Posts From Alin Barbantan

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Asia Pacific Security

Potential end of a Philippines-US Security Treaty

The US-Philippine alliance is on the rocks, which has major implications for the Asia-Pacific: it marks a notable decrease in US influence in the region, creating a power void that will be filled by China, and further fragmenting a region that is already facing a growing arms race.

Asia Pacific Security

Australia-Japan alliance: A blueprint for something bigger?

Is the strengthening of bonds between Japan and Australia merely an attempt to balance China, or is it a sign of a more promising future?

Asia Pacific Politics

A change in the East Asian balance of power? The implications of the Trump-Kim Summit

Ever since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the United States and South Korea have formed a liberal democratic alliance, in opposition to the communist North Korea. Although the two allies have encountered ups and downs throughout the decades, recent developments gave hope that a fundamental change to the nature of America’s engagements in the Korean peninsula might occur. However, President Trump’s last two summits with Kim Jong-un have made little progress, and questions concerning how to successfully engage North Korea persist.

Asia Pacific Security

Japan: military expansion and instability in East Asia

With an incursive China, relaxing American input and an ambiguous Trump-Kim relationship, Japan bolsters its military capabilities to face uncertain times.