Carnegie Moscow Center
By reactivating its policy on Pyongyang, Moscow is sending messages to Seoul, Tokyo, Washington, and Beijing, which should be properly understood.
Russia’s economic, political and strategic environment in the West is fast deteriorating. One obvious way to respond to this is to reach out to Asia and the Pacific.
There have been many events in Asia in 2013. But some of them stand to impact the most the global policy and security in 2014.
Eurasia Outlook returns in 2014 and in the months ahead it will focus on the issues that are likely to shape the future of Eurasia.
In 2013, Europe was a peaceful place, but elsewhere in Eurasia, things were not as peaceful. This eventful year promises an interesting 2014.
China has begun to play a more active, innovative role in international affairs and has adopted a new global perspective.
Stabilizing the Korean Peninsula requires regional solidarity. Tougher sanctions or high-level dialogue with Pyongyang could erode that necessary cohesion.
China’s new leaders will stay focused on domestic issues. With its growing relative economic and military advantages, China is largely comfortable with its current foreign policies.
If the United States and Europe look the other way, North Korea's provocations will continue to threaten the regional order. The Six-Party Talks are unlikely to provide a solution, but Russia could intervene.
U.S. diplomatic efforts are better expended on disincentivizing North Korea from selling nuclear materials and know-how than pointless denuclearization efforts.