APP'S BOOKS OF THE WEEK of April 12, 2026

📚Books of the Week📖

 

Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots 

of North Korea's Personality Cult

By Jonathan Cheng, Beijing Bureau Chief, Wall Street Journal

PURCHASE BOOK 4/14/2026

North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, was the son of two fervent Christians who created his own cult-like ideolog, Kimilsungism. It was an excuse that fostered idolatry that elevated him, and his successor son and grandson, to Christlike status. Drawing on letters, diaries, and never-before-unearthed archival material, Cheng tells the true story of a country shrouded in fictions and oppression.

Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China

By Eyck Freymann, Hoover Fellow, Stanford University

PURCHASE BOOK 4/15/2026

Freymann argues that Washington's deterrence strategy, especially against China, must extend beyond conventional military power and familiar threats of mutually assured destruction. America must work with allies to develop a bold new vision of technological and economic statecraft--and a plan to secure its interests if deterrence fails. 

West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East
By Mohammed Soliman, Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute

PURCHASE BOOK 2/3/2026

Soliman shows how the U.S. could lock in a new balance of power in the Eurasian supercontinent to offset China and Russia's efforts to disrupt the status quo and create a rival system. This new strategy rests on three layered coalitions ― geostrategic, hard-power, and geo-technological ― that together can anchor a stable order stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. But this will require a fundamental shift in U.S. grand strategy, with 'West Asia' at its core.

*Books purchased through the links here support Asia Policy Point*

Books selected on the APP website are not a sign of endorsement. 

They are simply new and interesting.

Monday Asia Policy Events June 23, 2025

THE US-JAPAN PARTNERSHIP IN THE NEW ERA. 6/23, 2:00-3:30pm (JST), 1:00am (EDT). HYBRID. Sponsor: Nikkei Global Events, The Asia Group. Speakers: Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who oversaw Asia policy during the Biden presidency; former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, involved in Asia diplomacy in the first Trump administration; and former National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba, who long guided Japan's diplomacy.

THE NEXT DECADE: SHAPING THE FUTURE OF US-ROK NUCLEAR COOPERATION. 6/23-24 (KST), HYBRID. Sponsors: Atlantic Council; Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power. Speakers Include: Matt Bowen, Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, University of Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA); Scott Campbell, President, Howard Baker Forum; Sungyeol Choi, Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University; Bumjin Chung, Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University.

ENERGY SECURITY AND THE ISRAEL-IRAN WAR. 6/23, 9:00-9:30am (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Clayton Seigle, Senior Fellow and James R. Schlesinger Chair in Energy and Geopolitics, Energy Security and Climate Change Program; Adi Imsirovic, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Energy Security and Climate Change Program; Raad Alkadiri, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Energy Security and Climate Change Program.

US ATTACKS IRAN: ISRAEL IRAN CONFLICT UPDATE. 6/23, 9:00-10:00am (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Middle East Institute. Speakers: General Joseph L. Votel, US Army, Retired, Distinguished Military Fellow, Middle East Institute; Daniel Benaim, Associate Fellow, Middle East Institute; Colby Connelly, Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute.

SPACE FORCE INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY: A FIRESIDE CHAT WITH AIR MARSHAL PAUL GODFREY. 6/23, 10:00-11:00am (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, Assistant Chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, United States Space Force; Sarah Mineiro, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Aerospace Security Project, CSIS.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND POLICY REFORM IN EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC. 6/23, 3:00-4:30pm (EDT), HYBRID. Sponsor: WTO. Speakers: Aaditya Mattoo, Chief Economist, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank; Alessandro Barattieri, Senior Economist, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank.

OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER: U.S. STRIKES AGAINST IRAN'S NUCLEAR SITES. 6/23, 3:00pm (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). Speakers: Israel Defense Forces MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, JINSA Distinguished Fellow; Israel Defense Forces MG (ret.) Yaacov Ayish, Senior Vice President for Israeli Affairs, Julian & Jenny Josephson; Israel Defense Forces MG (ret.) Amikam Norkin, JINSA Distinguished Fellow; John Hannah, Randi & Charles Wax Senior Fellow, JINSA.

