ISDP Voices

In light of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test, Dr. Sangsoo Lee delves into Pyongyang’s greater strategy. Late last week, the US Geological Survey detected a 5.3-magnitude earthquake in the area of North Korea’s Punggye-ri underground test site at about 9 a.m. local time on the 9th of September. Four hours later, North Korean state television announced […]

Underpinned by confrontation with Iran, the Gulf Arab states have pursued increasingly hardline foreign policies. Razmik Krikorian examines the sharpening sectarian politics in the Middle East.  In recent years, the foreign policies of the Gulf Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar, have become increasingly bellicose and more openly sectarian […]

Niklas Swanström comments on whether Washington and Seoul’s decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system is determining China’s “reengagement” with North Korea after a period of frosty relations. After a period of relatively frosty ties following China’s condemnation of North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, Beijing appears to want to patch up relations. The month […]

Barriers of poverty and a revival of conservative social norms in Tajikistan mean that girls are increasingly losing out in access to education, explain Zarinam Turdieva and Maria Hellborg. The quality of education in Tajikistan has been in decline since independence and the country’s ensuing civil war (1992-1997), which saw an estimated one-fifth of schools […]

Lars Vargö puts into context Japan’s succession issue after Emperor Akihito’s “abdication speech” last week. On August 9, in only his second ever televised address, the Japanese Emperor Akihito expressed his wish to abdicate. He did so in a very Japanese way: while not explicitly stating such, his mentioning of old age – he is […]

A recent murder in Belfast highlights the continuing reach of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Alec Forss discusses attempts to break the cycle of violence. On April 15, Michael McGibbon had a reluctant appointment to keep. Scheduled for 10pm in a North Belfast alleyway, he arrived to receive his punishment: three bullets fired into his […]

Niklas Swanström anticipates China’s reaction to the forthcoming verdict by the arbitration tribunal on its claims in the South China Sea. The likely fallout throws into sharp relief the need for an effective regional security structure to manage differences, he argues.  A verdict from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the legal status of […]

Zarinam Turdieva cautions against automatically equating the growing prominence of Islam in Kyrgyzstan with extremism. Rather it is Islamophobia which has greater potential to incite the very radicalization that politicians and other observers fear. Islam has played an increasingly significant role in Kyrgyzstan since independence with a surge of interest among the Kyrgyz population in […]

The new Myanmar government faces a final decision on the highly charged issue of the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam. Having taken office two months ago, Myanmar’s new government faces an important decision on one of the country’s largest foreign investments, the controversial Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam. The previous government under President U Thein Sein stalled the mega […]

Maria Rosaria Coduti looks back at North Korea’s Party Congress last month and tries to distill what we learnt from it. The 7th Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Congress in North Korea, convened on May 6, was the first of its kind since 1980, ending with a massive civilian parade on May 9 in Pyongyang. […]