East Asia

East Asia

For more than seventy years, East Asia has been the nexus of US presence and engagement in Asia. Today, the region is becoming a hotbed for the return of great power competition, with long-term US allies and partners like Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan next door to competitors and challengers including China, Russia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. While East Asia continues to navigate a number of longstanding traditional security issues, it must also address the rise of online disinformation, competition to pioneer emerging technologies, and more.

Explore
The digital yuan is only part of China’s expanding global payments network

New Atlanticist Mar 31, 2025

Dispatch from Hong Kong: How the ‘geoeconomic city’ is weathering global headwinds

By Josh Lipsky, Ananya Kumar

From Chinese and US economic growth to stablecoin regulations, a recent visit to Hong Kong offered important insights for two Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center experts.
China Digital Currencies
The digital yuan is only part of China’s expanding global payments network

New Atlanticist Mar 25, 2025

Reading between the lines of Taiwan’s new Quadrennial Defense Review

By Kitsch Liao

The recently released Quadrennial Defense Review offers a window into the Taiwanese military’s issues with prioritization, operational readiness, and manpower retention.
China East Asia
The digital yuan is only part of China’s expanding global payments network

Report Mar 24, 2025

How Beijing uses inducements as a tool of economic statecraft

By William Piekos

As strategic competition between the United States and China intensifies, Washington and Beijing seek every possible advantage to gain an edge. In this environment, both countries are increasingly turning to economic statecraft—the use of economic coercion or inducement to pursue strategic goals—to advance their interests.
China Economy & Business

Programs

The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative equips the transatlantic community to “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific and to position the Atlantic Council to serve as the essential link between high-level transatlantic and Asian leaders and thinkers

EXPLORE THE Initiative

Content

Econographics

Nov 12, 2026

The digital yuan is only part of China’s expanding global payments network

By Alisha Chhangani

Beijing is building multiple layers of financial infrastructure to engage more partners and expand the reach of its renminbi.

China Digital Currencies

Fast Thinking

Nov 12, 2026

What Jensen Huang’s Nvidia exit means for Washington, Wall Street, and Beijing 

By Atlantic Council

Our experts unpack what the alleged Nvidia espionage incident means for national security, markets, and relations with Beijing.

East Asia Technology & Innovation

Dispatches

Nov 12, 2026

Beyond the spy scandal: What the Nvidia-Megaspeed case reveals about export controls

By Maia Nikoladze, Lize de Kruijf

Washington must help the private sector protect technology and sensitive information against foreign threats.

Artificial Intelligence China

Dispatches

Nov 9, 2026

What students got right about the $6 billion Binance hack, and how they would prevent the next one

By Morgan McMurray

A year before the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, students at an Atlantic Council cyber strategy competition encountered an eerily similar scenario.

Digital Currencies Financial Crimes & Illicit Trade

Inflection Points

Nov 9, 2026

Dispatch from Dubai: After the midterms, allies see both US resilience and unreliability

By Frederick Kempe

In the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, allies are impressed by US democratic resilience but worried about policy predictability.

China NATO

Report

Nov 3, 2026

Religion as statecraft: What a decade of research reveals about the geopolitics of religious soft power

By Peter Mandaville

The post-Cold War assumption that international politics was converging toward a secular liberal framework in which religion would play at most a marginal role has not survived contact with the evidence. From China to Turkey to Saudi Arabia and Russia, states are integrating religion into their foreign policy in strategically significant ways.

China India

Issue Brief

Nov 2, 2026

How to prevent an energy quarantine of Taiwan

By Joseph Webster

An all-of-the-above energy strategy in Taiwan can help the United States and allies deter a Chinese energy quarantine of the island.

China Energy & Environment

Dispatches

Oct 23, 2026

North Korea may be the biggest winner of Russia’s war in Ukraine

By Rick Hoehne

Pyongyang is gaining combat experience, technology, and money by supporting Russia's invasion, raising security risks for the Indo-Pacific.

Indo-Pacific Korea

Econographics

Oct 20, 2026

The rewiring of globalization is under way

By Hung Tran

Global supply chains are being reconfigured in response to geopolitical and economic upheaval. This is a more nuanced picture than the term "deglobalization" suggests.

China Economy & Business

UkraineAlert

Oct 15, 2026

Russia’s Starlink substitute poses a security threat far beyond Ukraine

By Joshua Stein

The Kremlin is currently in the process of deploying a satellite communications network known as Rassvet, creating concerns for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and for the wider international security environment, writes Joshua Stein.

China Conflict
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Experts

Expert bio

MaryKay Carlson

Distinguished Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Africa East Asia

Fellow

Josh M. Cartin

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Chinese

Fellow

Dakota Cary

Nonresident Fellow

Global China Hub

China Cybersecurity

Fellow

Fanny Fang-Yi Chao

Nonresident Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Chinese

Expert

Ji-Ting Chen

Visiting Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center

China Freedom and Prosperity

Millennium fellow

Newman Cheng

Senior Software Engineer, Microsoft

Global Leadership Center

Artificial Intelligence East Asia
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Events

Public Event Fri, November 20, 2026 • 9:00 am ET

Future pathways for the US-Korea alliance
Korea Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense Security Partnerships