Follow us on social

Shutterstock_2252996863-scaled

NATO foray into Asia risks driving China and Russia closer together

A new Tokyo bureau will be the first of its kind, further cementing the alliance’s shift toward the region.

Asia-Pacific

NATO plans to open a liaison office in Japan to coordinate relations with Tokyo and other friendly powers in the Indo-Pacific, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia.

The office, which will be the first of its kind in the region, represents a notable step in NATO’s shift toward confronting China, which officially began last year when the alliance formally identified Beijing as a threat. 

As the Guardian noted, the move is likely to further increase tensions between the West and China, which has often expressed concern over potential NATO inroads in Asia. It also risks driving concerns from alliance members that favor a less confrontational approach with Beijing, according to George Beebe of the Quincy Institute.

“When you go out of area, you're going to inevitably raise concerns inside the alliance about what the alliance's priorities ought to be,” Beebe argued, noting that the office could “exacerbate differences between the United States and some Europeans about how to deal with China.”

It remains unclear who will pay for the office. According to Nikkei, the one-person bureau, which is expected to open next year, will lead periodic consultations between NATO and its Pacific partners, including Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia.

The decision to open the office highlights Japan’s interest in deepening cooperation with NATO. Notably, Tokyo also plans to open a separate diplomatic mission to NATO in Belgium in order to further promote its ties with the alliance.

In recent years, NATO has also stood up liaison offices in Ukraine, Georgia, Kuwait, and Moldova.

As Professor Michito Tsuruoka of Keio University told Nikkei, the move emphasizes NATO’s view that China and Russia are becoming increasingly close. “In addition to the problems China poses by itself, a new dimension has been added: that of China as a supporter of Russia. This now becomes directly related to Europe's security,” Tsuruoka said.

But Beebe worries that these concerns could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. “There's a grave risk that NATO moving into Asian Affairs is likely to bring Russia and China even closer together into what could amount to a de facto alliance between the two of them against what they see as a common Western or NATO enemy,” he said. “I don't think that's in the interest of the United States or Europe to encourage.”


(Shutterstock/ Andy.LIU)
Asia-Pacific
Kim Jong Un
Top photo credit: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of the Ragwon County Offshore Farm, North Korea July 13, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

Kim Jong Un is nuking up and playing hard to get

Asia-Pacific

President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a series of “shock and awe” campaigns both at home and abroad. But so far has left North Korea untouched even as it arms for the future.

The president dramatically broke with precedent during his first term, holding two summits as well as a brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone with the North’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Unfortunately, engagement crashed and burned in Hanoi. The DPRK then pulled back, essentially severing contact with both the U.S. and South Korea.

keep readingShow less
Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one
Top photo credit: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper speaks to guests at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Manama, Bahrain, November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one

Middle East

If accounts of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this past month are to be believed, the president’s initial impulse to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict failed to survive the prodding of hawkish advisers, chiefly U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla.

With Kurilla, an Iran hawk and staunch ally of both the Israeli government and erstwhile national security adviser Mike Waltz, set to leave office this summer, advocates of a more restrained foreign policy may understandably feel like they are out of the woods.

keep readingShow less
Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the President of the Russian Federation) and Donald Trump (US Southern Command photo)

How Trump's 50-day deadline threat against Putin will backfire

Europe

In the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump has demonstrated his love for three things: deals, tariffs, and ultimatums.

He got to combine these passions during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday. Only moments after the two leaders announced a new plan to get military aid to Ukraine, Trump issued an ominous 50-day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. “We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal within 50 days,” Trump told the assembled reporters.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.