Howard College Discussion Question: What are the most pressing political and/or security issues in Asia? Please be specific.

Culture plays an important role throughout Asia. The region encompasses many diverse societies that are all unique. The many of the countries in the region have also seen dramatic economic growth as a result of globalization. Asia also has significant contemporary security issues with implications for both U.S. and international security. Specific examples include a growing and militarizing China, North Korean nuclear proliferation, and a remilitarizing and increasingly nationalist Japan.Required Lesson Material: Video. “The Miracle of Asia: Singapore Documentary.” YouTube. Watch all. In this short video, James Wiffen explores the dramatic rise of Singapore in southeast Asia. He traces the historical context of British rule, post-World War II Japanese control, and Singapore’s independence achieved in 1959. Students should pay particular attention to how modernization has impacted some countries in Asia (such as Singapore) more beneficially than some other regions that we have studied thus far in the course.Required Lesson Material: Mark E. Manyin et al. “Pivot to the Pacific? The Obama Administration’s ‘Rebalancing’ Toward Asia.” Congressional Research Service. 28 March 2012. Read all.In this non-partisan report for current members of the U.S. Congress, Mark E. Manyin and his team of experts analyze the Obama Administration’s “pivot” to Asia that encapsulates current U.S. foreign policy. They examine the background to contemporary U.S. policy toward Asia, areas of continuity, areas of change, as well as the benefits, costs, and risks of such a plan. Students should pay particular attention to the strategic, diplomatic, and economic dynamics at work in Asia and how these relate to U.S. and international security. The authors note that “In the fall of 2011, the Obama Administration issued a series of announcements indicating that the United States would be expanding and intensifying its already significant role in the Asia- Pacific, particularly in the southern part of the region. The fundamental goal underpinning the shift is to devote more effort to influencing the development of the Asia-Pacific’s norms and rules, particularly as China emerges as an ever-more influential regional power. Given that one purpose of the “pivot” or “rebalancing” toward the Asia-Pacific is to deepen U.S. credibility in the region at a time of fiscal constraint, Congress’s oversight and appropriations roles, as well asits approval authority over free trade agreements, will help determine to what extent the Administration’s plans are implemented and how various trade-offs are managed.”II. Politics in AsiaRequired Lesson Material: B. S. Agarwal. “Korea as an Epicentre of Northeast Asian Power Politics: A Historical and Geopolitical Perspective.” Indian Journal of Political Science, vol. 67, no. 2 (2006): 261–278. Read all.In this article, B. S. Agarwal explores Korea’s political role in Asia. The author highlights the important role of geography and culture in this dynamic and relates Korea’s politics to other countries throughout the region. The author notes that “Presently, Korea and China are in a grip of an unprecedented historical quarrel over the origin of an ancient Kingdom of Koguryeo. Both of them claim their ancestral linkages with it.84 As mentioned in the beginning of this paper, there was enormous intermingling of various tribes and clans living in the Korean peninsula and the adjoining areas of Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, etc., in the past ages. A complex structure of alliances and counter alliances among them also existed at that time.85 Therefore, it is very difficult to decide who belonged to whom. There is no sense in digging into extremely remote history of Northeast Asia. Even if it were proved that Koguryeo belonged either to Korea or to China, it would not serve any purpose. It would only create heated arguments and counter arguments between the scholars of two nations.86 In view of a long history of cordial relations between Korea and China, and for the sake of good will among the northeast Asian nations, it would be better for both of them to stop wrangling over this futile controversy.”Required Lesson Material: Kongdan Oh. “Understanding North Korea.” Brookings Institute. Read all.Politics in Asia are often quite unique. Nowhere is that dynamic more readily apparent than North Korea. In this short article, Kongdan Oh explores North Korea and illuminates the political dynamics of the ruling regime. He argues that “North Korea today is not one republic but two: A “Pyongyang Republic” and a “Republic of Everyone Else.” The distinction is both geographical and political. The capital city Pyongyang is clean, orderly, and modestly prosperous. Pyongyangites, most of them Party members, dress better than they used to, buy food at restaurants and street-side stalls, and talk on their cell phones. Foreign visitors, expecting to see a land of starving people, are impressed. The regime has the power to make the city—or the most visible parts of the city—to its own specifications. After all, there is no private enterprise to interfere with government plans. Kim Jong-un and the top elites live even better than the other citizens of Pyongyang. No matter how many economic sanctions are placed on North Korea, there always seems to be enough money to support the political elites, with plenty left over for nuclear weapons and missiles.”