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
Alarming and outrageous, certainly. The reaction in Washington to reports that China trawls America’s open innovation ecosystem pocketing prized technologies got that much right. AI and quantum computing, to name just two of them, could change the balance of global power. Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced Canberra was canceling two agreements by Victoria, the country’s second most populous state, to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. She said they were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or –adverse to our foreign relations” but did not elaborate. Read Here | Asia Times
China’s behavior in other territorial disputes also offers lessons for the future of the Sino-Indian border dispute. Despite a commitment to not militarize disputed islands and islets in the South China Sea, Beijing has continued to do so through incremental advances employing so-called grey zone tactics. Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
A new consensus has emerged in American politics: that the United States has recklessly pursued international economic openness at the expense of workers and the result has been economic inequality, social pain, and political strife. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga received renewed commitments from the United States to the two sides’ alliance and the kudos due to the first foreign leader to be greeted by US President Joe Biden in Washington. Read Here | Asia Times
A more assertive China is extending its influence across the Indo-Pacific and around the world. Existing alliances and institutions aren’t up to the task of addressing the consequences, and domestic politics across the region mean that an “Asian NATO” is off the table. That’s where the Quad comes in… Read Here | Foreign Affairs
This diplomatic process, which is crucial to avoiding further conflict in the Middle East and allowing President Biden to focus on competition with China, will falter unless the Biden administration moves quickly. American negotiators should list the sanctions that the United States is prepared to remove in exchange for Iranian compliance. Read Here | NYTimes
looking beyond borders 