Asia's geopolitical realities are changing

WHILE not (yet) perhaps amounting to a "tectonic shift" in the geopolitical foundations of North-east Asia, recent developments such as the chilling of relations among regional powers and the hint of a new Cold War between the US and Russia certainly represent more than glacial changes.

It is possible now to envisage a scenario whereby US President Barack Obama's "pivot toward Asia" is delayed, if not derailed, by the need to bolster European security and where China emerges in a stronger position as already strained US relations with Japan move onto a side burner. Even before Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to annexe Crimea, challenging the status quo of global power in the process,the US pivot was looking shaky as growing tensions among Japan, China and South Korea threatened to drag Washington into unwelcome potential conflicts. A perceived need to reinforce Nato in Europe as post …