A trilateral intelligence sharing accord between Japan, Korea and the United States: implications and challenges
Conventional wisdom has it that intelligence is only shared between countries with a close friendship, and that the extent of intelligence sharing reflects the strength of their military relationship.
Transition in Afghanistan: Losing the Forgotten War?
The report focuses on the lessons that need to be learned from of the US experience in Afghanistan to date, and the problems Afghanistan faces now that most US and allied combat forces have left. It builds on more than a decade’s worth of reporting and analysis of the Afghan war. It examines the recent trends and problems in Afghan governance, the trends in the fighting, progress in the Afghan security forces, and what may be a growing crisis in the Afghan economy.
Booming Synergies in Sino-Russian Natural Gas Partnership
Abstract
A central debate in the study of energy geopolitics concerns the relative importance of the Sino-Russian energy alliance and the lack of the long awaited deal in natural gas. The deadlock in natural gas is all the more puzzling when contrasted to the two countries’ flourishing ties in oil. I explore these developments by comparing the outcomes of the two deals and highlighting the distinctiveness of oil trade vis-à-vis gas trade. I subsequently describe the interplay of different domestic, regional and international policy changes currently taking place, which may pave the way for a breakthrough in the two countries’ gas talks in 2014. I then turn to two scenarios, one optimistic and the other pessimistic, to highlight the increasingly binding forces and some residual fault-lines in the relationship. I conclude by assessing the implications that the two countries’ increased energy synergies might have for the broader world.