President Biden — 9DASHLINE

US-Japan-South Korea trilateral cooperation: Overcoming the populist threat

Written by James Kaizuka

Deeper institutionalisation of security cooperation, bilaterally between Japan and South Korea and trilaterally also including the United States, can head off all of these threats and ensure that the ‘inaugural’ Indo-Pacific Dialogue is not the ‘only’ Indo-Pacific Dialogue.

East Asia9DLMarch 27, 20249dashline, US-Japan-South Korea trilateral cooperation: Overcoming the populist threat, James Kaizuka, Japan, South Korea, US, trilateral, Indo-Pacific Dialogue, Populism, Washington, cooperation, mutual threats, Security, GSOMIA intelligence-sharing agreement, GSOMIA, Soviet, Tsushima Strait, nationalism, Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida, South Korea’s President Yoon, President Biden, authoritarian threat, democracy, Republican Party, President Trump, US allies, trans-pacific, transatlantic, isolationist, free-riding, Beijing, Moscow, Pyongyang, depoliticising, Seoul, Tokyo, populism, elections, South Korea’s National Assembly, Democratic Party, Yoon’s Japan policy, Liberal Democratic Party, Nippon Kaigi, revisionism, Takaichi Sanae, Yasukuni Shrine, Ukraine, territory, history, reparations, wartime compensation, nuclear terrorism, Fukushima’s wastewater, Fukushima, Fukushima water, 1923 Kanto earthquake, second Trump presidency, Anti-military base movements, Alkonis affair, America First, Chinese disinformation, espionage, election interference, Camp David summit, NATO, European Union, Southeast Asia, Seibou Bunri, seikei bunri, diplomacy, defence

Pakistan’s election — a primer

Written by Dr Filippo Boni

Pakistan is scheduled to hold its twelfth general election on 8 February, amid a deteriorating security situation in parts of the country, allegations of an uneven playing field against the former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party, and with China and the United States waiting to find out who will lead the next Pakistani government.

South Asia9DLFebruary 5, 20249dashline, A primer on Pakistan’s elections, Filippo Boni, Pakistan, elections, Nawaz Sharif, Hafizabad, disqualification, general election, deteriorating security situation, uneven electoral playing field, Imran Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, state secrets leak, imprisonment, military, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, PML-N, cricket bat logo, electoral candidates, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Peoples Party, PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, climate change, policy position, electoral campaign, media freedom, Coalition for Free Media, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, PFUJ, Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors, CPNE, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan, TTP, militant groups, Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP, Balochistan, separatist militant groups, bilateral crisis, Iran, missile strike, Islamabad, Iran-Pakistan, Iran-Pakistan tensions, borders, US, China, Sino-Pakistani bilateral ties, BRI, CPEC, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, socio-economic development, military leadership, Afghanistan, President Biden, Shahbaz Sharif, UNGA, US-Pakistan relations, domestic security, regional security

Hold on tight! The US, Indo-Pacific, and expectations for a second Trump term

Written by Blake H. Berger

If Trump prevails in the 2024 election, and if his first term indicates what the region can expect from a second one, hold tight because it will get ugly.

Guns before butter? Multi-dimensional diplomacy in China-Europe relations

Written by Dr William Hurst

The bet that security fears could be addressed to allow the resumption of progress on trade did not pay off. China lost a significant opportunity to re-open more fully to the world and deepen its economic ties with arguably its most important trading partner (the Eurozone).

Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLMay 31, 20239DashLine, Guns before butter? Multi-dimensional diplomacy in China-Europe relations, William Hurst, China, EU, China-Europe relations, diplomacy, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, UK, Lu Shaye, sovereignty, post-Soviet states, Ukraine, Chinese National Chairman Xi Jinping, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, trade, most favoured nation, human rights, President Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Democrats, policy of de-linking, decoupling, de-risking, United States, Taiwan, North Korea, ideology, values, global power, security interests, Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia-Ukraine war, NATO, neutrality, Vladimir Putin, Japan, balance of power, India, the West, aircraft carrier, China-Ukraine relations, Beijing, Brussels, strategic signalling, Paris, US State Department, President Biden, Moscow, Kyiv, peace negotiations, peace talks, sanctions, de-escalation, Eurozone

2023: Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia — foreign policies between hegemons

With Australian elections ushering in a change of government and Aotearoa New Zealand’s planned parliamentary elections this year, 9DASHLINE sought the views of several experts on the state of both nations’ foreign and defence policies.

