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 Gulf is a Flashpoint for Cyber Conflict

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 Gulf is a Flashpoint for Cyber Conflict

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 Gulf is a Flashpoint for Cyber Conflict

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

Cybersecurity and Stability in the Gulf

NATOSource

Jan 10, 2014

The Gulf is a Flashpoint for Cyber Conflict

By James Andrew Lewis, CSIS

Cyberattack is a new tool of national power. It provides a means of coercion, influence, and warfare.

Cybersecurity International Organizations
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and President Barack Obama

NATOSource

Jan 9, 2014

NATO After Rasmussen and the US Pivot to Asia

By Judy Dempsey, Strategic Europe

[P]ity [Secretary General Anders Fogh] Rasmussen’s successor. NATO is in bad shape, and morale is low.

China Europe & Eurasia
Syria's 1st batch of chemical weapons materials now onboard the Ark Futura

NATOSource

Jan 8, 2014

First Chemical Weapons Removed From Syria to Danish Ship

By BBC and AP

From BBC:  The first consignment of Syrian chemical weapons materials has left the country on a Danish ship.

China Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Jan 8, 2014

North Korea: Expect the Unexpected

By Robert A. Manning

Where is North Korea headed? When we last heard from the Boy General, Kim Jong-un, he was rationalizing the sudden and brutal execution of Pyongyang’s No.2,  Jang Sang Thaek, followed by threats to “strike mercilessly without notice” in response to anti-Kim protests in Seoul.

Korea National Security
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, June 6, 2012

NATOSource

Jan 3, 2014

China and Russia Bring Back Cold War Tactics

By Anne Applebaum, Washington Post

We in the United States may not believe that there is any real threat to our longtime alliance structures in Europe and Asia, but other people think those alliances are vulnerable and have set out to undermine them.

China NATO
Chinese Frigate

NATOSource

Dec 20, 2013

Chinese Military Ship Will Help Guard Destruction of Syria’s Chemical Weapons

By New York Times, Reuters, & South China Morning Post

From Jane Perlez, New York Times:  The same day that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel of the United States blasted the actions of a Chinese ship in the South China Sea as “irresponsible,” China announced that it would deploy a military ship to work with an American vessel involved in the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

China Italy
Chinese Military

NATOSource

Dec 20, 2013

Why are European Allies Arming China?

By David Lague, Reuters

If the People’s Liberation Army went to war tomorrow, it would field an arsenal bristling with hardware from some of America’s closest allies: Germany, France and Britain.

China Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2013

Three Cheers for China!

By Robert A. Manning

At a moment when few give the Obama administration much credit for either competence or strategy, a cascade of events in East Asia in recent days, not least John Kerry’s trip to Southeast Asia, point to important gains for the stabilizing and offshore-balancing role of US policy toward the Asia-Pacific.

China Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist

Dec 17, 2013

China Ascendant: Is Conflict Inevitable?

By Rajan Menon

Thucydides’ purpose in his great epic was to account for “what led to this great war falling upon the Hellenes.” He acknowledged that what we know as the Peloponnesian War was produced by many different disputes and depicted them masterfully, laying bare their specificities. But, in the opening pages, he warns us that dwelling on […]

China Indo-Pacific
G 20 Meeting in St. Petersburg

NATOSource

Dec 10, 2013

Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans Before G20 Meeting: Researcher

By Reuters and New York Times

From Jim Finkle, Reuters:  Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September’s G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis, according to research by computer security firm FireEye Inc.

China Cybersecurity
Load More

Experts

Fellow

Ahmed Aboudouh

Former Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic China

Fellow

Michael Allen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Cybersecurity

Fellow

Peter Arvo

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center

China Human Rights

Staff

Rayhan Asat

Senior Legal & Policy Advisor, China Lead

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Central Asia China

Fellow

Kelsang (Kaydor) Aukatsang

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Global China Hub

China Civil Society

Fellow

Jieun Baek

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Democratic Transitions Human Rights
Load More