International relations

President Trump at the Akasaka Palace
3. May 2023

Japan’s Abduction Issue: Why Japan-North Korea Relations Remain at a Standstill

Human rights, InFocus, International relations, Japan, Korea

Prior to 2002, the idea that Japanese nationals were once abducted and transported back to North Korea was labelled as a conspiracy theory by the Kim regime. This was until the Japan-North Korea summit meeting held in Pyongyang on September 17, 2002. The Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had hoped for three outcomes: for North Korea to agree they will no longer seek compensation and reparations, but rather economic cooperation; for North Korea to pledge to maintain international agreements on its nuclear programme and the moratorium on its missile testing programme; and finally, for North Korea to acknowledge the 1970s and 1980s abductions of Japanese nationals (Hughes, 2002, p.61). Few people expected North Korea to formally acknowledge their crimes, making the events of the summit and of the months to follow even more astounding.

Read more
1. Apr 2022

The People’s Map of Global China: Denmark profile

China, InFocus, International relations

While Denmark retains its pragmatic approach to China and largely frames the Sino—Danish relationship in terms of economic diplomacy, controversies related to human rights have strained bilateral ties in recent years.

Read more
7. Jan 2013

A couple of under-reported observations on North Korea’s rocket launch

InFocus, International relations, Korea, nuclear weapons, security studies

North Korea’s successful rocket launch on December 12, 2012 predictably spurred worldwide condemnation and media attention. Many of the reports immediately following the launch were remarkably similar and contained few attempts at alternative interpretations of the launch itself and of its implications. In the following text a couple of rather under-reported observations on the North […]

Read more
15. Oct 2012

Mo Yan på tryggt avstånd från politiken av Johan Lagerkvist

China, culture, democracy, government, Human rights, InFocus, International relations, literature, politics

Svenska Akademiens beslut att 2012 års Nobelpris i litteratur går till den kinesiske författaren Mo Yan är ett val som får enorm uppmärksamhet i Kina. Det är svårt att överskatta Nobelprisernas betydelse i ett land och en kultur där dessa utmärkelser – i synnerhet de naturvetenskapliga – varit stora nyheter alltsedan reformpolitiken inleddes 1978. I en […]

Read more
12. Jun 2012

Myanmar open for business, not its people

Burma, democracy, development, InFocus, International relations, Myanmar, refugees

by Gerhard Hoffstaedter, School of Social Science at the University of Queensland Aung San Suu Kyi has just left Myanmar (Burma) for the first time in 24 years visiting Thailand and Europe and calling for more foreign investment in Myanmar. Meanwhile, ethnic tensions in Myanmar continue to erupt to the surface in a country that […]

Read more
4. Jun 2012

At the High Table

India, InFocus, International relations, nationalism, nuclear weapons, politics

by Stig Toft Madsen, NIAS On April 19th India test-fired a long-range ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear bomb. With a range stated to be more than 3.100 miles, the missile would be able to reach not only large Chinese cities beyond the Tibetan plateau.  It could reach even further. The distance from say […]

Read more
18. Jan 2012

China in Global Climate Change Politics

China, environment, InFocus, International relations, politics, renewable energy

One of the paradoxes that COP17 left us with to solve is that of how to really understand China as a global climate change player. China has become more and more sure of herself both politically and economically  in any global setting. But when it comes to global climate change politics, we see a very […]

Read more