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
With the US out of Afghanistan, Iran jumps on the opportunity of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

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
With the US out of Afghanistan, Iran jumps on the opportunity of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

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
With the US out of Afghanistan, Iran jumps on the opportunity of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

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

IranSource

Sep 23, 2021

With the US out of Afghanistan, Iran jumps on the opportunity of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

By Jonathan Fulton

Even if Iran’s full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is stalled, the US exit from Afghanistan changes the regional landscape.

Afghanistan China

SouthAsiaSource

Sep 22, 2021

Experts react: The September 2021 White House QUAD meeting

By Atlantic Council

US President Joe Biden is set to host a first in-person Quad meeting on September 24, 2021, with Australia, India, and Japan present. South Asia Center experts react to the meeting and offer insight into what to expect. 

Australia Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2021

Evergrande’s place in China’s house of cards

By Jeremy Mark

The market uncertainty around China's teetering property giant is decidedly political, a reflection of President Xi Jinping's shifting policies.

China East Asia

SouthAsiaSource

Sep 21, 2021

A reinvigorated Quad is becoming a key element of the new US administration’s Asia policy—just not in the way you expected.

By Atman Trivedi

A reinvigorated Quad is becoming a key element of the new US administration’s Asia policy. Its members—Australia, India, Japan, and the US—convened virtually in March at the leader level. Amid multiple global crises, they wisely opted to focus on concrete ways to deliver for their people and the region. The grouping sought to prove that democracy still works, as President Biden likes to say. The Quad Leaders’ communique set the bar high: cooperation on “the defining challenges of our time.”

Indo-Pacific Japan

In the News

Sep 21, 2021

Asat quoted in Reuters on the struggles of overseas Uyghurs trying to locate their relatives in Xinjiang prisons

By Atlantic Council

China Civil Society

In the News

Sep 20, 2021

Schuman in The Atlantic: America’s China strategy is working

By Atlantic Council

On September 20, 2021, Michael Schuman published a story in The Atlantic that explores “how Washington’s push against Beijing’s human-rights abuses could have more of an impact than tariffs or trade wars.”

China Human Rights

In the News

Sep 19, 2021

Fulton quoted in Financial Times on Gulf powers’ ties to Beijing

By Atlantic Council

China Economy & Business

Inflection Points

Sep 19, 2021

Xi’s big bet helps explain the Australian submarine deal

By Frederick Kempe

It is only in the context of Xi’s increased repressions at home and expanded ambitions abroad that one can fully understand Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision

Australia China
Photo: U.S. Air Force

Event Recap

Sep 17, 2021

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discusses the future of deterrence

By Jacob Mezey

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen John E. Hyten discusses deterrence for the twenty-first century.

China Defense Industry

In the News

Sep 17, 2021

Sales joins Fox Business to discuss American foreign policy regarding Afghanistan and China

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan China
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Experts

Fellow

Scott D. Berrier

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Defense Policy
Jessica Batke

Fellow

Jessica Batke

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Civil Society

Staff

Charlotte Bertrand

Project Assistant

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Defense Industry

Millennium fellow

Nathan Bruschi

Chief Executive Officer, Anchorwork Inc.

Millennium Leadership Program

Civil Society East Asia

Fellow

Alvin Camba

Nonresident Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Chinese

Fellow

Josh M. Cartin

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Chinese
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Events

Public Event Mon, March 23, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

Kurt Campbell on what to expect from Trump’s Beijing visit
China Economy & Business Politics & Diplomacy Technology & Innovation