When the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” was articulated by the Trump administration, India rightly had concerns about the “Indo.” Did it mean India or the Indian Ocean? If the former, it would be received as a dialectal ploy to pressure India to play a larger role in East and Southeast Asian security affairs. If it meant Indian Ocean, […]
For the first time in over two decades, Pakistan is not a foreign-policy priority for a new US administration… This new reality raises the important question of how the United States should think about its relationship with Pakistan. A country of more than 200 million people, Pakistan is geo-strategically located at the mouth of the […]
President Joe Biden entered the White House determined to restore the world’s confidence in the United States. That task is particularly important in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has become as central to geopolitics as Europe was during the Cold War. The United States’ presence, influence, and credibility in the region are flagging, and restoring them […]
The Ethiopian government’s victory over the Tigray People’s Liberation Front came at a high cost, and the humanitarian situation in northern Tigray remains grave. But only an Ethiopia at peace, with a government bound by humane norms of conduct, can play a constructive role across the region and beyond. Read Here | Project Syndicate
For four years, both friends and foes of the United States questioned Washington’s commitment to its relationships, its values, and the international institutions it helped to build. President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the United States’ reputation as a resolute and dependable power, but some worry that the damage done over the last four years […]
It correctly warns that China poses a profound and unprecedented strategic challenge to the United States, and that Washington urgently needs a comprehensive and bipartisan national strategy for responding to that challenge. But its diagnosis of the problem is not as accurate—and its proposed strategy is not as realistic—as Kennan’s. Read Here | The National […]
On Jan. 25, Chinese president Xi Jinping gave a speech to the online version of the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference, with the lofty title “Let the Torch of Multilateralism Light Up Humanity’s Way Forward.” It was important not because it offered new revelations about Xi’s thinking or China’s ambitions, but because it provided a […]
Both the US and Chinese governments must start to understand that combining cooperation with competition is the best way forward. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, both chastened by four years of Trumpian disruption, have a real chance to reverse the course of bilateral relations. Read Here | Project Syndicate
In contrast to its populist predecessor’s faux pas, the new Democratic administration will primarily rely on veteran policy-makers and tried-and-tested experts to project American leadership in strategic regions such as Asia. The familiar background of his top appointees will likely facilitate their quick bipartisan approval in the Democratic-majority Congress. Read Here | Asia Times
It’s a lesson many politicians — mostly male — have learned the hard way over the past 15 years: never underestimate Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor is preparing to step down later this year, having long ago cemented her position as one of the world’s most successful political leaders. In her time in office, she […]
looking beyond borders 