Pacific9DLJanuary 30, 20232023: Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia — foreign policies between hegemons, 9dashline, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand, China, United States, Australian elections, parliamentary elections, foreign and defence policies, geopolitics, NICHOLAS ROSS SMITH, Jacinda Ardern, trading partner, security relationship, middle-ground position, Wang Yi, NZ Labour Party, Wellington, National party, Christopher Luxon, putative Indo-Pacific ‘hedging’ strategy, MELISSA CONLEY TYLER, import restrictions, Prime Minister Albanese, President Xi, G20 Summit, China’s economic coercion, climate change policies, clean energy, Pacific Island countries, 2026 UN Conference of the Parties, JASON YOUNG, supply chain resilience, social cohesion, economic resilience, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, Japan, United Kingdom, Partners in the Blue Pacific, President Biden, APEC Summit, China’s Covid restrictions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s activities in the South China Sea, liberal-democratic Western bloc, Moscow, Beijing, geopolitical shatterbelt, Taiwan, Canberra, Tokyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Nanaia Mahuta, Free Trade Agreements (FTA), European Union, trade diversification, anti-nuclear advocacy

The fate of the Indo-Pacific: Lessons from Ukraine and US diplomacy towards Taiwan

Written by Reuben Steff and Martin Jirušek

Should war or a system of neo-Cold War style blocs emerge, it will be US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific that form the new frontlines and that have the most to lose.

Pacific9DLNovember 23, 20229DashLine, Reuben Steff, The fate of the Indo-Pacific: Lessons from Ukraine and US diplomacy towards Taiwan, Martin Jirušek, Taiwan, US National Security Strategy, geopolitics, Europe, Indo-Pacific, super-order, security order, rules-based institutionalism, Moscow, China, USA, diplomacy, military, rebalancing, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s rise, Cold War, ‘hub-and-spoke’ system, alliance, Washington, networked’ security architecture, minilateral, multilateral, defence, allies, National Defense Strategy, Beijing, zero-sum, tit-for-tat, AUKUS trilateral security pact, Indo-Pacific Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), Australia, UK, United Kingdom, Japan, India, containment, trade war, microchips, blocs, Southeast Asia, South Pacific, Middle East, shatterbelts, nuclear proliferation, southeast asia, confidence building, Kyiv, Emmanuel Macron, peace, France, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Taipei, Pentagon, White House, de-escalation, Joe Biden, President Biden, ‘One China’ policy, NATO, Admiral Philip Davidson, US Congress, Admiral Mike Gilday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, invasion, Michael Beckley and, Hal Brands, peaking power trap, UN

Nguyen Phu Trong’s Beijing trip: Safeguarding regime-state security

Written by Phan Xuan Dung

As Vietnam’s most senior politician and the architect of the ‘bamboo diplomacy’ concept, Trong should promote efforts to update Vietnam’s strategic thinking, thereby enabling the country to bend and sway in the current geopolitical headwinds with greater flexibility.

Power Politics9DLNovember 18, 20229DashLine, Nguyen Phu Trong’s Beijing trip: Safeguarding regime-state security, Phan Xuan Dung, Nguyen Phu Trong, Trong, 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, Vietnamese Communist Party, VCP, Beijing, China, Hanoi, Xi Jinping, Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership, regime-state security, Russia-Ukraine war, Biden administration, authoritarian regimes, political stability, political survival, Marxist-Leninist one-party state, vietnam, Doi Moi economic reform, Doi Moi, united states, international relations, Olaf Scholz, Jacinda Ardern, Joe Biden, President Biden, comprehensive strategic partnership, bamboo diplomacy, post-Cold War era, pluralistic democracy, colour revolutions, US-led liberal democracy, Washington, peaceful evolutions, Biden's National Security Strategy, non-democracies, international rules-based order, socialist democracy, Marxist-Leninist ideology, socialist regime, CCP, Chinese Communist Party, South China Sea, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, bilateral trade, Vietnamese imports, export diplomacy, supply chains, domestic political legitimacy, human rights, Obama, regime change

The China-Russia ‘no-limits’ friendship in full swing

Written by Justyna Szczudlik

Possible concessions from China would neither be cost- and condition-free, nor change the nature of Beijing-Moscow ties. The best way for the West to deal with the China-Russia alignment is to acknowledge that these bonds are strong and to improve its own resilience and deterrence capacities.