On November 6, 2025, the New Europe Center held an online discussion “Asian Models of Security Guarantees: What Lessons Should Ukraine Learn?”, dedicated to exploring how Asian countries have built and sustained their defense resilience amid constant threats and what insights Ukraine can draw from their experience.

Experts from Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan discussed how Asian states develop their security systems – from alliance-based guarantees to self-reliant defense models – and considered what lessons could strengthen Ukraine’s own defense and deterrence strategy.

Key topics included the effectiveness of U.S. security guarantees in the region, the role of defense alliances, and how Asian approaches to security could be combined with European and Euro-Atlantic models.

Leonid Litra, Senior Research Fellow, New Europe Center (Ukraine), during his address analyzed the evolving debate on security guarantees for Ukraine, distinguishing between those applicable during the ongoing war and those that could emerge after its end: “The debate has evolved over the last couple of years. What was once centered around potential NATO membership is now focused on what kind of security guarantees can be provided for Ukraine as the war still goes on and after the war”.

Drawing a comparison with Asian security models, the speaker pointed to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan as examples of countries that have built durable security networks anchored by their partnerships with the United States. “One of the elements Ukraine needs to learn from is how these countries have developed a deep network of alliances. The U.S. has prioritized potential war in Asia over an ongoing war in Europe”, underlined Leonid Litra.

Atsuko Higashino, Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba (Japan), reversing the usual narrative, suggested that it is Asia that should learn from Ukraine, not vice versa: “It is not that Ukraine should learn lessons from anybody else. It is us, East Asia and other regions, that have to learn from Ukraine, from how hard and tricky it is to talk about security guarantees once a country has already been attacked”.

Kim Youngjun, Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs, National Security College, Korea National Defense University; Advisor for Arms Control and Verification, Ministry of National Defense (Republic of Korea), highlighted the parallels between Korea’s post-war experience and Ukraine’s current struggle: “All Korean people support the Ukrainian people because we share many similar experiences. After the Korean War, our President Seung Man Lee fought not only North Korea and China but also with the U.S. government, which at that time did not want a bilateral security treaty with us”. The expert also recommended Ukrainians to develop more self-defense capability. If NATO membership remains difficult, build stronger partnerships, not only inside Ukraine but globally.

Cathy Fang, Policy Analyst, National Security and Economic Security Research Program, Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (Taiwan), stressed that, like Ukraine, Taiwan is not part of any formal military alliance and relies on mechanism-based assurances rather than treaty obligations. “Taiwan and Ukraine both depend on legal and political instruments short of formal alliance commitments: through arms sales, training, multi-year assistance, and executive-level agreements”, the expert explained.

The discussion was moderated by Nataliya Butyrska, Visiting Senior Fellow at the New Europe Center.

Soon we will publish the most interesting points of the discussion on our official pages.

The recording of the discussion can be found on New Europe Center`s  YouTube channel.

The online event is organized by the New Europe Center and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation. The opinions and positions expressed during the event are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the position of the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF).