China

Japan

South Korea

Taiwan

Economics

Energy

Politics

South Korea's presidential office pledged on March 9 to move toward implementing a price cap on fuel that week and added that Seoul is investigating tax evasion and price collusion among refineries and gas stations.

Northeast Asia: Fuel Price Controls Inbound, Oil Reserve Releases Under Consideration

Philippines

Military & Security

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is in the Philippines and, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., oversaw the signing of multiple agreements expanding defense industrial cooperation, including provisions easing procurement rules and broadening eligibility for South Korean companies in ongoing Philippine military modernization projects, Nikkei Asia reported on March 4. 

South Korea, Philippines: Seoul Further Expands Defense Ties With Manila 

United States

Australia

Around 40% of U.S. naval vessels ready for operations are currently in the Middle East, including one carrier and six destroyers that are normally based in the Pacific, according to a March 3 Reuters report.

Indo-Pacific: Regional Armament Concerns Grow Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party, or DPK, in the National Assembly passed a law that allows the Constitutional Court to review rulings by lower courts, including the Supreme Court, Yonhap News Agency reported on Feb. 27. 

South Korea: Ruling Party's Curbs on Judiciary Empower President Lee

South Korea's infrastructure ministry announced that it would allow Google to export government-provided precise map data to overseas premises "on condition that Google strictly comply with security guidelines," Yonhap News Agency reported on Feb. 27.

South Korea: Seoul Permits Google Navigation, Will Facilitate U.S. Trade Deal

North Korea

North Korea's weeklong ruling Workers' Party congress concluded on Feb. 25, with leader Kim Jong Un calling for new strategic weapons development, warning Pyongyang could destroy Seoul if threatened by South Korea or the United States, and formally defining inter-Korean ties as those between "two hostile states," rather than one state with rival governments, Yonhap News Agency reported the same day.

North Korea: Party Congress Ends With Bluster, but Door Left Open for Dialogue With Washington

United Arab Emirates

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates agreed to some $65 billion in joint cooperation projects, including $35 billion in defense projects, the South Korean government announced on Feb. 26.

UAE, South Korea: Seoul, Abu Dhabi Ink Fresh Defense Deal

Russia

North Korea's Workers' Party reelected Kim Jong Un as general secretary at its ongoing ninth Party congress, which has so far focused on strengthening North Korea's "war deterrence" centered on nuclear weapons capacity, Yonhap News Agency reported on Feb. 23. 

North Korea: Kim Reaffirmed as Party Chief, Nuclear Policy Entrenched

Assessments

Indonesia

Vietnam

The U.S. Supreme Court in October 2024 in Washington.

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against the Trump administration's tariffs imposed under the IEEPA still leaves Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam vulnerable to other trade escalation mechanisms.

Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam Assess Their U.S. Trade Deals After IEEPA Tariffs

Snapshots

Canada

Mexico

Europe

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on Feb. 20, 2026, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Trump's use of emergency powers to implement international trade tariffs.

Global Trade

The Trump administration will use other trade authorities to replace many of the IEEPA tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court, meaning U.S. trading partners will remain incentivized to engage on trade matters.

What the Supreme Court Tariff Ruling Means for Trump and U.S. Trading Partners

Israel

Palestinian Territories

United Kingdom

India

Egyptian trucks and heavy machinery on Oct. 26, 2025, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A Gaza Border Reopening, EU Leaders Visit India

Venezuela

Saudi Arabia

Yemen

Ukraine

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet takes off from Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport on December 15, 2025 in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. If U.S. strikes escalate and cause significant casualties, it could make retaliatory measures -- including the arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens in Venezuela or the harassment of energy sector vessels in the region -- more likely.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: South Korea's President Visits Beijing, U.S. Operations in Venezuela

Benin

Burkina Faso

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Madagascar

Mali

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Paraguay

Egypt

Iran

Lebanon

Morocco

Qatar

Syria

Turkey

Cambodia

Timor-Leste

Mongolia

Myanmar

Thailand

Bulgaria

Afghanistan

Nepal

Pakistan

Flight routes.

Cyber

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

As 2026 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five patterns and trends as measured by geopolitical impact.

2025: A Geopolitical Review

Angola

South Africa

Banners bearing portraits of leaders of the G20 on Nov. 20 in Johannesburg. The South African government has focused the G20 summit's agenda on issues key to African countries.

