September 20, 2023
Domestic Politics Threaten Hard-Won Success in East Asia
On Aug. 18, the leaders of the United States, South Korea, and Japan met for their first stand-alone summit at Camp David. Simply gathering for a leaders’ meeting would have been significant enough, given the thawing of a previously frozen Seoul-Tokyo relationship. But U.S. President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida went far beyond a symbolic meeting.
As momentous and historic as the Camp David agreements were, this trilateral grouping is innately and structurally fragile
The joint statement that resulted was impressively detailed, and the plans for new cooperation both comprehensive and wide-ranging. The Camp David summit is a testament that the convergence of political wills and political capital can transcend deep-seated historical animosity and bring countries together on shared challenges. But lasting trilateral cooperation is still an uncertain prospect: Leadership changes, innate fragility in this a trilateral grouping, and wedge-driving tactics by Pyongyang and Beijing could derail the hard work put in by the governments of today.
Read the full article from Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
Podcast
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Hellscape Taiwan: Drones, Deterrence, and the Future of Asymmetric DefenseStacie Pettyjohn joined the Irregular Warfare Podcast to examine how Taiwan could deter—or potentially defeat—a Chinese invasion by transforming the Taiwan Strait into an “unm...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Analysts Break Down Trump-Xi Meeting and Calls for Stability and CooperationFor perspective on President Trump's trip and the broader U.S.-China relationship, Geoff Bennett spoke with Myron Brilliant and Liza Tobin. Brilliant is at the DGA Group and i...
By Liza Tobin
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Rajdeep Sardesai Asks Big Question on US-ChinaThe debate on the Big Question, with Daniel Silverberg, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, explores whether Beijing holds the key to resolving th...
By Daniel Silverberg
-
China’s Pharmaceutical Weapon
Commentary
Until SAPIR is extended to biologically derived drugs, until the FDA clears the bovine pathway, and until at least one American-owned heparin manufacturer operates on US soil,...
By Jennifer Hendrixson White
