20/01/2023
In the current tumultuous geopolitical setting, Tokyo may have a very specific, stabilizing role to play.
Asia
Asia is now a nerve center for global economic activity and a theatre of some of the most critical political and security developments of our time. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform of discussion on Asian issues that seeks to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
Ifri's Center for Asian Studies’ research is organized along three major axes: regionalism and intra-regional relationships in Asia; relations between Asia’s major powers (China, Japan, India) and the rest of the world; and internal political, economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. This research focuses primarily on China, India and Japan, but also increasingly covers the Korean peninsula, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and the Indo-Pacific Strategies.
The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The Center’s researchers regularly participate in international conferences, particularly in Asia. Their work, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.
Françoise NICOLAS
Senior Research Fellow and Director of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies
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Marc JULIENNE
Research Fellow, Head of China Research, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
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Céline PAJON
Research Fellow,
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John SEAMAN
Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies
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Sophie BOISSEAU du ROCHER
Associate Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies
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Christian LECHERVY
Advisor to the Program on Pacific Islands, Center for Asian Studies
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Claude MEYER
Senior Advisor, Center for Asian Studies
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Isabelle SAINT-MEZARD
Associate Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies
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Over the past decade or so Southeast Asia has gone through multiple developments which usher in an era of alarming political uncertainty. While several countries were thought to be heading toward democracy (Myanmar, Thailand), recent events suggest that vested interests die hard and that...
In 2017, Secretary General Xi Jinping said: "This is an era that will see China move closer to the center of the world stage". The People's Republic of China is indeed at a pivotal moment in its history, gradually acquiring all the components of power and competing with, if not surpassing, the...
Malgré son émergence depuis la fin des années 1990, l’Inde peine à entraîner ses voisins dans sa dynamique de croissance autant qu’à pacifier l’ensemble de sa sous-région. L’Asie du Sud reste marquée par de fortes tensions, avec des zones exposées à des niveaux élevés de violence intra-étatique ...
As the international system undergoes a major overhaul, Japan is emerging as one pillar of the multilateral rules-based order. Despite being often perceived as a declining country, it remains the world's third largest economy and, as a member of the RCEP, CP-TPP and the Japan-EU Economic...
One of the few countries that managed to successfully transform itself from an aid-receiving country to a donor country, South Korea is an economic success story which is often seen as a role model for emerging countries in the region and beyond. Its foreign policy seeks to capitalize on these...
France and the European Union (EU) have issued their own Indo-Pacific strategies meant to enhance their commitment in this strategic area. Until now, the Pacific Islands – the member states and territories of the Pacific Community (SPC) – have received little attention despite their strategic...
An area long reserved to specialists of “Greater China” and overlooked in European policy circles, Taiwan has succeeded in carving out an important space for itself on the international scene in recent years. Its management of the Covid-19 crisis has proven exemplary. Its approach to managing new...
The Indo-Pacific is today a key geopolitical concept that informs the strategies of major international players. A maritime space encompassing the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Indo-Pacific is above all a political construct that reflects the competition for influence revolving around the Sino...
21/12/2022
In September 2020, Germany adopted policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific that comprehensively set out its approach towards this increasingly important region, seeking to diversify partnerships beyond China.
08/12/2022
China-Russia cooperation in space has been increasing for the past two decades. This cooperation accelerated after the Crimea crisis in 2014 and culminated with the announcement in 2021 of the joint construction of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).<...>
Space - Asia - China - Russia / NIS
30/11/2022
Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden are meeting for the first state visit under the Biden administration, which is reserved for France.
03/11/2022
Back in September 2021, the announcement of AUKUS – the defense partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) was a shock to Paris.
18/10/2022
The signing of the AUKUS partnership agreement between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in September 2021 seems to have reconstituted a natural coalition between “Anglo-Saxon” states. This solidarity generates contradictory judgments.
15/10/2022
As the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) draws closer, this is an opportune moment to appraise China’s economic achievements over the past decade under President Xi Jinping’s guidance and to identify the challenges the country will have to address during the next five...
11/10/2022
The tremendous demographic challenges facing China will not significantly affect the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the immediate future, but will become more problematic in the medium and long term. The rapid aging of the population and the resulting socio-economic imbalances will put...
Security and Defense - Asia - China - Taïwan
12/09/2022
This article provides a review of the digital connectivity of the Pacific Islands nations (Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia) and the main challenges and prospects arising from it, at a time when the submarine cable market is undergoing profound change and a growing politicization of this...
29/07/2022
As China’s political relations with most of the world’s technologically advanced states have worsened, Beijing has put in place the world’s most comprehensive regulatory and administrative system for governing cyberspace.
