Former Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto spoke at EWC on Jan. 28, detailing the Abe government's efforts to revise the country's post-war self-defense laws amid an Asia Pacific security environment that he said has changed dramatically in the last 70 years.

EWC has received at $750,000 grant from NASA to study changes in the mountain forests of Nepal over the past 25 years. Led by EWC Senior Fellow Jefferson Fox, investigators seek to document the recovery of plant growth in previously deforested areas in the country whose mountain forests have sustained much of the population for generations.

EWC Visiting Fellow Motohiro Tsuchiya writes in a new CFR 'Net Politics' blog post that the Sony cyber attack comes as Japan, armed with a new 'Cybersecurity Basic Law,' seeks to build international partnerships against online threats.

Senior Fellow Denny Roy argues in a recent Asia Pacific Bulletin policy brief that, contrary to the view of many observers, China does in fact have a “grand strategy” to advance its national interests, but it contains “some elements that contradict each other."

Priscilla Clapp, former U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Burma, writes in a new Asia Pacific Bulletin policy brief that "A return to sanctions and punitive policies would limit U.S. influence on the government just at the time when we have a unique array of policy measures and channels of communication for assisting and guiding the transition forward."

EWC Senior Fellow Dieter Ernst has put out a study examining the objectives, strategy and implementation policies of China’s new push in semiconductor manufacturing and what they imply for the country’s prospects in this key industry. …more…