Driving the drumbeat are strategic concerns shared with Washington, with possibly some personal ambitions thrown in for good measure. Canberra is seen responding to approaches by Washington to its allies in the Pacific, principally Japan and Australia, to add their weight more openly to the US deterrent… Read Here | Asia Times
As the country continues to grapple with the pandemic, propelling the population into a downward economic and public health spiral, the worst qualities of the current government – an inability to solve its problems without shooting at something – have been further laid bare. Read Here | The Diplomat
The 2020s now appear likely to unfold as a typical postwar decade, with some emerging economies falling, others rising, and a few standing out as genuine stars. A few will continue to rise to prosperity through the tried-and-true method of export manufacturing. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Sri Lanka’s relationship with China has been a controversial discussion during the last decade, dominating both domestic and international political conversations… Yet it is quite clear that Sri Lanka’s closest neighbor, India, and the United States are diligently monitoring these developments in the China-Sri Lanka relationship. Read Here | The Diplomat
Europeans have long known that the global balance of power is shifting rapidly to Asia, and America’s attention with it. With the transatlantic alliance only barely surviving Donald Trump’s presidency, this may be the last chance to repurpose it for the twenty-first century. Read Here | Project Syndicate
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
looking beyond borders 