CENTRAL ASIAN FIGHTERS AND GLOBAL JIHAD. 6/23, 11:00am (EDT), VIRTUAL .Sponsor: Center for the National Interest. Speakers: Dr. Gavin Helf, Adjunct Professor, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES), Georgetown University; Dr. Asfandyar Mir, Senior Fellow for South Asia, Stimson Center; Dr. Noah Tucker, Senior Research Consultant, Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs. 

USING LABOUR MIGRATION TO SUPPORT EUROPE’S GREEN TRANSITION. 6/23, 1:00-2:00pm (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsors: Center for Global Development; Fragmen. Speakers: Gemma Hyslop, Director, Fragomen; Nina Vafaee, Global Mobility Immigration Manager, RWE. 

THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE AGENDA: A CONVERSATION WITH REPRESENTATIVE FRENCH HILL (R-AR). 6/23, 2:00–3:00 pm (EDT), HYBRID. Sponsor: Brookings. Speaker: Rep. French Hill, Chair, House Financial Services Committee. Moderator; Nellie Liang, Senior Fellow, Brookings; fmr. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance. 

THE IMPACT OF GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS ON GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAINS. 6/23, 10:00–11:30 am (SGT), 10:00–11:30 pm (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. Speaker: Professor Archanun Kohpaiboon, Visiting Senior Fellow, ISEAS, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University. 

BOOK TALK: THE SENKAKU ISLANDS CONFRONTATION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF JAPAN'S DEFENSE. 6/23, Noon-1:30pm (JST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS), Temple University, Japan Campus. Speaker: author Dr. Paul Midford, Professor, Political Science, Meiji Gakuin University. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/43ZcfD0

Monday & Tuesday Asia Events November 11 & 12, 2024

November 11 is Veterans Day in Washington, DC

Watch President Biden and Defense Secretary Austin 

at Arlington Cemetery at 11:00am EST

2024 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: HIGH STAKES FOR ASIA. 11/11, 4:00-5:30pm (PST), 7:00-8:30pm (EST). HYBRID. Sponsor: Japan Program, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), Stanford University. Speakers: Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University's; Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor, Senior Fellow, Japanese Studies, Shorenstein APARC; Gi-Wook Shin, William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea, Professor of Sociology, Senior Fellow, FSI, Stanford University; Gita Wirjawan, Visiting Scholar, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford. 

TOWARD AN EAST ASIAN UTOPIA: AMBITION AND ILLUSION IN IMPERIAL JAPANESE MILITARY MUSIC. 11/11, 7:00pm (JST), 5:00am (EST), ZOOM. Sponsor: Modern Japan History Workshop. Speaker: Emily Lu, Florida State University. 

BOOK TALK: GAMBLERS, FRAUDSTERS, DREAMERS AND SPIES: THE OUTSIDERS WHO SHAPED MODERN JAPAN. 11/12, 10:00am (JST), 11/11 8:00pm (EST), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). Speaker: author Robert Whiting. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/40btWiw

FROM THE FAB TO THE FUTURE: HOW JAPAN AND ITS PARTNERS ARE WORKING TOWARDS SEMICONDUCTOR RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION. 11/12, 8:00am (EST). VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Nikkei; Government of Japan. Speakers: David Keohane, Tokyo Correspondent, Financial Times; Bruce Andrews, Senior Vice President and Chief Government Affairs Officer, Intel; Yasuyuki Todo, Professor, Waseda University; Kristy Tsun Tzu Hsu, Director, Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research. 

MYANMAR’S 2024 CENSUS: LURCHING TOWARDS ELECTIONS? 11/12, 9:00-10:15pm (EST); 11/13, 10:00-11:15am (Singapore Time), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. Speaker: Mary P. Callahan, Associate Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington.

CHINA INSTITUTE 2024 EXECUTIVE SUMMIT “NOW WHAT?” – A POST ELECTION OUTLOOK. 11/12, 9:00am-5:00pm (EST). IN-PERSON. Sponsor: China Institute. Speakers Include: Robert Hormats, Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc, former Under Secretary of State under the Obama Administration; Henry Fernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MSCI; Robert H. McCooey, Vice Chairman, Nasdaq. 

EXPERT TAKE: U.S.-NORTH KOREA RELATIONS WITH FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE STEPHEN BIEGUN. 11/12, 10:00am (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Korea Society. Speaker: Stephen Biegun, fmr. US Deputy Secretary of State, fmr. Special Representative for North Korea.  

