Global Asia - Winter 2017

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It would be fair to say that 2017’s most compelling reality show was the advent of Donald Trump’s presidency. It was a show replete with the oversized pronouncements, unpredictable tweets and disruptive “America First” rhetoric that characterized Trump’s unlikely campaign for the White House. Unlike in Europe, where political leaders aren’t reticent about expressing alarm when American leaders depart from their scripts, leaders in Asia remained watchful and largely discreet in their efforts to fathom the direction of US foreign policy. But there was much to be nervous about, from Trump’s initial mis-step on Taiwan to his hectoring of allies Japan and South Korea on trade issues. And, of course, there was his introduction of “Little Rocket Man” into the lexicon on North Korea. Trump’s first trip to Asia as president in November seems, for now, to have calmed nerves and clarified at least some issues regarding US priorities in the region — and cast light on his emerging “Indo-Pacific” strategy.

In our cover package, we feature a series of articles under the guest editorship of Stephan Haggard and Myung Hwan Yu on “Trump in Asia,” which had their origin in papers presented at a symposium Oct. 19-20 at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. The symposium received generous support from the Asia Research Fund, the Pacific Century Institute and the university’s Lawrence and Sallye Krause Chair. The articles not only dissect Trump’s approach to the region, but gauge how China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have adapted. “With all the uncertainties Trump has introduced, we might expect a region on edge. But a surprising finding of the Asian contributors’ papers is how all four major Northeast Asian countries have adjusted to the Trump era,” Haggard and Yu note in their introduction.

Global Asia Magazine Description:

Global Asia is a quarterly publication of the East Asia Foundation. The foundation, established in Seoul in January 2005, strives to promote peace, prosperity, security and sustainability in East Asia by creating an open and creative forum for the exchange of ideas on regional co-operation and integration, among other goals.
The mission we have set for ourselves with Global Asia is both bold and urgent: It is to provide a compelling, serious, and responsible forum for distinguished thinkers, policymakers, political leaders and business people to debate the most important issues in Asia today.
Global Asia is not a journal with a fixed point of view, or a particular agenda. Our aim is to give voice to the global dimension of what is happening in Asia. In our pages and on our web site, we aim for Asia to speak to the world, and the world to Asia. That is important at a time when this region is playing an ever greater role in world affairs.
There are other fine publications on international affairs. What sets us apart is our focus: Asia. We believe that the world is moving into “the Age of Asia,” to borrow a phrase from one of the articles in the inaugural issue of Global Asia in September 2006. This transformation is not going to occur overnight, but it has already begun.
The region’s dynamic economic growth, stable and accountable political systems, maturing democracies, and evolving sense of community are giving Asia greater weight in the world. These developments will have enormous implications for governments, businesses, societies and individuals across the globe. How that transformation is viewed, and shaped, from within Asia and how it is perceived outside Asia is an essential part of the story we have to tell.
The forces of globalization are having a profound impact throughout the world. And they are being influenced and channeled in different ways in different parts of the world. Ours is the story of Asia’s experience with globalization, and the ideas and debates influencing it. In pursuing our mission, we aim to play a part, however modest, in helping to shape the future of Asia.