‘Identity Politics’ based on national, as well as primal, identities is expected to further accelerate in 2019 amid the multiple challenges facing the world. Particularly at the nation-state level, this is likely to result in the resurgence of nationalism and the enhancement of authoritarianism, which would eventually pose a grave challenge to the liberal international order. As the world order is becoming increasingly marked by mutual exclusion and competition than by mutual recognition and inclusion, geopolitical conflict between the United States and China will largely set the tune in shaping the political landscape of each region.

World Order: As the ongoing geopolitical contention among great powers like the United States, China and Russia intensifies, the world in 2019 would see the great power rivalry being combined with rising tribalism and nationalism in the regions across the globe. In such being the circumstances, multilateralism would be eroded by bilateralism and closed regionalism.

East Asian Regional Order: In East Asia, the US-China rivalry is expected to be competitively materialized in their geostrategies - America’s Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The rivalry also would fiercely ignite a discourse war between the two countries revolving around those issues of technological competition, protectionism and multilateralism. East Asian countries will ramp up diplomatic efforts to find their own ways to stay as independent as possible in the US-China rivalry.

Political Landscape of the Korean Peninsula: The year 2019 is likely to be a critical juncture for dramatically advancing North Korea’s denuclearization, as well as the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, through intimate US-North Korea collaboration and advancement of inter-Korean relations.