AMERICA’S FOREIGN POLICY FUTURE: A POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS. 11/12, 10:00-11:30am (EST). VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Stimson Center. Speakers: Nancy A. Youssef, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal; Amy Mackinnon, Reporter, Foreign Policy; Kelly Grieco, Senior Fellow, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center; Rachel Minyoung Lee, Senior Fellow, Korea Program and 38 North, Stimson Center; Robert Manning, Distinguished Fellow, Strategic Foresight Hub, Stimson Center; Christopher Preble, Senior Fellow and Director, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center; Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, China and East Asia, Stimson Center; Elizabeth Threlkeld, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia, Stimson Center; Elias Yousif, Fellow and Deputy Director, Conventional Defense, Stimson Center; Sally Yozell, Senior Fellow and Director, Environmental Security, Stimson Center; Nudhara Yusuf, Research Associate, Global Governance, Justice & Security, Stimson Center.

RUSSIA AND CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA: COMPETE, COOPERATE, OR DE-CONFLICT. 11/12, 2:00-3:00PM (EST). Sponsor: CNAS. Speakers: Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State, South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program, CNAS; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program, CNAS. 

BOOK TALK: THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF ILLIBERALISM. 11/12, 4:00-5:00pm (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Elliott School of International Affairs, GWU. Speaker: editor Marlene Laruelle, Elliott School Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Samuel Goldman, CCAS Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and the Politics & Values Program. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3YrROvA

THE PROMISE OF PARTICIPATION: HOW COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING CAN GET US TO MORE EFFECTIVE CLIMATE POLICIES. 11/12, 4:00-6:00pm (CET) 10:00am-Noon (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: International Idea. Speaker: Greta Rios, People Powered, Mexico City. 

CONVERSATIONS BEFORE MIDNIGHT: ANNUAL DINNER. 11/12, 5:15-9:00pm (EST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Speakers: David Ignatius, prize-winning columnist, Washington Post; Edmund Gerald Brown, former governor of California; Emily Strasser, author, Professor of the Practice, English, Tufts University; Rachel Bronson, President CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Fee.

Asia Events, Monday March 7, 2022

KOREA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: FORECAST AND IMPACT ANALYSIS. 3/7, 8:00am (EST), LIVESTREAM. Sponsor: Korea Society. Speakers: Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Chief, Seoul/Tokyo bureau, Washington Post; Karl Friedhoff, Marshall M. Bouton Fellow for Asian Studies, Chicago Council; Jeongmin Kim, Lead Correspondent, NK News, NK Pro; Dr. Katrin Katz, Van Fleet Nonresident Senior Fellow, Korea Society; Moderator: Jonathan Corrado, Policy Director, Korea Society. 

U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE COOPERATION IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD. 3/7, 8:00-9:00am (EST), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: Stimson Center. Speakers: Riho Aizawa, Research Fellow, National Institute for Defense Studies; Ryosuke Hanada, Research Student, Macquarie University; Naritada Miura, Program Assistant, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA; Ippeita Nishida, Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan. 

THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE: ONE WEEK LATER. 3/7, 9:00am (EST), WEBCAST. Sponsor: Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Speakers: Kevin Rudd, President, ASPI; Hon. Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Sweden; Hon. Radoslaw Sikorski, European Parliament Member, Poland; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow, Center for New American Security. 

PROMOTING DEMOCRACY IN A TURBULENT WORLD. 3/7, Noon (EST), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsors: Public Diplomacy Council, USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, Public Diplomacy Association of America. Speaker: Tom Carothers, Senior Vice President, Carnegie for International Peace. 

AI, INNOVATION, AND WELFARE: A CONVERSATION WITH JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ. 3/7, 2:00-3:00pm (EST), WEBCAST. Sponsor: Brookings. Speaker: Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor, Columbia University; Moderator: Anton Korinek, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, Brookings. 

GLOBAL SECURITY FORUM: FOREIGN POLICY IN AN ERA OF DOMESTIC DIVISION. 3/7, 2:00-5:00pm (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Seth G. Jones, Senior Vice President, Harold Brown Chair, CSIS; Michael J. Green, Senior Vice President for Asia, Japan Chair, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, CSIS; William J. Lynn III, CEO, Leonardo/DRS; Nancy Youssef, National Security Correspondent, Wall Street Journal; John J. Hamre, President and CEO, CSIS; William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense; Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense. 

