Overview

The 21st century, oft referred to as the Asian century in international politics is so called owing to the rise of powerful economies from what was once seen as the ‘Orient’. Countries in Northeast Asia, be it the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Japan, Republic of China (ROC)/ Taiwan, South Korea or North Korea exert myriad types of influences on the international system. The various types of relationships among the countries of the Northeast Asian region also impact international politics as these range from conflicts over disputed islands, espionage, perceived historical injustices such as the Nanjing massacre to rising volumes of trades in the region to potential nuclear crises to balancing between acts of cooperation and conflict. The history, culture, society and politics, all of which are different from that of the Western world become interesting aspects of study as all of these impact the posturing of the countries of the region in their respective foreign policies. Given the fact that India has active conflicts as well as partnerships with countries of the region, a better understanding of Northeast Asia from the lenses of security to economics to diplomacy to culture becomes pertinent. The Center for Northeast Asian Studies looks at the countries of the region with fine lenses to offer understandings beyond what is provided by Western literature and theories of international politics. Tools such as track 2 discussions, seminars, lectures, primary research, historical and archival studies, along with a reliance on the languages of the region are used to understand international relations.