exchanges, in recent years, bilateral ties have experienced serious deterioration. Australia's alliance with the United States, domestic politics—in particular the two major parties' approaches to foreign policy—and economic interdependence are important variables in Canberra's approach to China. There will be no exception for the incoming Australian Labor Party government to deal with these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Suga administration has managed Japan's foreign policy towards ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) relatively well on the basis of the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" that former Prime Minister Abe had envisioned, the administration left a task for the next prime minister to creatively devise a foreign policy strategy to manage the three main challenges in the Indo-Pacific region concerning ASEAN Centrality, Indo-Pacific institutional arrangement and value-based diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide pledged to loyally inherit Abe Shinzo's foreign policy, his administration's emerging policy has undergone a major shift in recent months. The new foreign policy has swayed from one that is relatively more independent and balanced to one that is more responsive to America's competitive China policy, an intensive security agenda, tightened scrutiny of economic and technological cooperation with China, and open intervention in issues that China deems as domestic affairs. This article seeks to make an initial assessment of the nature, scope and prospects of the Suga administration's China policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, Japan and India are overwhelming forces in world politics because of their large population, economic size and trade volume, strategic weight, potential for further technological advancement, economic growth, diplomatic heft and military power. Together they could be an unmatched global force, act as a catalyst to the much touted "Asian century" prospect and help redesign the existing international order to reflect power shift. Yet their relationship to each other is highly complex, and their world views on key issues and strategies of global interaction diverge significantly. Such an unhealthy politico-strategic landscape of the Asian continent is likely to continue. While these three recalibrate and redesign their relations to each other, other regional nations will need to carefully work around this tangled triangle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkish–Chinese relations are of growing relevance for both countries as well as at a global level. This relationship is steadily becoming more significant and multifaceted in Turkish foreign policy, despite several thorny issues still remaining between the two countries. Nevertheless, many other aspects such as increasing trade and intensified intergovernmental dialogues characterise this bilateral relationship. This article analyses the broader status and fluctuations of Turkey–China relations in the areas of politics, economics and strategic outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China had a tough year in 2019. Amid an economic slowdown and a worsening trade war, China and the United States are testing each other's strengths and limitations to redefine their relationship. China was determined to preserve its state-led development model and step up strategic cooperation with Russia. The game on the Korean peninsula has also changed. China's policy emphasis in the South China Sea has seemingly shifted from security to resources. The cross-strait situation also became increasingly precarious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comprehensive review of important events in South Korea in 2019. What began as an audacious year for the Moon Jae-in administration had seen its foreign policy goals unfulfilled and domestic situation increasingly mired in political scandals and socio-economic problems. The Moon administration needs to re-examine its policies, face up to its failures and reassess its policy options for the second half of Moon's presidency to produce concrete results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The election of Donald J Trump has greatly changed American foreign policy. Trump has introduced two policy innovations: (i) minimise American role as leader of the free world in favour of a more narrowly focused national interest; and (ii) renegotiate the terms of American relations with its main adversaries. While the first has the most significant long-term international consequences it has been inconsistently applied. Trump's attention is on the latter, greatly impacting American Asia policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is pressing ahead with the negotiation on a code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea with remarkable resolve. The new COC-centred diplomacy was motivated to suppress the impact of the Philippines versus China arbitral ruling, de-escalate regional tension and promote cooperation, especially the Belt and Road Initiative. It also serves as a broad strategic goal, i.e. preserving stability by banishing the ruling and creating a new diplomatic process with China exercising some control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research comes to comprehensively analyse the path towards a confident Europe both in the regional and global environment by considering the necessity of European foreign policy consolidation as an imminent premise to enhanced European economic security & competitiveness. Despite of multiple competing political and economic interests, socio-cultural and linguistic heterogeneity, and historical animosities, the only choice of the European Union's nations to maintain and improve their current regional and global politico-economic positions resides in their capacity to act jointly through a unique representation. Accordingly, the results of the present research explicitly underline the idea that: as long as the “influence” centre of the European Union will be dispersed among national governments, each of them promoting individual interests contrary to the groups’ ones, the community as an integrational block will face important difficulties in defending its regional and global positions. The qualitative analysis undertaken highlights the idea that the European Union in the present form and institutional arrangements is not able to provide feasible and efficient solutions to the current and future challenges. This fact can be explicitly noted in the area of foreign affairs where the dualism between national and supranational bodies makes the European Union to falter on key directions including the Middle East, Eastern Partnership, the Russian Federation, and Turkey as well as on the global arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic policy has often been an integral part of foreign policy usage by governments. Many states will use trade, aid, and investment as instruments to attain other objectives deemed to be in the national interest. Albert Hirschman in an early and classic study suggested that governments in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany consciously attempted to dominate the trade of weaker states in Europe as a means of enhancing the German foreign policy position. Russian trade policy since the breakup of the Soviet Union has followed a similar policy, especially in regard to the other successor states of the former Soviet Union. Patterns were different for the Baltic countries, other European successor states, the Transcaucasian states, and Central Asian countries. Notwithstanding differences that were present, there was evidence in the trade patterns to indicate that Moscow was using trade policy to gain influence in the successor states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2013, the establishment of 'New-Type of Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics' (NTTTCC) has been highly promoted by the Xi Jinping administration. 'The Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of NTTTCC' was approved by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms in 2014, while the 'National Top Think Tank Pilot Programme' was approved by the Central Leading Group in 2015. With these efforts, the comprehensive management architecture for think tanks has been established in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past three years, a trend towards the centralisation of decision-making power in Chinese foreign policy instituted by Xi Jinping has become more and more apparent. The driver of the shift in Chinese foreign policy is the reform of its decision-making system. The 'reform' not only refers to institution building but also includes change of the former procedures of foreign policy decisionmaking to create a more efficient decision-making system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distance has conventionally been considered a major determinant of the direction of international trade. This contrasts, intuitively, with the generally-acknowledged fact that transportation costs are only a minor component of prices in international trade. The present study estimates the impact of distance on mutual trade flows in alternative, more direct methods than those employed traditionally in the literature. In particular, it looks at the 'intensity ratio' in mutual trade; and asks to what extent its deviation from the size expected under an assumption of 'neutrality' may be explained by mutual distances. It is found that, by and large, distance is a determinant of the trade of nations with each other. It is of some significance when trade flows within quite short ranges are concerned; but beyond these, the impact of distance on trade largely fades away. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]