Crossly Center and the Year of the Indo-Pacific

Photo: Li Tao/Xinhua/Getty

Beginning in 2019 and through the pandemic with the help of Zoom, the Crossly Center was able to collaborate with the Denver Japanese Consulate and Japanese Foreign Ministry to direct a program joining Japanese professors and government officials with Korbel School professors and other foreign policy experts. The program is continuing with Korbel School’s Institute for Comparative and Regional Studies in a series of panels beginning in person and on Zoom on Thursday, March 2, at 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Korbel School Maglione Hall. To RSVP, click here: https://forms.gle/3t2aHdBcrBMDFbbW9.

The Year of the Indo Pacific

This year’s panels will focus on Japan and U.S. foreign policy shifts in the light of the new and more ominous conditions in the Indo-Pacific. From the rise of and cooperation between the authoritarian super-states of China and Russia to the impact in Asia of the war in Europe and direct military threats of China and North Korea against democratic states, the Indo-Pacific became a world theater under stress.

And as I blogged in January: Japan follows Germany in shedding its WWII foreign policy of low defense budgets and non-intervention foreign policy. Under a new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Japan has made overtures to South Korea, begun defense talks with Australia, shown expressions of support for Taiwan’s sovereignty and initiated closer integration into the U.S. deterrent.

The Buzz: The Year of the Indo-Pacific (fciruli.blogspot.com)