Program Description
The Strategic Asia Program at The
National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is a major initiative that
tracks strategic developments in the Asia-Pacific on an ongoing basis. NBR
developed the program to fulfill three goals:
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To provide a comprehensive understanding of the strategic environment in Asia,
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To look forward five years, and in some cases beyond, to contemplate the
region’s future, and
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To establish a record of data and assessment that will assist those interested
in understanding Asia’s changing strategic landscape and the implications for
regional stability.
Through an annual volume and web-based analysis, the Strategic Asia program
tracks significant developments from Central Asia and Russia through South,
Northeast, and Southeast Asia and across the Pacific to the United States. This
involves:
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Tracking the capabilities of states and the consequent changing balance of
power in the region, as measured by a broad set of political, economic,
demographic, and military indicators.
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Examining the perceptions and strategies of regional actors, especially where
policies threaten conflict or suggest cooperation.
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Assessing how trends, perceptions, strategies, and non-linear changes combine
to create new strategic challenges and opportunities for the United States.
The Strategic Asia Program’s focus on significant trends and developments in the
Asia-Pacific is important because Asia is both a major market for U.S. trade
and investment and a potential source of instability and conflict that would
affect U.S. national security. The program provides a regional,
interdisciplinary approach to understanding the strategic environment in Asia
and its impact on U.S. national interests.
Program Initiatives
The
annual Strategic Asia volume—the core product of the program—provides
an assessment of the region as a whole, as well as in-depth analysis of
important states and sub-regions.
The most recent edition, Strategic Asia 2008-09: Challenges and Choices, assesses the major
strategic choices on Asia facing the new U.S. president and administration as well as the broader policy community.
The seventh edition, Strategic Asia 2007–08: Domestic Political Change and Grand Strategy,
examines the varied political transitions and internal changes occurring in pivotal Asian states and evaluates the impact on Asian foreign policymaking and strategy.
The sixth edition, Strategic Asia 2006–07: Trade, Interdependence, and Security, examines how trade
and interdependence fit into the grand strategies of various Asian states and
how changing economic relationships could affect regional stability in Asia.
The fifth edition, Strategic
Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty, focuses
on the defense capabilities of key Asian powers in the context of their grand
strategies. Through a combination of country, regional, and topical studies,
the book assesses how Asian states are modernizing their militaries in response
to China's rise as a regional power, the war on terrorism, changes in U.S.
force posture, the revolution in military affairs, and local security dilemmas.
The fourth edition,
Strategic Asia 2004–05: Confronting Terrorism in the Pursuit of Power,
examines the successes and setbacks in the U.S.-led war on terrorism and
assesses its impact on the grand strategies of major Asian powers.
The third edition,
Strategic Asia 2003–04: Fragility and Crisis, examines the
sources of vulnerability in Asia, especially the changing balance of power in
the political and economic systems of key Asian states.
The second edition,
Strategic Asia 2002–03: Asian Aftershocks, assesses how the
September 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath changed the distribution of
power in the region, the strategies that states pursue, and the patterns of
interaction that developed among them.
The first edition,
Strategic Asia 2001–02: Power and Purpose, provides a baseline
assessment of the balance of power in Asia and addresses the short- and
long-term trends shaping the region’s strategic environment.
Each volume is accompanied by an executive summary.
The program's website (http://strategicasia.nbr.org)
is designed to enable users not only to view and
download reports, but also to obtain and manipulate a broad range of strategic
data. The website features a fully interactive—and freely accessible—database
that allows users to dynamically link to or download data sets containing
economic, political, and military indicators.
Presentations are organized each year to foster discussion on major, relevant
public issues. In addition to public conferences and workshops, private
briefings are held for key policymakers in Congress and U.S. government
agencies, as well as for corporate decisionmakers.
For more information about the Strategic Asia program, contact Program Director
Mercy Kuo.