THIRTY YEARS OF US-KAZAKHSTAN RELATIONS: THE WINTER CRISIS AND PATH FORWARD. 3/7, 3:30-4:30pm (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Atlantic Council. Speakers: Daniel Witt, President, International Tax and Investment Center; Ambassador John Herbst, Senior Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council; H.E. Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States; Dr. Kamran Bokhari, Director of Analytical Development, Newlines Institute; Dr. Ariel Cohen, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council; Shelby Magid, Associate Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council. 

HISTORY, DISRUPTED": HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB HAVE CHANGED THE PAST. 3/7, 4:00-5:30pm (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: History and Public Policy Program, Wilson Center; Science and Technology Innovation Program, Wilson Center. Speakers: author, Jason Steinhauer, Global Fellow, Founder, History Communication Institute, "History, Disrupted": How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past; Christian F. Ostermann, Director, History and Public Policy Program, Cold War International History Project, North Korea Documentation Project, Nuclear Proliferation International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center; Eric Arnesen, Former Fellow, Professor of History, The George Washington University.  PURCHASE BOOK 

WHY YOKOSUKA HOSTS AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER & WHY IT WILL HOST A SECOND. 3/7, 7:00-8:15pm (JST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). Speaker: Tetsuo Kotani, Professor of Global Studies, Meikai University.

Monday Asia Events, May 10, 2021

SUSTAINABLY RECOVERING FROM THE PANDEMIC. 2:00-7:00pm (CEST). LIVESTREAM. Sponsor: Heinrich Böll Foundation. Speakers: Rasmus Andresen, MEP, EFA/Greens; Franziska Brantner, German MP, Alliance90/The Greens; Annika Hedberg, Head of Sustainable Prosperity for Europe Programme, European Policy Centre; Dirk Holemans, Co-president of the Green European Foundation GEF; Benedek Jávor, Representative of the City of Budapest; Ares Kalandides, Professor of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University; Phoebe Koundouri, Professor, University of Economics and Business, Athens; Audrey Mathieu, EU Climate Policy Officer, Head of Berlin Office, Germanwatch; Neil Makaroff, European Policy Officer, Reseau Action Climat; Bozena Ryszawska, Professor, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business; Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy and Spatial Planning Luxembourg; Ellen Ueberschär, President, Heinrich Böll Foundation; Sanna Vesikansa, Deputy Mayor, for Social Services and Health Care. 

IRAQI-US RELATIONS UNDER CHANGING ADMINISTRATIONS. 10:00-11:00am (EDT). WEBCAST. Sponsor: Brookings. Speakers: Joey Hood, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Abbas Kadhim, Iraq Initiative Director and Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Marsin Alshamary, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Foreign Policy; Moderator: Lousia Loveluck, Baghdad Bureau Chief, Washington Post. 

BORDER BATTLE: ASSESSING THE KYRGYZSTAN-TAJIKISTAN CLASHES. Noon (EDT). WEBCAST. Sponsor: Atlantic Council. Speakers: George Gavrilis, Fellow, University of California-Berkeley’s Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion; Jonathan Henick, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, US Department of State; Akylai Karimova, Kyrgyz civil activist based in Osh; Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council; Anahita Saymidinova, Dushanbe-based journalist, Iran International TV; Moderator: Ambassador John Herbst, Director, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council.

ADVANCING ARMY PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE OF WARFARE: A CONVERSATION WITH THE ACTING SECRETARY AND THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMY.  1:00pm (EDT). WEBCAST. Sponsor: Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council. Speakers: Hon. John E. Whitley, Acting Secretary of the Army, US Department of the Army; Gen. James C. McConville, Chief of Staff of the Army, US Department of the Army; Moderator: Nancy Youssef, National Security Correspondent, Wall Street Journal. 

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S APPROACH TO ASIA AND VIEWS ON TAIWAN. 12:30-2:00pm (EDT). WEBEX. Sponsor: Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University (GW). Speakers: Derek Grossman, Senior Defense Analyst, RAND Corporation; Barbara Weisel, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors; Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, GW; Moderator: Deepa M. Ollapally, Research Professor of International Affairs and Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, GW. 

