Asia

Fifty years after a perilous escape over the Himalayas, the third instance of flight by a Dalai Lama in the 20th century from his seat in Lhasa, His Holiness appears no closer to returning – or being allowed to return – to his homeland.

Although the United States is unquestionably a Pacific power, it lacks a comprehensive Asia strategy. In fact, the U.S. approach to Asia has focused primarily on Northeast Asia—Japan, China, South and North Korea. Appropriately, significant focus has also been given to India in the last five years.

In 2004, Pacific Forum CSIS founded the Young Leaders program because it had become apparent to us that a generational transition was underway in the Asia Pacific region and many of the assumptions that guided thinking about regional relations were being re-examined. The YL program has tried to hone in on the seeming divergence of views.

Rural worlds are changing rapidly. Information technology has shortened the distances from remote villages to urban centers but has also sharpened the contrasts in ways of life.

President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague in April 2009 signaled a profound shift in US thinking about nuclear weapons and imparted renewed momentum to the nuclear disarmament movement. No supporter of this cause has any illusions about the obstacles that lie in the path of its realization.