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- Engaging Asia: U.S. Strategic Interests, Priorities, and Policy Tools
- Emerging Leaders in East Asia
- People's Liberation Army (PLA) Conference 2007
- The U.S.-ROK Alliance—Implications of an "Alternative Future"
- Pursuing Security in a Dynamic Northeast Asia
- China's Technology Standards Policy
- China-WTO Email Discussion Forum
- Japan-U.S. Email Discussion Forum
On May 22, 2008, NBR hosted “Engaging Asia: U.S. Strategic Interests, Priorities, and Policy Tools,” bringing together senior policy leaders and experts to discuss the need for greater U.S. engagement with this increasingly vital region of the world.
Though the distinguished participants approached U.S. engagement in Asia from a variety of perspectives, several common themes emerged. There was consensus on the increasing importance of the Asia-Pacific region both to the United States and to the world—with issues and interests more closely intertwined than ever before—as well as on the need for U.S. policymakers to invest greater attention and resources to Asia and to develop a more integrated strategy. Reminding the audience that the United States is a Pacific nation, several speakers argued that policymakers should fully appreciate the depth and breadth of U.S. economic and security interests in Asia. Speakers also urged the next administration to build on existing, proven mechanisms, such as the Strategic Economic Dialogue with China, in order to foster more effective cooperation with Asian nations, rather than creating entirely new structures. Some of the speakers also expressed concern about the rhetoric of the campaign season, and many remarked that rising protectionism threatens to damage not only U.S. economic interests but also long-term security relationships in the region with countries like South Korea. Finally, there was general agreement that the U.S.-China relationship is particularly important and deserves increased U.S. attention.
Conference Proceedings
Opening RemarksAsia’s Changing Economic and Security Landscape: Implications for U.S. Policy
Remarks Panelists |  |  |
Several major powers in East Asia are undergoing important political transitions-China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. These developments will set the stage for the rise of a new generation of leaders with new perspectives on how their respective countries should respond to regional trends. Emerging Leaders in East Asia is a comprehensive initiative to provide U.S. government and corporate leaders with a better understanding of East Asia’s future leadership. This project examines the qualities and characteristics that define these emerging leaders, distinguishes them from their predecessors, and explores what their increasing influence might mean for U.S. foreign, economic, and security policy interests in the future.
Project Team
Publications
For more information about Emerging Leaders in East Asia, please contact Travis Tanner at ttanner@nbr.org or 206-632-7370.
This annual invitation-only conference assembles the world's leading scholars to examine critical trends in the study of China's military. For the second year, NBR partnered with the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) of the U.S. Army War College to convene the 18th annual People's Liberation Army (PLA) Conference at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania on September 28-30, 2007. This year's conference, The "People" in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China's 80-Year-Old Military, examined the 'soft factors' of the PLA. Presentations and discussions focused on the trends and developments associated with the human capital of the Chinese military, including recruitment, training, and management of PLA soldiers and officers as well as historical trends and changes in PLA education and training.
2007 Conference Colloquium Brief: The "People" in the PLA: Recruitment, Training and Education in China's 80-Year-Old Military by Justin B. Liang and Sarah K. Snyder (NBR and the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College)
ROTC with Chinese Characteristics: Training the PLA In Civilian Universities, by Roy D. Kamphausen (The Jamestown Foundation, China Brief, March 21, 2007)
2006 Conference Colloquium Brief: Exploring the "Right Size" for China's Military: PLA Missions, Functions, and Organizations by Justin B. Liang and Sarah K. Snyder (NBR and the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College)
Right-Sizing the People’s Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China’s Military, edited by Roy Kamphausen and Andrew Scobell (Strategic Studies Institute, 2007)
Building on NBR's previous successes in Korean peninsula scenario planning, notably the 2006 "North Korean Bold Switchover" conference, NBR in partnership with the Korea Institute for Future Strategies (KiFS) gathered leading figures from across the political spectrum in academia, business, and civil society to engage in a rigorous "alternative futures" exercise. At a conference convened on September 10-11, 2007, in Seoul, South Korea, American and Korean participants were asked to think through the many potential implications of a world in which the U.S.-ROK alliance no longer existed. This exercise illuminated the potential costs and benefits for both parties of such a dramatic shift and provided a view on the range of U.S. and South Korean thinking on a critically important issue.
NBR published a final conference report summarizing the results of the conference, and articles about the conference appeared in JoongAng Ilbo (a top Korean newspaper) and the Wall Street Journal. The January 2008 issue of Asia Policy, NBR’s peer-reviewed journal, also features select papers from the conference in the roundtable “What if? A World without the U.S.-ROK Alliance.”
Following the conference, from September 12-13, 2007, a U.S. business delegation led by NBR Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Russell Investment Group, Mr. George Russell and CBOL Corporation Chairman, Mr. Spencer Kim, engaged in discussions on the future of the alliance and U.S.-ROK economic relations with both “established” and “up-and-coming” political and business leaders in Korea. The meetings provided participants with opportunities to interact and build relations with South Korea’s rising cohort of influential leaders.