30
Jan
2023
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Videoconferences
Is the UN Security Council still relevant? France and Japan's views on the future of multilateralism Webinaire
The war in Ukraine exemplified the limitations of the UN Security Council (UNSC), as this key institution was not able to efficiently act for the maintenance of international peace and security.
08
Dec
2022
from 09:00 to 10:30
- Videoconferences
Food Security in Times of Crisis: Connecting the Pacific and Europe
More frequent climate disasters, rising sea levels, the economic fallout of Covid-19 lockdowns and the global impact of the war in Ukraine have aggravated the challenge of food insecurity for Pacific Island countries.
10
Nov
2022
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Videoconferences
After TICAD 8 - COVID, war in Ukraine and the cooperation with Africa: Views from Japan and France Webinar
The TICAD 8 – the 8th edition of the Japan-Africa Summit – was held on 27-28 August 2022 in Tunis.
22
Sep
2022
from 09:00 to 17:00
- Conférences
Asia after the War in Ukraine: Re-imagining multilateralism and the risk of high-intensity conflict Hybrid Conference
Annual conference of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies. The war in Ukraine has marked the return of high-intensity conflict in Europe and represents a profound, structural shift in the region’s strategic environment. It also takes place against a backdrop of a decades-long...
20
Sep
2022
from 09:00 to 10:30
- Videoconferences
Climate change: the Pacific Islands Countries, 7 years after the Paris agreement
The Pacific Islands countries (PICs) were the first to ratify the Paris climate accords in 2015.
07
Jul
2022
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Critical minerals: How to secure stable and resilient supply chains? Views from Europe and Japan Webinar
The war in Ukraine has highlighted once again the importance that stable supplies of critical raw materials play in building resilient supply chains.
21
Jun
2022
from 09:00 to 10:30
- Videoconferences
Are Marine Protected Areas a relevant tool for the Pacific?
In the Pacific, small island developing states want to empower themselves to be great ocean nations. Compared to their number of inhabitants, the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of island countries such as the Cook Islands (112 km² of EEZ/inhabitant) or the Marshall Islands (33 km²) are much...
15
Jun
2022
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Videoconferences
How the war in Ukraine affects strategic foresight? Visions from France and Japan
The Russian aggression in Ukraine took most experts and policymakers by surprise and raised questions about the methodology of strategic planning and foresight.
14
Jun
2022
from 09:00 to 10:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
A New Era of Slower Chinese growth: Implications for the Global Economy & Geopolitical Landscape Séminaires et tables rondes
From zero-COVID policies to the property crisis, what are the challenges facing China's economy, and what a new era of slower Chinese growth will mean for the global economy and geopolitical dynamics?
Economy - Americas - United States - Asia - China
29
Mar
2022
from 09:30 to 11:00
- Videoconferences
Strategic autonomy and industrial policy: Perspectives from France, the EU and Japan
Building up a more sovereign Europe is one of the three main ambitions for the French Presidency of the EU.
29/01/2023
Europe has been almost entirely dependent on China for critical minerals for years, but a newly unearthed million-tonne deposit in Sweden could help reduce that reliance
24/10/2022
The decline of the Marxist utopia and the collapse of traditional ethics have created a moral and spiritual vacuum, forging a path for religions, notes Asia specialist Claude Meyer.
12/10/2022
An interview with Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia.
22/09/2022
Annual conference of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies. The war in Ukraine has marked the return of high-intensity conflict in Europe and represents a profound, structural shift in the region’s strategic environment. It also takes place against a backdrop of a decades-long...
15/09/2022
One year on, the announcement of the Australia-U.K.-U.S alliance has not been accompanied by any major changes to France’s Indo-Pacific defense strategy.
04/09/2022
Japan, which began developmental programmes in the 1990s, has been eclipsed in recent years by China, now Africa’s leading trade partner.Pledge to invest US$30 billion on the continent includes a focus on training Africans to run their economy.
30/06/2022
Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) is made up of US, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, with the latter two expected to spearhead cooperation efforts. Some experts say France is already interested despite anger over Aukus security pact; the new PBP will become ‘multilateral rather than...
28/06/2022
When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida becomes the first Japanese leader to attend a NATO leaders summit on Wednesday, he’ll be looking to stress the need for unity in preventing China from taking the “wrong lessons” from the Ukraine war as the bloc looks to expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific...
21/06/2022
Marine protected areas (MPAs) offer a solution for countries in the region to manage their maritime space. Access to scientific data is required to set MDA.
07/05/2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France on May 4 is his fifth since 2015, and the 10th such high-level bilateral visit.