The “extended troika” on the Afghan problem comprising the United States, Russia and China – and Pakistan – announced in Doha on Thursday a roadmap in consultation with President Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Taliban on the way forward in immediate terms for reaching a peace settlement. Read Here | Asia Times
The prices of raw materials used to make almost everything are skyrocketing, and the upward trajectory looks set to continue as the world economy roars back to life. From steel and copper to corn and lumber, commodities started 2021 with a bang, surging to levels not seen for years. Read Here | Bloomberg
Medical experts are ransacking the inventory of new variants to explain India’s hellish Covid explosion, but they aren’t likely to find out much they didn’t know at the time of Wuhan more than a year ago. Read Here | Wall Street Journal
It’s that classic conundrum – the “good problem to have.” Well over a year into the pandemic, as Covid-19 continues its rampage across the globe and daily death tolls in nations such as Brazil and India soar to grim new records, the US suddenly finds itself in a fortunate position: It has a surplus of […]
The most striking geopolitical feature of the past four years has not been bipolarity or multipolarity—or even great-power conflict. It has been the spectacle of major economies pursuing self-sufficiency and a partial retreat from globalization… Read Here | Foreign Affairs
The Biden administration’s announcement on Monday that it would soon export tens of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine completed a dramatic policy U-turn. It came after a tumultuous week in which the administration’s carefully constructed pandemic-diplomacy plan fell apart as the COVID-19 crisis in India worsened. Read Here | The Atlantic
If we compare President Biden’s statecraft in his first 100 days with the nine presidents we have seen since John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, objective observers should agree that he has earned high marks. The essence of Biden’s success has been strategic clarity. Read Here | The National Interest
The Chinese government is expected to announce soon that the nation’s population has shrunk for the first time in nearly 60 years, Financial Times reported. According to the FT, the latest census numbers for the world’s most populous nation are expected to show a decline to less than 1.4 billion people, though it is unclear how much less. Read […]
Months after his run-in with Beijing authorities, one that scrapped history’s biggest initial public offering, Jack Ma’s true whereabouts have finally been verified: at the very center of Xi Jinping’s boldest effort yet to modernize China’s economy. Read Here | Asia Times
China, it is often said, has mastered the art of economic statecraft. Observers routinely worry that by throwing around its ever-growing economic weight, the country is managing to buy goodwill and influence. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
looking beyond borders 