Asia

Kinas multilaterale strekk: styrker sin innflytelse via internasjonale organisasjoner

Kinas framvekst som multilateral stormakt utløser reaksjoner internasjonalt, og mange er bekymret for effekten av økt kinesisk innflytelse, i enkelte internasjonale organisasjoner spesielt, og i multilaterale samarbeid generelt. I denne briefen diskuterer vi hvordan og hvorfor Kina styrker sitt IO-diplomati, gjennom posisjonering i mange utviklingsorienterte organisasjoner spesielt, og i form av initiering av nye institusjoner for mange typer relasjoner og tema. Vi viser hvordan ekspanderende aktiviteter, innenfor FN og andre multilaterale arenaer, demonstrerer Kinas evne å følge, endre og ignorere etablerte regler og normer, og hvordan dette er del av et større arbeid for å sikre at multilaterale institusjoner bedre reflekterer kinesiske interesser og betingelser.

A void in Central Asia research: climate change

The environmental burdens of special economic zones on the coastal and marine environment: A remote sensing assessment in Myanmar

ASEAN’s energy transition: how to attract more investment in renewable energy

The energy transition is progressing slowly in the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To achieve ASEAN’s target of 23% renewables in the primary energy supply by 2025, the region would need to invest USD 27 billion in renewable energy every year. However, the ASEAN countries attracted no more than USD 8 billion annually from 2016 to 2021. Through a comparative review of three key factors for attracting investment—renewable energy legislation, energy governance reform, and general conditions for investors—this study examines why the region’s renewable energy sector has not attracted more capital. The contribution of the article is threefold. First, it develops a new review model for assessing the business climate for renewable energy in any country. Second, it offers an update on the state of renewable energy deployment in the ASEAN countries. Third, taking into account international best practices, it identifies the obstacles and solutions to attracting investment in renewable energy in Southeast Asia. The article finds that carbon lock-in is pervasive, regulatory practices have been copy-pasted from the fossil-fuel sector to the renewables sector, and, except for Malaysia and Vietnam, no ASEAN country has implemented a major pro-renewable energy governance reform. Certain advanced renewable energy measures, such as auctions and feed-in tariffs, have been adopted in some member states, but the institutional capacity to implement them is limited. The share of renewables in the energy governance system needs to be increased.

A nuclear future and the evolution of the military dynamic on the Korean peninsula

North Korea’s nuclear program continues unabated and there is little prospect of a resolution to this seemingly intractable issue. The Kim regime, contrary to international law, is developing and testing a series of new missile and nuclear capabilities including more survivable missiles and tactical nuclear weapons that are increasingly difficult to defend against. At the same time, South Korea is investing in a series of conventional capabilities aimed at deterring and defending a North Korean nuclear attack. Consequently, there is increasing concern in the policy and academic discourse about strategic stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Navigating ASEAN-Myanmar Relations: The Phnom Penh Summit as a Critical Juncture for (Dis)Engagement

This article considers recent internal developments in Myanmar and how they strain external relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It identifies ASEAN’s Phnom Penh Summit as a critical juncture for disengaging the military government, engaging non-political entities and upgrading the 2021 Five-Point Consensus.

The Abe Legacy

Med det fryktelege drapet på tidlegare statsminister i Japan Shinzo Abe er ein viktig, men ikkje fullt ut ukontroversiell, politisk æra i landet over. Som Japans lengstsitjande statsminister lèt Abe etter seg ein viktig arv i politikken i landet, men også med tanke på kva rolle han ønskte at Japan skulle spele på verdsscena. I denne policy briefen deler NUPI-forskar Wrenn Yennie Lindgren og Richard Nakamura sine syn på implikasjonane som Abes bortgang har hatt for internasjonal politikk og økonomi.

The China-Europe Freight Train and the War in Ukraine:Triumph and Tribulations in Transcontinental Shipping

I denne policy briefen analyserer professor Xiangming Chen China-Europe Freight Train (CEFT), som er flaggskipet i Kinas belte- og vei-initiativ (BRI). Chen evaluerer CEFTs omfang, effektivitet og tilpasningsdyktighet basert på den senere tids geopolitiske utviklingstrekk, spesielt krigen i Ukraina.