Final Conference Report
A World without the U.S.-ROK Alliance: Thinking about "Alternative Futures"
- Nicholas Eberstadt, Richard Ellings, Aaron Friedberg, Christopher Griffin, Roy Kamphausen, and Travis Tanner
Conference Papers
An Assessment of the ROK’s Defense and Security Requirements in Alternative Futures
- Choi Kang and Park Joon-sung
Inter-Korean Relations in the Absence of a U.S.-ROK Alliance
- David Kang
Inter-Korean Relations without the U.S.-ROK Alliance
- Sheen Seongho
Alternative Future of ROK Relations with the Great Powers
- Park Cheol-Hee
U.S.-ROK Civil Society Ties: Dynamics and Prospects in a Post-Alliance World
- Scott Snyder
A Parable: The U.S.-South Korea Security Relationship Breaks Down
- Enders Wimbush
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On November 17–18, 2006, as part of the dedication of the new Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies, NBR convened a conference entitled Pursuing Security in a Dynamic Northeast Asia, and invited a select group of the world’s top Northeast Asia specialists to identify and to discuss the critical issues which will impact the future security environment of this vital region. Conference participants represented a broad spectrum of views from academia, business, government, and the policy research community.
NBR has published three post-conference publications, which can be accessed by clicking the following links.
The first features former United States Ambassador to Japan, Michael Armacost and former Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations, Yukio Satoh in "Emerging Trends, Dormant Interests: Developments in Northeast Asian Politics," NBR Analysis 18.1 (January 2007).
Asia Policy 3 (January 2007) includes Professor Kenneth B. Pyle's keynote address and a select number of the conference papers as a special roundtable featuring Nicholas Eberstadt, Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Michael Green, Chae-Jin Lee, Kenneth Lieberthal, Dwight Perkins, Kenneth Pyle, Richard Samuels, and Robert Scalapino.
As the Center's core research program, PSDNEA seeks to establish the Pyle Center as a hub through which the rising generation of American scholars, analysts, and policymakers will engage with and increase understanding of their counterparts across Northeast Asia.
NBR leads a multi-year project to analyze and inform U.S. and Chinese leaders on the policy implications of (1) China’s approach to standards, (2) stakeholder involvement in sta
ndards setting in China, and (3) the relationship between standards and innovation. This ongoing, multinational initiative builds on a ground-breaking, five-year NBR research project on intellectual property rights in China that featured meetings in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing. The current China Standards
and Innovation Policy Initiative, which has convened workshops with leading scholars, industry executives, and policymakers from the United States, Europe, and Asia, has resulted in a series of top-quality publications and dozens of briefings for government and industry leaders in both the United States and China. (Project Overview)
Forthcoming Report
NBR is releasing a new report in spring 2008 that analyzes the implications of China’s evolving role in the international standards-setting bodies and efforts to promote indigenous innovation, particularly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry.
Publications
NBR’s China Standards and Innovation Policy Initiative has resulted in the following publications:
Conferences/Workshops
NBR has convened the following conferences/workshops on technology standards in China:
Network
NBR maximizes impact by conducting independent research by a mulitnational team of top experts from the United States and China and by co-organizing related conferences, workshops, and briefings in partnership with a wide range of organizations from the United States, China, and European Union. The October 2007 workshop brought together 70 participants from the academic, business, and policy communities in the United States, European Union, Japan, and China.
Policy Outreach
NBR conducts briefings on its research findings for high-level officials in the U.S. and Chinese governments. NBR has briefed U.S. Congressional committees, executive branch departments and agencies, and industry executives. In addition, NBR has briefed Chinese government officials and business leaders.
Next Phase
NBR is initiating a new phase of research on standards and innovation that expands the scope of the research project to examine standards-setting and innovation policies in China and other Asia-Pacific countries and the implications of these policies for the global governance of new technologies.
For more information, please contact Travis Tanner, NBR Senior Project Director, via phone (206-632-7370) or email (ttanner@nbr.org).
This private email forum was launched in 1998 for key U.S. policymakers and select specialists in the academic and business communities. Moderated by NBR Senior Advisor William Abnett, this unique private forum has continuously identified and discussed specific developments, issues, and obstacles to China's accession to the WTO and its implementation of WTO-related agreements.
This open electronic forum was launched in 2000 for all those interested in issues pertaining to U.S.-Japan relations, Japanese politics, economics, social issues, history, and security. "The Japan Forum," as it is popularly known, has more than 800 members worldwide. Access the forum here.
During 2007 renowned author Ms. Fumiko Halloran will post to the Japan Forum bimonthly analytical reviews of contemporary scholarly Japanese publications and journals on political, historical, and social topics relevant to current Japan. Ms. Halloran’s reviews can be found on the Forum’s Special Projects page.
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