The West Vs. The Rest
The reluctance of the Rest to jeopardize relations with Putin’s Russia will complicate the West’s ability to manage ties with allies and others not only now but also when the war is over. Read More Here
Category: Diplomacy
The West Forgot About The Pacific Islands. China Didn’t.
It has been eight decades since the Battle for Guadalcanal was fought between Allied Forces and the Japanese Imperial Army. Today, the Solomon Islands are again at the center of a Pacific power game — one that pits the U.S. and its strategic partners against their latest adversary, China. Read More Here
The Return Of Statecraft
International politics had clearly entered a new era, one in which the old forms of predatory state behavior had returned, and the putative global hegemon proved unable to stop it. The colossus could not get its way. Read More Here
Six Wrenches That Twist The Mind
From War and Anti-war: Making Sense of Today’s Global Chaos by Alvin and Heidi Toffler (Warner Books 1993) Each of these mind wrenches is designed to exploit the mass media to sway emotions in mass societies. Atrocity accusation Hyperbolic inflation of the stakes involved in a battle or war (soldiers and civilians told everything they […]
The Blind Spots Of Diplomatic History
Methodology is not a sexy topic of discussion. But it should be. Nothing is more important to an accurate retelling of diplomatic history than good methods. What we believe happened, how it happened, and why it happened, all come from good methods. Read More Here
Putin’s War Is an Existential Crisis For The United Nations
How can the U.N. survive when one permanent member of the Security Council, charged with maintaining peace and security among countries, is the initiator of a war of aggression? The short answer is that it can’t in its current form. Read More Here
2022 Is The New … 2001
This year is shaping up to be a pendulum year—a moment in history when the big formative forces of world affairs reverse direction. There are telling parallels with the year 2001. Europe, however, needs to draw the right lessons. Read More Here
How Biden Can End The War In Ukraine
The administration’s highest priority right now should be to incentivize the Ukrainian government to conclude a compromise peace agreement with Russia to provide Putin with a face-saving “exit ramp” to allow Russia to end the war. Read More Here
The Return Of Containment
Washington and its democratic allies need to embark on a strategy of containment that increases the cost to Russia and eventually forces internal political change that brings the brutal regime of Vladimir Putin to an end. Read More Here
China’s Triangulation Gambit
America’s rapprochement with China, 50 years ago this month, isolated the former Soviet Union at a time when its economic foundation was starting to crumble. Today, there can be little doubt that China has revived triangulation as a strategic gambit – or that this time America is the one being triangulated. Read More Here
looking beyond borders 