The Weekly Rundown: A High-Stakes British Budget, South Africa Hosts the G20

Cameroon

Cote d'Ivoire

Tanzania

Argentina

Netherlands

Supporters of Argentine President Javier Milei's Liberty Advances (LLA) party wave flags during a campaign rally in Rosario, Argentina, on Oct. 23, 2025.

U.S.-China Relations

The Weekly Rundown: Argentina Holds Midterm Elections, Trump Travels to Asia

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Oct. 21, 2025.

Sanae Takaichi's appointment as prime minister will reduce short-term political instability in Japan and strengthen U.S. ties, but her conservative government will struggle to recover domestic support and could alienate neighboring countries.

New Premier Takaichi a Quick Fix for Japan's Long-Term Political Problems

Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected LDP leader, on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.

Takaichi will lean into populism, spurring near-term growth but exacerbating long-term economic challenges, while her nationalism will bolster Japan's military and boost U.S. ties even as it strains those with Japan's neighbors.

Japan's Conservative Takaichi Set To Become Next Prime Minister

Germany

France

The Maanshan nuclear power plant is seen next to a beach in Pingtung, in southern Taiwan, on April 29, 2025.

The Weekly Rundown: Iran Meets With European Powers, Taiwan Holds a Nuclear Referendum

Bolivia

Brazil

Uruguay

Singapore

The Geopolitics of Trade

Mercosur is increasingly opening its markets in pursuit of free trade agreements with partners around the world, particularly as U.S. protectionism shifts global trade dynamics.

The Geopolitics of Trade: What Changing Trade Dynamics Mean for Mercosur

A Cambodian soldier stands on a truck with a rocket launcher in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand, on July 25, 2025. 

The Weekly Rundown: U.S. Tariff Deadline Passes, Thai-Cambodian Border Tensions Persist

The Republic of Korea, also called South Korea, occupies the southern half of a peninsula that juts out of the Asian mainland toward Japan. The country shares its only land border with North Korea, which it also borders in the Yellow and East seas. It shares maritime borders with Japan to the east and China to the west. South Koreas primary geographic challenges are overcoming internal fractures to maintain cohesion, and securing its maritime sphere and its southwest lowland pockets from its more powerful neighbors.    The ancient kingdoms of Baekje and Silla occupied the distinct geographic pockets of the southern peninsula, standing in contrast to a more unified space where North Korea now sits. The Taebaek mountains run along much of South Korea's eastern coast, largely protecting the country from invasion by sea from this direction. These mountain ranges provide a level of protection to the peninsula's most vulnerable feature: a north-south corridor of lowlands and hills along the west coast. This coast (as well as much of South Korea's southern coastline) is protected from easy landing by countless islands, mudflats and tidal rips.     However, the Nakdong River valley at Pusan offers a point of incursion to would-be invaders. From here, they can pass over the lower elevations of the Sobaek Mountains and onward to the western core. This has been the gateway for those seeking to control the peninsula, from the failed 16th century invasions of Japanese Daimyō Toyotomi Hideyoshi to the Japanese empire's later efforts in the 19th century. A North Korean invasion in 1950 (repelled by U.N. forces defending the Pusan Perimeter) highlights another key vulnerability for South Korea: the potential for incursions from the north via the western coastal strip. To hedge against aggression from all directions, South Korea is focused on securing its maritime space, particularly in the south and west. The country has prioritized its possession of Jeju Island in the Jeju Strait and has in the past held claims to Tsushima Island. Disputes with China over the Socotra Rock in the Yellow Sea and with Japan over Dokdo in the East Sea are also important elements of South Korea's overall maritime strategy.     The Korean Peninsula's historic policy of isolation was one way of remaining out of the crosshairs of its neighbors, but it has also aligned itself with rival powers throughout its history. Most recently, South Korea has used a third party — the United States — to maintain balance against neighbors that threaten it from sea and land. 

SITUATION REPORTS

Northeast Asia: Fuel Price Controls Inbound, Oil Reserve Releases Under Consideration

South Korea, Philippines: Seoul Further Expands Defense Ties With Manila

Indo-Pacific: Regional Armament Concerns Grow Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict

South Korea: Ruling Party's Curbs on Judiciary Empower President Lee

South Korea: Seoul Permits Google Navigation, Will Facilitate U.S. Trade Deal

North Korea: Party Congress Ends With Bluster, but Door Left Open for Dialogue With Washington

UAE, South Korea: Seoul, Abu Dhabi Ink Fresh Defense Deal

North Korea: Kim Reaffirmed as Party Chief, Nuclear Policy Entrenched

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