Skip to page content

East Asia

Featured

East Asia, comprising China, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, and North and South Korea, is a region that has historically been of critical interest to the United States. In particular, China's growing economic, military, and diplomatic power in the region and North Korea's nuclear ambitions have long been a focus of U.S. foreign policy and of RAND research.

Content
The RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy
The RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy improves policy by providing decisionmakers and the public with rigorous, objective, cutting-edge research on critical policy challenges facing Asia and U.S.-Asia relations.
Mar 14, 2018
Commentary
Yoon Suk-yeol Is Biden's Perfect South Korea Partner
Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea's conservative new president, has shown that he is in lockstep with U.S. President Joe Biden on foreign policy. During Biden's Indo-Pacific trip in May, their conversations in the security domain suggest Yoon's overlapping tenure with Biden heralds a golden era in the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
Jul 5, 2022

Explore East Asia

Report
Assessing the Prospects for Great Power Cooperation in the Global Commons
This report, part of a four-part series, describes the potential for U.S. cooperation with China or Russia on global commons issues, including freedom of access to space, countering violent extremist organizations, and promoting global stability.
Feb 20, 2023
Research Brief
Prospects for U.S.-China and U.S.-Russia Security Cooperation
In a world now dominated by U.S. strategic competition with Russia and China, the obstacles to cooperation—particularly the absence of trust—are growing. Cooperation will be rare and narrowly focused, often limited to making strategic competition
Feb 20, 2023
Commentary
Great Power Competition Is on the Arctic Agenda
Despite its military problems in Ukraine, Russia remains a formidable potential adversary in the Arctic. And there is a growing realization that China is not going away in the Arctic, bringing both of the United States' strategic competitors into Alaska's backyard. Can great power politics be checked at the door of the Far North?
Feb 16, 2023
Commentary
Why Is North Korea Showing Off Its ICBMs?
On February 8, North Korea held a military parade in Pyongyang to call attention to the strengths of the North's military weapons, including what appeared to be 11 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Can the United States and its allies afford to wait until North Korea has dozens of ICBMs and hundreds of nuclear weapons? Because that is the direction in which Kim says he is moving.
Feb 15, 2023
Commentary
Preparing for the Next India-China Border Crisis
Mounting tensions between India and China due to Chinese encroachment on their disputed border affect the United States and its Indo-Pacific strategy. Washington should assist New Delhi in deterring further Chinese attempts to nibble away at Indian territory and be ready to respond quickly in case events spiral out of control.
Feb 15, 2023
Blog
State of the Union, Mental Health First Aid, China's Spy Balloon: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on President Biden's State of the Union address, the benefits of mental health first aid training, insights on China’s spy balloon, and more.
Feb 10, 2023
Commentary
U.S. Cannot Count on South Korea's Yoon to Line Up Against China
South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol wants South Korea to become a global pivotal state that plays a valuable role in the international community. Turning this into reality will inevitably mean striking a balance between the United States and China.
Feb 9, 2023
Blog
State of the Union 2023: Insights from RAND
In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden covered a wide range of issues facing the United States at home and abroad, including police violence, gun policy, Russia's war in Ukraine, and U.S. competition with China.
Feb 8, 2023
Commentary
Japan's Long-Awaited Return to Geopolitics
In very short order, Japan moved to change decades of strategic thinking and embark on a new approach to security. The stark reality of geopolitics and the realization that what was once hypothetical is now possible were likely enough to convince Japan that the time for a new approach to its security is now.
Feb 6, 2023
Multimedia
The 7th Annual West Coast Aerospace Forum
U.S. Air Force leaders and top national security experts gathered at the seventh annual West Coast Aerospace Forum in December 2022. This year's event focused on lessons learned from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and how those experiences will apply to security challenges in the Pacific theater and beyond. These videos include the proceedings from the event's five sessions.
Feb 1, 2023
Blog
Avoiding a Long War in Ukraine, Gun Violence, Migrant Surges: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on how the United States can help avoid a long war in Ukraine, responding to the gun violence crisis, limits on teachers’ instruction, and more.
Jan 27, 2023
Commentary
Japan's Strategic Shift: Significant, but Implementation Hurdles May Await
Japan's new strategic documents appear to demonstrate a recognition in Tokyo that it must do more for its own defense in the face of unprecedented security challenges. The dedication of resources, pursuit of new capabilities, and overarching commitment to a more robust defense are all significant moves that represent landmark change by one of America's key allies.
Jan 27, 2023
Testimony
China's Overseas Military Diplomacy and Implications for U.S. Interests
As the U.S.-China competition intensifies, military diplomacy is one of the tools that China could potentially use to gain advantage. What are some ways that China’s military diplomacy activities could challenge U.S. interests? And what are some recommendations for U.S. policymakers?
Jan 26, 2023
Report
How Can the Mobility Air Forces Better Support Adaptive Basing? Appendixes A–C, Supporting Analyses of Adaptive Basing, Soft Power, and Historical Case Studies
The U.S. Air Force is exploring adaptive basing to reduce vulnerability and preserve critical combat capabilities in highly contested environments. These appendixes present supporting analyses, including political challenges and case studies.
Jan 24, 2023
Blog
Regulating Space, Threats to Critical Infrastructure, Psychedelics: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the need for governance in outer space, why the recent FAA system failure was a wake-up call, the changing policy landscape around psychedelic therapies, and more.
Jan 20, 2023
Commentary
'Strategic Ambiguity' May Have U.S. and Taiwan Trapped in a Prisoner's Dilemma
For its proponents, the idea of strategic ambiguity seems to have become an end in itself that has not adapted, and logically cannot adapt to the disruptive growth in Beijing's military power. The conditions under which the policy worked seem to have evaporated with China's rise. Strategic clarity may offer a way out of this dilemma.
Jan 18, 2023
Report
Bolstering U.S. Air Bases Against Chinese and Russian Attacks
There's a growing consensus that China and Russia represent major threats to U.S. interests, and there are calls to counter the threats cost-effectively. Air base resilience requires close familiarity with the threat, a systematic approach for addressing it, and sustained efforts to build on investments in protection.
Jan 17, 2023
Blog
U.S. Gun Laws, China's COVID Outbreak, Space in 2050: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on gun policy in America, the myth of America's “Ukraine fatigue,” the COVID outbreak in China, and more.
Jan 13, 2023
Research Brief
Managing the Escalation Risks of U.S. Military Activities in the Indo-Pacific
This brief describes how the United States can select and shape its military activities in the Indo-Pacific region to deter Chinese aggression against U.S. allies and partners while also limiting the risks of escalatory Chinese reactions.
Jan 12, 2023
Commentary
What's Korean About South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy?
The Korean Indo-Pacific Strategy may not be a sign of South Korea pivoting or leaning toward the United States over China. That conclusion could present a false dichotomy.
Jan 11, 2023

Previous
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next

RAND Topic:
East Asia

Topic Synonyms:
Asia

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Timothy R. Heath

Senior International/Defense Researcher

Timothy R. Heath is a senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation. Prior to joining RAND, Heath had over fifteen years of experience in the U.S. government researching and analyzing military and political topics related to China.
Michael J. Mazarr

Senior Political Scientist

Michael J. Mazarr is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Previously he worked at the U.S. National War College, where he was professor and associate dean of academics; as president of the Henry L. Stimson Center; senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International…

Explore Our People »