Rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula

The two Korean states are currently on a course of rapprochement.This development has led to détente in the international crisis surrounding North Korea’s nuclear program. If this path of reconciliationis to be consolidated and a potentially enduring resolution of the Korean conflict achieved, both of the Koreas, as well as the other global parties to the conflict, must seize the opportunities arising from current domestic trends.ISSN:2296-024

Flexibility by Design: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Future of Eurasian Cooperation

Given the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) potential significance, particularly with regard to Russia and China’s engagement in Central Asia, this comprehensive CSS study explores 1) the SCO’s distinctive features in terms of its set-up and agenda; 2) how China’s priorities and Sino-Russian relations have played a key role in shaping cooperation in the organization; 3) SCO enlargement and why it has been so divisive; 4) how Europe and Switzerland could engage with the organization, and more

Japan and South Korea: Adapting to Asia’s Changing Regional Order

Small and middle powers in Asia find themselves in a key arena of accelerating great-power competition. Nowhere are the economic dominance and politico-military ambitions of a rising China more evident and nowhere is the potential for military escalation between China and the US greater than here. Much sooner than in other regions of the world, countries in Asia have had to position themselves in the growing US-China rivalry. The experience of Japan and South Korea shows that middle powers have a role to play in shaping the rivalry, and thereby in shaping their own regional strategic environment.Klein- und Mittelmächte in Asien befinden sich in einer Schlüsselarena des beschleunigten Wettbewerbs der Grossmächte. Nirgendwo sind die wirtschaftliche Dominanz und die politisch-militärischen Ambitionen eines aufstrebenden Chinas offensichtlicher, und nirgendwo ist das Potenzial für eine militärische Eskalation zwischen China und den USA grösser als hier. Viel früher als in anderen Regionen der Welt mussten sich die asiatischen Länder in der wachsenden Rivalität zwischen den USA und China positionieren. Die Erfahrung Japans und Südkoreas zeigt, dass Mittelmächte eine Rolle bei der Gestaltung der Rivalität und damit bei der Gestaltung ihres eigenen regionalen strategischen Umfelds spielen müssen.ISSN:1664-066

Les deux Corées se rapprochent

Les deux Corées se rapprochent actuellement l’une de l’autre. Ce rapprochement s’accompagne à son tour d’une détente dans la crise internationale suscitée par le programme nucléaire nord-coréen. Pour pérenniser le rapprochement et pour trouver une solution à long terme au conflit coréen, les parties belligérantes coréennes et internationales doivent saisir l’opportunité qui s’offre.ISSN:2296-022

Tense Triangle in Asia: The South Korea Factor

South Korea and its triangular relationship with the US and North Korea are critical for security and stability in Asia. Understanding South Korea’s shifting domestic and international outlook is important for European states, looking for new cooperation opportunities and partners in Asia.Südkorea und seine Dreiecksbeziehungen zu den USA und Nordkorea sind entscheidend für die Sicherheit und Stabilität in Asien. Das Verständnis der sich verändernden nationalen und internationalen Perspektiven Südkoreas ist für europäische Staaten wichtig, die nach neuen Kooperationsmöglichkeiten und Partnern in Asien suchen.ISSN:2296-647

Confidence and Security-building on the Korean Peninsula and the Role of Switzerland

