Relations In post-Cold War Era Research Articles

Идеи Сато Масару о российско-японских связях в 1990–2010-е гг. в контексте его профессиональной биографии

Introduction. Paper examines the views on politics and politicians of a former diplomat, member of the Japanese MOFA “Russian school”, popular political analyst, author of more than 200 books and articles on politics, politicians and political thought, Sato Masaru. Methods and Materials. The objective of this study is to extract the most relevant and illustrative ideas about politics and political behavior, expressed by a former diplomat, which relate to the essential characteristics and contents of the Russian-Japanese negotiations in the 1990s. The data sources for our analysis are the memoirs by Sato Masaru and his non-fiction texts (“The Self-Destructing Empire”, “The Art of Negotiating”, “State, God and Marxism”, “Russian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations: Northern Territories and Intelligence”). Analysis. Sato Masaru expresses uncommon views on Japanese and Russian political culture during the period of the rise of the Russian-Japanese relations in Post-Cold War era, which coincided with the “Lost Decade” depression in Japan in the 1990s and lasted for three decades. Moreover, Sato’s views illustrate the pragmatic approaches of the Japanese diplomatic machine towards the dialogue with Russia, while he obtained his information by observing members of elite groups of politicians in Moscow and Tokyo. In order to extract and study Sato’s most representative ideas, we have divided our text into four parts: (1) Sato Masaru’s professional biography, (2) his views on the structure of Russian and Japanese elite groups in relation to Sato’s diplomatic activities; (3) his assessment of the Putin-Abe dialogue in the context of the international situation. Results. The specific Sato’s views concerning Russian-Japanese relations in the Post-Cold War decades consist in (1) similarities between Russian and Japanese political cultures within the structure and behavior of elites, which are beneficial for a fruitful interstate dialogue; (2) assessment of the Putin-Abe ties in the 2010s taking into account Sato’s diplomatic experience in the 1990s and a panoramic view of international affairs under the Ukrainian crisis and sanctions during the 2010s.

United States–Pakistan Relations in Post-Cold War Era: A Political–Security Perspective

In this article, the political–security relations between the United States and Pakistan in the Post-Cold War era are analyzed. The allied relationship between the two countries during the Cold War was abruptly disrupted following the conclusion of the Cold War in 1991 and the United States imposed a series of sanctions against Pakistan following the nuclear issue in 1990. However, the September 11 attacks of 2001 and the global anti-terrorism war launched by the G. W. Bush government resumed the relationship. Again, Pakistan became one of the principal allies of the United States and bilateral political–security relations were promoted unprecedentedly thanks to their collaboration against terrorism. The war against terrorism, however, has also produced many contradictions, which brought the relationship between the two countries into disputes and crises. This article discusses the U.S.–Pakistan relations in the Post-Cold War Era with special attention to the political–security aspects. Attempts will be made to clarify the nature, impacts and tendencies of the relationship. The U.S.–Pakistan relationship is a typical example of the international relationship between a superpower and a middle power, and it is also typical of the U.S.’s changing alliance relations.

INDO-US STRATEGIC RELATIONS IN 21ST CENTURY

The disintegration of Soviet Union had positively impacted Indo-US relations in post Cold-War era. The post Cold-War strategic scenario provided a chance to both countries to redefine their bilateral priorities. The US was always keen to improve bilateral relationship with India and therefore India initiated Defence cooperation with the US in changing strategic environment. India’s nuclear explosion [1998] had posed some divergences in Indo-US relationship. India and the US signed strategic partnership in 2000 and therefore the US set-aside its sanctions against India. India signed ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership’ [NSSP] with the US in 2004 and both countries started strategic dialogue in 2009. Both the nations signed a ‘New Framework for Defence Relationship’ in 2005 and ‘123 Civil Nuclear Agreement’ in 2008. India has always supported US’s ‘pivot-aria’ policy and played a meaningful role in counter China strategy. India and the US renewed their ‘New Framework for Defence Relationship’ in 2015 and signed ‘Logistic Support Agreement’ in 2016. Indo-US strategic relations were touched new heights when the Obama administration had declared India as a major Defence partner in 2016. The new US President Trump also showed its softness towards India and called Indian Prime Minister Modi as a ‘True Friend of US’. The decline of US-Pakistan strategic relations has positively affected Indo-US relations. The Pakistan factor has always affected Indo-US relations. The US administration considers that India would play a meaningful role in counter China planning. The study explores the raison d’être of Indo-US strategic partnership. The present paper intends to look into the Indo-US strategic cooperation and points out the improvement in Indo-US strategic relations in 21st century.

Chasing the Rising Red Crescent: Sino-Shi’i Relations in Post-Cold War Era China

This article adopts a unique angle to analyze China’s Middle East policy in “Chasing the Rising Red Crescent: Sino-Shi’i Relations in the Post-Cold War Era.” With the end of the Cold War and the political renaissance of Islam, the author argues that China’s strategic approaches towards the Middle East have changed fundamentally. The rise of China on the Middle East coupled with the strategic ascendancy of Shi’i Islam in the Middle East invites a strategic window for the emerging architecture of global geopolitics and world economy. The aim of Lee’s study is to make clear the historical trajectories and evolving strategic calculations in China’s Middle East policy and its global implications by reviewing Sino-Shi’i relations in general and introducing Chinese strategic interactions with Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas in particular. Since the establishment of zhongguo zhongdong wenti teshi [Chinese Special Envoy for Middle Eastern Affairs] in 2002, China’s economic presence and political clout in the Middle East including the Shi’i region have been advanced obviously. Sino-Shi’i relations in the post-Cold War era, thus, should be seriously examined not only for understanding China’s strategic perceptions of the Middle East but also for explaining the pattern of Chinese foreign behaviours, as well as for expecting the impact of China’s rising in the region and its geopolitical implications for the future of China-U.S. relations