The Abe Legacy
With the terrible assassination of former Prime minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo, an important, but not always uncontroversial, political era in Japan is over. As the longest serving Prime minster, he leaves an important legacy in Japanese politics, but also in relation to the role he wanted Japan to play on the global scene. Based on the 99th Stockholm Seminar on Japan, two invited experts, Dr. Wrenn Yennie Lindgren and Dr. Richard Nakamura, share their views on the international political, as well as economic implications of the passing of Abe in this policy brief.
The China-Europe Freight Train and the War in Ukraine:Triumph and Tribulations in Transcontinental Shipping
In this policy brief, Professor Xiangming Chen analyzes the China-Europe Freight Train (CEFT), the flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project, and evaluates its extensiveness, efficiency and adaptability based on recent geopolitical developments, in particular the War in Ukraine.
Katharina Glaab
Glaab was a visiting research fellow at NUPI in the Research Group on Russia, Asia and International Trade.
Technological Determinism and Challenges to Deterrence in Southern Asia
Southern Asian strategic stability is fragile with multiple challenges affecting crisis stability, deterrence stability, and arms race stability. With rapid scientific developments, technological advancements are translating into new advanced military capabilities at a much faster rate. As countries move to achieve technological superiority, they are exploring ways to exploit “gray zones” or areas where their adversaries’ deterrence is the most vulnerable across various domains. Cross-domain coercion adds to the fragility of deterrence. In this environment, India and Pakistan must initiate a bilateral dialogue to discuss South Asian strategic stability with a focus on minimizing the drivers of instability and strengthening mutual deterrence. A joint publication by APLN and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
The Economics of Strategic Stability in US-China relations
The economic aspects of strategic stability tend to come second place in the study of US-China relations. For good reason, scholars have focussed on the military aspects of strategic stability, including the role of emerging technology and cyber capabilities, in this most important geopolitical relationship. Yet, considering the ongoing War on Ukraine, as well as tensions over Taiwan, it is worthwhile considering the effect coercive economic tools such as tariffs, sanctions and embargoes, can have on wider strategic stability.
Podcast: Most people aren’t radicalized
Contemporary Nuclear Dynamics in Southern Asia: Many Challenges, Few Possibilities
In this Policy Brief, Dr Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, assesses the increasingly dangerous security situation among Southern Asia’s three nuclear weapons powers: China, India, and Pakistan. She proposes several concrete policy steps that, if taken, will greatly reduce the risk of an inadvertent nuclear exchange.
China’s coercive diplomacy: Why it’s on the rise and what it means for Scandinavia
Amid a wider deterioration of relations between China and the West since around 2018, the Chinese government has stepped up its use of economic coercion and other types of non-military coercive measures, targeting Western countries that challenge its core interests. The observed change is distinctive in both quantitative and qualitative terms as the Chinese authorities have not only employed coercive measures more frequently, but also across a wider set of policy objectives than previously. Using a revised dataset, the Brief offers new insights into these development trends, demonstrating how they are driven primarily by perceived violations of China’s expanding development interests. The Brief discusses the findings in the specific context of the Scandinavian countries which have also found themselves on the receiving end of China’s coercive diplomacy.
Japan ruster opp
(This op-ed is in Norwegian): Japan kan få det tredje største forsvarsbudsjettet i verden, skriver Wrenn Yennie Lindgren og Per Erik Solli i denne DN-kronikken.
Evolving Japan–NATO Relations in the Leadup to the Madrid Summit
In response to growing security concerns in East Asia, Japan has increased its engagement with NATO at both the organisational and individual member-state level.