The West Should Develop the Trans-Caspian Trade Corridor
Development of the Trans-Caspian corridor would shift trade and energy routes between Europe and Asia to favor Western commercial and strategic interests. Over the past decade, global trade infrastructure has been transformed by China’s economic rise and its strategic investments in trade routes. Central Asia, the “belt buckle” on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, is […]
Compete with China by Reviving the Generalized System of Preferences
The United States needs to urgently reinstate the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the country’s largest and oldest trade preference program. First implemented in 1976, GSP was designed to facilitate economic growth in developing countries by allowing certain products, such as jewelry, carpets, some agricultural and fishery products, and many types of chemicals and minerals, […]
What Might Deter Xi Jinping?
The past two years have witnessed several failures of deterrence – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023. The invasion of Ukraine heightened global awareness that military force by a state actor is not a relic of the past and could occur in other flashpoints around the […]
China’s Turn Toward Antisemitism
“The United States as a nation has been severely kidnapped by political and other forces derived from Jewish capital,” thus said Dong Manyuan, the former Vice president of CIIS, the Chinese foreign ministry’s think tank, in a TV interview on November 1, in response to the interviewer claim that Jews “manipulate and control” 70% of […]
What China Wants in Africa
Africa struggles to climb American policymakers’ priority list, but it has no such problem with China. For three decades, the Chinese government has expended immense energy courting African countries. With only two exceptions over the last thirty years, the Chinese foreign minister has made Africa his first overseas destination every year. Other senior Chinese officials […]
China's Influence in the Middle East and the Strategic Considerations Underlying it
The difficulty in comparing America’s and China’s influence in the Middle East is that the two operate on entirely different planes. [Note: The Chinese use the term Western Asia, rather than the Middle East, to refer to a region that includes the Levant, Iraq, the Gulf, Turkey and Iran.] Despite China’s impressive naval construction program, China […]
The New Great Game for Leadership in Asia
The strategic complexion of Asia has shifted substantially in recent years. The United States is no longer the predominant military, diplomatic, and economic power across the region, as it was for the last half of the 20th century and the first decade of this century. China actively contests American leadership as it strives to restore […]
China’s Middle East Marathon
China’s evolving role in the Middle East is analyzed by US Ambassador Peter Pham.
The Quad Is for Real, Thanks to Abe
“Japan is not now and will never be a tier-two power,” declared Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington in February 2013. He was there to champion the idea of a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Japan, the United States, India, and Australia. He succeeded in […]
A Chinese View of US–China Relations
[Note from the Editors: We have added parenthetical comments to the article for context in several places.] The United States frames its relations with China as a great power competition, in terms of the Biden administration’s national security strategy, for example. China claims to have a different view, having just emerged from three years of […]
Biden’s Measured Response to China’s Activism in the Middle East
The Biden administration does not view US–China competition in the Middle East as a zero-sum prize for one side to enjoy at the other’s expense. This measured response to China’s growing influence could change, however; outlined below are factors that could shift US policy toward great power confrontation in the region. China’s President Xi Jinping […]
New World Disorder
A Letter From the Publisher
China’s Interests. Iran’s Ambitions
A More Robust Role is required in Countering Iran’s Ambitions
A Letter From the Publisher
“In the midst of death, we are in life.” With stoic resolve, the words of that medieval prayer point toward a path of hope in times of trial.
Australia’s Submarine Decision
What made Australia withdraw from the contract it signed with France for advanced submarines?
The Race for Advantage in Psychological Warfare
Does the growing importance of the psychological dimension in modern conflicts put the US and its allies at a disadvantage?
The US and Pakistan—What Next After Afghanistan?
Will the roller coaster ride that is the US–Pakistan relationship become more “normal” now?
America’s Technology Competition with China
Much hinges on Beijing’s expectation that time is on China’s side, but is that really the case?
Can America Regain Global Leadership?
A view from Singapore: How will Asian countries respond to Biden’s foreign policy?
Israel’s Place in the New Order
A practitioner’s perspective: Only a militarily strong Israel can sustain its regional position
When America Creates a Vacuum, Others Fill It
America’s adversaries are not the only ones to respond to Washington’s changing regional priorities
Biden’s Conundrum
The political winds are blowing in an anti-China direction. Biden needs a sophisticated foreign policy strategy