The U.S.-Japan alliance has been the cornerstone of Washington's security policy in East Asia, but rising threats from China, North Korea, and economic recovery in both countries have raised questions about the future of the rapport.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has focused his second term in office to implementing an audacious set of economic policies designed to spur the country out of its decades-long deflation and sluggish growth, explains this Backgrounder.

China's recent push to renew the Six Party Talks, stalled since 2008, has raised hopes for progress on the peninsula despite worries that Pyongyang may have restarted its old nuclear reactor.

Several high-profile sexual assault cases in India have sparked a national debate over women's rights and the need for social reform in a rapidly modernizing country, explains this Backgrounder.

As the United States pivots to Asia, disputes over territories in the South China Sea have escalated tensions and threatened regional stability.

Reviving Japan's economy from its two-decade-long slump is key to stabilizing the country's political environment, says expert Gerald Curtis.

The Chinese Communist Party faces a host of pressing domestic and international policy issues as it transitions to a new generation of leaders, explains this Backgrounder.

China remains Pyongyang's biggest trade partner and arguably has most leverage on Kim Jong-Il's regime. But the relationship is a difficult one, experts say.