The Japan-US currency deal could do more harm than good

In late July, Japan and the US intervened jointly to prop up a yen at its weakest since 1986. It looked decisive. Within a month, half the gains were gone, the yen was sliding again, and the underlying causes remained untouched. This piece examines why the intervention was never likely to work, what it cost Japan in reserves, fiscal leverage, and policy independence, and what it means that Washington funded its share by quietly sidelining the European Central Bank.

(Analysis) When Taiwan Becomes the Flashpoint: Inside the Latest Japan-China Tensions

Since Sanae Takaichi’s recent statement on Japan’s potential “survival-threatening situation,” diplomatic relations between China, Japan, and Taiwan have reached a crisis point. All three countries are navigating these new tensions. This article analyses and traces the recent debates and discussions in the three countries.

[REPORT] Table for Two?: Italy and Other Upper-Middle Powers in Modern Global Affairs

This February, France’s President Emmanuel Macron hosted Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as Germany’s Olaf Scholz. Italy’s Giorgina Meloni was not invited to the dinner and this has caused some tensions between European leaders. While a dinner may seem small, the challenges that the European Union faces are not.

The New Normal/La Nouvelle Normalité/新常態: The G7 Summit vs China-Central Asia Summit: A New Group Confrontation?

This article discusses whether the G7 and China-Central Asia summits are symbols of a new group confrontation

The New Normal/La Nouvelle Normalité/新常態: From Japan-South Korea Rapprochement, AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Cooperation, to the US gaining military access to Philine Base: US Deployment in the Indo-Pacific

The US is trying to strengthen its military ties with Japan, Korea, AUKUS, and the Philippines to contain China.

(Analysis) The Return of Hard Geopolitics: Towards a New Era of EU-Japan Strategic Cooperation?

With increasing entanglements between Japan and the EU has there been a tipping point in EU-Japan strategic convergence?

TNGO Surveillance: Asia-Pacific – Fresh Tensions in the Sea of Japan

The Geopolitical backdrop in East Asia is simmering between North Korea and Japan with Pyongyang intensifying its hard power military projection, leading Tokyo and its allies to enhance their deterrence.

Let’s Tune In: Shinzo Abe’s Assassination

On 8th July 2022, the former Japanese President Shinzo Abe, one of the most influencial japanese politician post the Second War World and a candidate for the election that would have taken place two days ahead, was shot twice while he was attending an event where he had a speech.

[ANALYSIS] Japan-France Bilateral Partnership: What Future Direction for Strategic and Non-Traditional Security Cooperation?

France and Japan have long maintained close political and economic ties. Growing competition from China on the economic and security fronts, coupled with the increasing concern over the effects of climate change, requires France and Japan, two nations in the Indo-Pacific region and members of the G7, to leverage their cooperation to safeguard peace and stability of this maritime zone.