ACCELERATING INNOVATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY: PUTTING “FASTER” IN CONTEXT. 1:00-2:00pm (EDT), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Kelly Sexton, Associate Vice President for Research, Technology Transfer and Innovation Partnerships, University of Michigan; Marc Sedam, Vice Provost for Innovation and New Ventures, Managing Director of UNHInnovation, University of New Hampshire; Chad Womack, Senior Director of STEM Initiatives and HBCU Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (ICE), United Negro College Fund; Moderator: John J. Hamre, President and CEO, and Langone Chair in American Leadership, CSIS.

MODERNIZING CONGRESS: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS–‘FIX CONGRESS’ COMMITTEE. 1:15-2:00pm (EDT), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). Speakers: Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Chair, Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), Vice Chair, Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. 

SPACE FORCE: WHAT’S NEXT? 2:00-2:45pm (EDT). WEBINAR. Sponsor: Heritage. Speakers: The Honorable Jim Bridenstine, 13th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Everett Dolman, Professor of Comparative Military Studies, Department of Space Power, U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College; M.V. “Coyote” Smith, Associate Professor of Comparative Military Studies, Department of Space Power, U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College; Moderator: John Venable, Senior Research Fellow for Defense Policy, Heritage.

FUTURE STRATEGY FORUM: THE FUTURE OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY PANEL 1 – EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND WARFIGHTING. 3:30-5:00pm (EDT), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Evanna Hu, CEO and Partner, Omelas; Nina Kollars, Associate Professor, U.S. Naval War College; Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations; Julie George, PhD Candidate, Cornell University; Moderator: Sara Plana, PhD Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

HOW THE HARDLINERS PREVAILED IN NORTH KOREA: REFLECTIONS FROM THE FORMER GERMAN AMBASSADOR TO PYONGYANG. 4:00-5:-00pm (EDT). ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: National Committee on North Korea (NCNK). Speakers: Amb. Thomas Schäfer, former German Ambassador to North Korea; Keith Luse, Executive Director, NCNK.

RESTRICTED DATA: THE HISTORY OF NUCLEAR SECRECY IN THE UNITED STATES. 4:00-5:30pm (EDT). WEBINAR. Sponsors: National History Center of the American Historical Association; History and Public Policy Program, Wilson Center (WWC). Speakers: Author, Alex Wellerstein, Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology; Matthew Connelly, Professor of International and Global History, Columbia University; Kathleen M. Vogel, Professor and Deputy Director, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University; Moderators: Christian F. Ostermann, Director, History and Public Policy Program, WWC; Eric Arnesen, Professor of History, George Washington University, and Director, National History Center of the American Historical Association.  PURCHASE BOOK

Asia Monday Events, December 7, 2020

79th Anniversary of Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor

THE PLASTIC FIRST MILE--CLOSING THE LOOP ON PLASTIC WASTE IN ASIA. 12/7, 8:00–9:15am (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Asia Program, Wilson. Speakers: Marcy Trent Long, Founder, Sustainable Asia; Sherry Lu, Program Officer, Plastic Free China; Tiza Mafira, Co-founder & Executive Director, Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement (Gerakan Indonesia Diet Kantong Plastik); Hiroaki Odachi, Plastic Campaigner, Greenpeace Japan. Moderator: Jennifer L. Turner, Director, China Environment Forum & Manager, Global Choke Point Initiative. 

THE U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE IN 2020: AN EQUAL ALLIANCE WITH A GLOBAL AGENDA. 7/7, 8:00-9:30am (EST), ZOOM. Sponsor: CSIS. Speakers: Richard L. Armitage, Armitage International; Counselor, CSIS; Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University; Trustee, CSIS; Michael J. Green, Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, CSIS; Kara L. Bue, Founding Partner, Armitage International; Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, CSIS; Zack Cooper, AEI; Matthew P. Goodman, Senior Vice President for Economics and Simon Chair in Political Economy, CSIS; Robert A. Manning, Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations. 

INSTRUMENTS OF INFLUENCE? CHINESE FINANCING IN SOUTH ASIA. 12/7, 8:30-10:00am (EST), ZOOM. Sponsor: Stimson. Speakers: Atif Ahmad, Researcher; Avasna Pandey, Program Manager, Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal; Nilanthi Samaranayake, Strategy and Policy Analysis Director, Center for New American Security; Akriti Vasudeva, Editor-at-Large, South Asian Voices; Uzair Younus, Engagement and Strategy Manager, Dhamiri.