The Korean conflict is one of the oldest security flashpoints with global implications. Among the directly involved parties, we find the world’s most prosperous economies and largest militaries. North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons adds a global dimension. This study brings attention to some of the under-researched levels of the Korean conflict that are at the same time essential in view of its future resolution. It highlights the sketchy nature of the security architecture on the Korean Peninsula and reflects on how the architecture could develop in the future. More specifically, the study analyzes the inter-Korean dimension of the conflict with a special focus on military confidence-building. While recent efforts in this area are promising, they take place in a situation of growing tensions in the wider Asian region. In 2018 during a period of rapprochement, the two Koreas concluded a military agreement, in which they consented to a variety of military confidence-building measures. Some of the measures were swiftly implemented and helped stabilize the situation at the inter-Korean border. However, the renewed deterioration of inter-Korean relations, starting in 2019, has negatively affected the advances made under the agreement. Still, not all of the advances have been reversed, and some of the political conditions that were favorable to the recent inter-Korean rapprochement remain in place. The study also makes an inquiry into the possibility of a future peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and the related role of third state parties in it. European countries, most of which have held a minor role in Asia’s regional order in the post-World War II era, have started to seek ways of reengaging with the larger region, including with Northeast Asia. The study argues that Switzerland’s decades-long presence on the Korean Peninsula (as a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, NNSC) and its extensive, global experience as a neutral mediator in peace processes, puts it in a good position to play a constructive role in this world region whose geopolitical relevance is rapidly growing. NNSC states, including Switzerland, have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of military confidence-building, which they can share in a future peace process. Through their long-term institutional relations to the Korean Peninsula, they are well-positioned to facilitate such a process. The study also suggests that Switzerland has an interest in actively promoting discussions on the future of the NNSC and its own possible role in a future peace management system on the Korean Peninsula.Diese CSS Studie von Linda Maduz argumentiert, dass die Schweiz gut aufgestellt ist, um eine konstruktive Rolle auf der koreanischen Halbinsel zu spielen, deren geopolitische Bedeutung schnell wächst. Staaten der Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), inklusive der Schweiz, verfügen über einen reichen Wissens- und Erfahrungsschatz im Bereich der militärischen Vertrauensbildung, den sie in einen zukünftigen Friedensprozess einbringen können. Die Studie legt auch nahe, dass die Schweiz ein Interesse daran hat, aktiv Diskussionen über die Zukunft des NNSC voranzutreiben und ihre mögliche eigene Rolle in einem zukünftigen Friedensmanagementsystem auf der koreanischen Halbinsel zu fördern

Die Koreas nähern sich an: Chancen und Hürden

Zurzeit bewegen sich die beiden Koreas aufeinander zu. Das hat wiederum Entspannung in die internationale Krise um das nordkoreanische Atomprogramm gebracht. Für eine Verstetigung der Annäherung und eine allenfalls langfristige Lösung des Korea-Konfliktes müssen die koreanischen und internationalen Konfliktparteien die Chancen nutzen, die sich aufgrund aktueller innenpolitischer Trends eröffnen.ISSN:2296-023

Potenzial und Perspektiven der Shanghaier Organisation für Zusammenarbeit (SOZ)

Zusammen mit dem EDA untersuchte das CSS 2017/18 die Bedeutung und das Entwicklungspotenzial der Schanghaier Organisation für Zusammenarbeit (SOZ) als gestaltende Kraft in einer sich schnell verändernden Weltregion, die auch für die Schweiz immer wichtiger wird. Von einer formellen Partnerschaft mit der SOZ rät die CSS-Studie ab, denn eine solche erscheint für die Schweiz derzeit weder möglich noch erstrebenswert. Aber die bilateralen Beziehungen zu China, Russland und den zentralasiatischen Ländern sollen ausgebaut und inhaltlich individuell ausgestaltet werden

A Protest Event Dataset for Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand (1985-2005)

Recent waves of mass demonstrations around the world have attracted renewed scholarly and political attention to the question of the role of grassroot movements in political change. In explaining political transition processes, the democratization literature usually attributes a prominent role to elite actors. Influential democratization scholars depict the transition process as a process of negotiation and pact-building between key elite actors. By contrast, mass movements are seen as a rather passive element in the process that can be mobilized and demobilized by the elite. This project challenges the democratization literature’s narrow focus on the political elite and aims at combining it with insights from the social movement literature. The experience of newly democratized countries in East and Southeast Asia provides an interesting empirical basis to study how key stages in the democratization process are related to mass mobilization. Relying on a newly constructed dataset of protest events (1985–2005), the project analyzes similarities and differences between mass mobilization and respective actions and responses by elite actors in three countries in the region, namely Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand