Essays

Aura of Criminality: Perspectives of Empire in Japan’s East Asian Conquests, 1932-1945

By | October 04, 2022

In the second part of this series, Jessica Pitcher examines the relationship between Japanese imperial authorities in China and the practice of narcotics trafficking, which “weakened” the inhabitants of the occupied territories while filling government coffers in Manchukuo.

Narcotics, Smuggling and Sex: Perspectives of Empire in Japan’s East Asian Conquests, 1932-1945, Part One

By | June 12, 2022

Empires are often described in grand and abstract terms, but they are also an everyday phenomenon, where the authority of the colonizing state is impressed upon its subjects in myriad ways. Here, Jessica Pitcher examines the role of sex trafficking in the everyday conception of the Japanese empire in Korea.

Mirage of Peace: Trump, China, and Kim Jong-un

By | May 30, 2022

As the Biden administration mulls its approach to North Korea, we reconsider the Trump era “maximum pressure” policy within the context of Sino-North Korean relations.

North Korea and Coronavirus: International Relations and Local Data from Dandong

By | September 21, 2021

Adam Cathcart reads some local public health data point from Dandong, and in the process surveys the vaccination landscape faced by a highly reluctant North Korea.