A range of crises in the Middle East dominated the U.S. foreign policy agenda in 2013, raising questions about the vigor of President Obama's Asia "pivot." Four experts offer perspectives on how the region is reacting to U.S. moves in Asia. China has reacted with "assertive authoritarianism," CFR's Elizabeth Economy writes, while Southeast Asian governments remain ambivalent to the supposed shift, according to Tim Huxley of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Every two years China’s quest to boost the popularity of its brand is marked by a well- publicized media event: the Beijing Olympics 2008, EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, the Miss World contest 2012 in Ordos. Looking ahead, China plans to host the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing and a global tourist summit in 2014.

Japan's approval of new national defense guidelines and its first-ever national security strategy are raising questions whether, after a year of focusing on the economy, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is finally baring his nationalist teeth. The announcement this week of a significant increase in military spending over the next five years to counter China’s growing military influence in the region was not unexpected.

The Prime Ministers of Viet Nam and Japan reaffirmed yesterday their commitment to comprehensive development of the strategic partnership between both countries. In talks held between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the commitment found concrete expression in the latter's announcement of an official development assistance package of around US$1 billion (JPY1 trillion) for the second half of the 2013 fiscal year.

A recent survey conducted by global research firm IPSOS across 20 countries, found that a whopping 71 percent of Chinese say they gauge their success by the things they own. That’s significantly higher than it was for every other country included in the survey.

North Koreans in China are being ordered to return to Pyongyang in what many fear is the next stage of a purge of those associated with the executed senior bureaucrat Chang Sung Taek. Business people in border regions close to the Chinese cities of Dandong and Shenyang, as well as in the trading enclave of Macau, report that large numbers of North Korean traders were summoned home on Saturday amid concerns about their likely fate.

When Americans think of symbols of democracy, they might imagine the Statue of Liberty, or the Declaration of Independence, or perhaps the Liberty Bell. Here, in China’s semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong, citizens have adopted a more unusual symbol of their political aspirations: a grinning Ikea wolf doll named “Lufsig.”

The Catskills, in upstate New York, are known for their natural beauty and quaint lifestyle. But they could become a lot flashier, thanks to one businesswoman's proposal for the area: a multibillion-dollar "China City of America," complete with an amusement park, mansions, a casino, retail centers, a college, and more. Creator Sherry Li says the plan would attract domestic and foreign tourists, residents, and investors. Back in May, she introduced her concept to Thompson, a town of 15,000 people 90 miles north of New York City.