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Centers & Programs

Asia Program

Asia’s rise will define the twenty-first century. Pressing matters in East, South, and Central Asia—from North Korea’s nuclear program to the economic ascension of China and India—have global implications far beyond the region’s borders. And what happens in Asia will shape and be shaped by American foreign policy, society, and trade. The Asia program at the Council on Foreign Relations informs policymakers, business leaders, and the public at large about the complex future that lies ahead for the world’s largest and most economically dynamic continent. 

About the Program
60% share of the world’s population living in Asia

Featured

Asia

Lost Decade

Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine evaluate the limitations of the Pivot to Asia and offer a compelling vision for the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific.

Book by Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine June 11, 2024 Asia Program

China

Sparks
A sweeping portrait from the 1940s to the 2020s of one of humanity’s great battles of memory against forgetting, including some of China’s best-known public intellectuals.

Book by Ian Johnson September 26, 2023 Asia Program

Asia

The Coming North Korean Crisis And How Washington Can Prevent It Link

with Sue Mi Terry via Foreign Affairs May 16, 2024

Taiwan

Interactive: Why China Would Struggle to Invade Taiwan

with David Sacks January 10, 2024

China

China’s Marriage Rate Bounces Back After Covid—But Only Temporarily
An uptick in the number of new marriages in 2023 is likely a only temporary blip rather than a long-term change from China's steady transition to a rapidly aging society.

Blog Post by Carl Minzner March 25, 2024 Asia Unbound

Asia

Tipped Power Balance: China’s Peak and the U.S. Resilience
China's decline in economy and influence might indicate its unlikeliness to displace the United States as a leading global power in the foreseeable future. This development calls for a reevaluation of the U.S. policy towards China.

Blog Post by Yanzhong Huang February 22, 2024 Asia Unbound

India

India Strives to Balance Interests in the Middle East
As conflict intensifies in the Middle East, India's government attempts to juggle relations in the region.

Blog Post by Manjari Chatterjee Miller March 6, 2024 Asia Unbound

China

China and India Compete for Leadership of the Global South
China and India compete for leadership of the Global South, but it remains unclear whether either is winning. 

Blog Post by Manjari Chatterjee Miller February 1, 2024 Asia Unbound

Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Sham Election and the Regression of Democracy in South and Southeast Asia
Bangladesh’s unfree election is part of a larger trend of democratic regression in South and Southeast Asia.

Blog Post by Joshua Kurlantzick January 10, 2024 Asia Unbound

China

Tracking China’s Control of Overseas Ports
This interactive map tracks China’s growing maritime influence through investments in strategic overseas ports. Users can plot the location of each port and view satellite images alongside detailed information on the share of Chinese ownership, the total amount of Chinese investment, and the port’s suitability for use by the Chinese military.

Tracker by Zongyuan Zoe Liu November 6, 2023 Asia Program

China

Beijing’s Ideological Pivot Back To the Past
As China turns the page from its reform era, the Chinese Communist Party's official discourse increasingly references the country's imperial past. 

Blog Post by Carl Minzner February 23, 2024 Asia Unbound

North Korea

Security on the Korean Peninsula
Hearing on Security on the Korean Peninsula Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to have the opportunity to testify before this committee on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. We have just …

Testimony by Scott A. Snyder October 4, 2023 Asia Program

China

China’s Current Economy: Implications for Investors and Supply Chains
  Chair Cleveland, Chair Glas, and members of the Commission, thank you for inviting me to testify before the Commission. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to testify abo…

Testimony by Zongyuan Zoe Liu August 21, 2023 Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies

Taiwan

U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era
Although a conflict in the Taiwan Strait has thus far been avoided, deterrence has dangerously eroded. To maintain peace, the United States must restore balance to a situation that has been allowed to tilt far too much in China’s favor.

Task Force Report by Susan M. Gordon, Adm. Michael G. Mullen, David Sacks and Anya Schmemann June 20, 2023

Japan

Chino Mitsuru Claire: Leading Japan's Sōgō Shōsha
Itochu Corporation Managing Executive Officer Chino Mitsuru Claire shares about her path to corporate leadership.

Blog Post by Sheila A. Smith November 16, 2023 Asia Unbound

Program Experts

Alyssa Ayres

Adjunct Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia

Robert D. Blackwill

Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy

Jerome A. Cohen

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia Studies

Rush Doshi

Senior Fellow for China and Indo-Pacific Studies and Director of the China Strategy Initiative

Yanzhong Huang

Senior Fellow for Global Health

Ian Johnson

Stephen A. Schwarzman Senior Fellow for China Studies

Kenneth I. Juster

Distinguished Fellow

Joshua Kurlantzick

Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia

Zongyuan Zoe Liu

Maurice R. Greenberg Fellow for China Studies

Manjari Chatterjee Miller

Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia

Carl Minzner

Senior Fellow For China Studies

David Sacks

Fellow for Asia Studies

Adam Segal

Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program (ON LEAVE)

Sheila A. Smith

John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies

Sue Mi Terry

Senior Fellow for Korea Studies

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    Project

    Women’s Voices From the Indo-Pacific
    The Indo-Pacific is a critical region shaping the future of the United States’ role in the world and its competition with China. Yet many of the most influential voices from the United States’ import…

    January 13, 2021 Present

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    Project

    The New Geopolitics of China, India, and Pakistan
    The emergence of China and more recently, India, has reshaped relations and produced a broader area of economic integration in Asia. Even in southern Asia, where the strategic triangle of China, Indi…

    January 1, 2014 July 1, 2016

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    Project

    India's Role in the World
    India's rise to power has led to speculation and expectations about how it will change the global order. On the one hand, India is huge, with more than 1.3 billion people, and on track to become the …

    October 15, 2013 Present

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