THE POLITICS OF REFORM IN KAZAKHSTAN. 12/7, 9:30-10:30am (EST) ONLINE. Sponsor: Carnegie. Speakers: Randi Levinas, Executive Vice Vyacheslav Abramov, Kazakhstani journalist, editor, and the founder of Vlast.kz, an independent, analytical online magazine covering politics, economy, and social issues; Almas Chukin is managing partner of Visor Kazakhstan, one of the largest private equity investment companies in Central Asia; Meruert Makhmutova is the director and founder of the Public Policy Research Center (PPRC) and co-founder of the Association of Economists of Kazakhstan; Nargis Kassenova is a senior fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University. She holds a PhD in International Cooperation Studies from Nagoya University (Japan); Paul Stronski is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program, where his research focuses on the relationship between Russia and neighboring countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. 

DOES CHINESE FOREIGN BEHAVIOR WARRANT SUSTAINED US COUNTERMEASURES? 12/7, 10:30-11:30am (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University. Speaker: author Robert G. Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs at Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. Release of Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy of an Emerging Global Force, 5th edition. PURCHASE BOOK 

HOW TO RESPOND TO CHINA’S CARROTS AND STICKS?: PROSPECTS OF A TRANSATLANTIC RESPONSE TO CHINESE ECONOMIC COERCION. 12/7, 10:00-11:00am (EST) ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS). Speakers: Maximilian Ernst, DAAD/AICGS Research Fellow; PhD Candidate in Political Science at the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

RETHINKING RELIGION AND U.S. DIPLOMACY 12/7, 2:00-3:00pm (EST), ZOOM WEBINAR. Sponsor: Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and its Global Human Development Program. Speakers: Shaun Casey, director, Berkley Center; Jessica Goudeau, author of After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America (2020); Emily Crane Linn (G'22) previously served as executive director of a refugee resettlement agency, Canopy of Northwest Arkansas based in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Katherine Marshall, senior fellow, Berkley Center.

RETHINKING ISOLATIONISM. 12/7, 4:00-6:00pm (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). Speakers: author Charles Kupchan, Professor, Georgetown University, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Stefano Guzzini, Professor, Uppsala University, Senior Researcher, DIIS; Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, Senior Researcher, DIIS; Vibeke Schou Tjalve, Senior Researcher, DIIS. PURCHASE BOOK

U.S.-ROK COOPERATION BETWEEN THE INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY AND THE NEW SOUTH POLICY. 12/7, 10:00-11:00am (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Institute for Korean Studies, George Washington University. Speaker: Marc Knapper, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan. Moderator: Jisoo M. Kim, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Director of Institute for Korean Studies at GW, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Korean Studies.

THE ROLE OF AI AND BIG DATA IN MILITARY OPERATIONS: A DISCUSSION WITH GENERAL RICHARD D. CLARKE AND Dr. RICHARD SHULTZ. 12/7, Noon (EST), WEBINAR. Sponsor: Hudson. Speakers: Gen. Richard D. Clarke, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command; Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, Hudson Institute; Dr. Richard H. Shultz, Jr., Lee E. Dirks Professor of International Politics, Director of the International Security Studies Program, Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; Dr. Nadia Schadlow, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute. 

THE PRIMACY OF SANCTIONS: AN ASSESSMENT OF U.S. SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA. 12/7, 1:00-2:30pm (EST), WEBCAST. Sponsor: Kennan Institute, Wilson Center. Speakers: Thomas Pickering, Vice Chairman of Hills and Company, Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and the UN; Daniel Ahn, Global Fellow, Managing Director, Chief U.S. Economist, Head of Macroeconomic Strategy, BNP Paribas; Randi Levinas, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, U.S.-Russia Business Council; MODERATOR: William E. Pomeranz, Deputy Director, Kennan Institute. 

Chinese Repression of Muslims in Xinjiang Echoes Across Central Asia

By: Paul Goble

First Published by Eurasia Daily Monitor, Jamestown Foundation, November 21, 2019

Beijing’s efforts to expand its power in Central Asia by investment and cooperation with the governments in the region (see China Brief, November 19, 2019; see EDM, April 4, 2019, January 30, 2018, August 2, 2016) are currently being undercut by the reactions of Central Asian populations to China’s repression of their co-ethnics and fellow Muslims in Xinjiang. Central Asians know far more about Chinese actions there than many might expect for three reasons: 1) the flight of such people from China to Central Asia, 2) the use of the Internet by Uyghurs and other activists to tell the world and particularly Central Asia about their plight, and 3) the exploitation of this information by opposition politicians in Central Asian countries.

Many members of the Central Asian nationalities currently living in Xinjiang have ancestors who escaped there after the Soviets crushed the Basmachi movement (Turkestan Liberation Organization) in the 1920s and 1930s. But over the past several months, they have been fleeing western China in increasing numbers and, upon arrival to their ancestral homelands, telling their co-ethnics about the concentration camps that the Chinese authorities have confined them to in the hopes of “re-educating” them away from Islam and national traditions and toward Beijing’s preferred values. The massive scale of this flight was highlighted in a recent report issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It states that during the first nine months of 2019, 4,500 ethnic Kazakhs from China resettled in Kazakhstan with the right of permanent residence as “oralmans,” the name Nur-Sultan has used for co-ethnic returnees (Centralasian.org, November 17; Fergana.agency, September 19).

Their personal accounts of mistreatment at the hands of the Chinese have inflamed Kazakhstani opinion, which had already been growing more hostile to Beijing because of Uyghur use of the Internet to document Chinese repression. In a recent issue of the Central Asian Survey, Rachel Harris of London’s SOAS and independent scholar Aziz Isa report on the way this works in an article entitled “Islam by Smartphone: Reading the Islamic Revival on WeChat.” Because this channel has proven so influential in Central Asia, and especially in Kazakhstan, it has attracted enormous attention there by independent media there and, thus, had a dramatic effect on the populations (Fergana.agency, March 6).

This development appears to have contributed in a significant way to the spread of anti-Chinese protests in Kazakhstan this fall. Those demonstrations, some of the largest in that country’s history, have taken place in almost all major cities and have put strains on relations between Kazakhstan and China. To be sure, the reports from Xinjiang and first-person accounts by those who fled that Chinese region are not the only cause. Many Central Asians have long resented the fact that the Chinese have often behaved extremely arrogantly in their dealings with the governments in the region, seemingly exploiting them in an openly neo-colonial way, and not providing these countries with the kind of support (relative to the Russian Federation and other outside powers) they had hoped China’s involvement would create (see EDM, September 10).

Anti-Chinese attitudes, linked to the Xinjiang case and otherwise, are not confined to Kazakhstan but exist, and appear to be intensifying, in all the countries of the region, with Chinese involvement in their economies and politics and Chinese mistreatment of their co-ethnics in Xinjiang being the leading causes. According to Bishkek-based journalist Pavel Dyatlentko, anti-Chinese attitudes have been on the rise throughout Central Asia; and whenever they have led to protests, Beijing reacted quickly and punitively, shutting consulates and suspending investment projects—actions that are only making the situation worse (Ia-centr.ru, September 11).

In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, he says, some Kyrgyz and Tajiks have expressed alarm at the massive debts to China that Bishkek and Dushanbe have run up, a development that many fear Beijing will exploit to gain political dominance. Elsewhere, the fact that Chinese investments have sparked Chinese immigration rather than created jobs for Central Asians is the bigger problem. Central Asians resent the appearance of “China towns” in their countries just as much as some in Russia’s Far East do (Vzglyad, August 15, 2018). And protests against the Chinese presence and Chinese repression have become part of the domestic political struggle in many of these countries.

According to Dyatlenko, as China has expanded its presence with the full cooperation of the regimes in power, opposition politicians have begun to play on this theme, recognizing that the Central Asian populations are not on the same page as their governments, as far as China is concerned. Given that China is likely to continue to expand its presence, further irritating local publics, the temptation of opposition groups to exploit such anger will only grow. If that happens—and the Bishkek commentator argues it will unless alternative sources of foreign investment appear—the anti-Chinese demonstrations that have taken place to date will be only the prelude to a situation that could easily spiral out of control, ethnicizing politics in these countries still further.

Should that occur, the consequences of the impact of China’s actions in Xinjiang and its moves to expand its position in Central Asia could transform the regional republics still further, sparking more Russian flight and even becoming another source of discord between Moscow and Beijing. The timing of such a cooling of relations would be particularly inauspicious for the Kremlin considering President Vladimir Putin’s current efforts to both promote a Russian-Chinese alliance against the United States as well as to recover Russia’s influence in Central Asia.

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