What’s On Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Agenda For First Official Visit To North Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s maiden state visit to Pyongyang this week may signal an economic re-engagement with the hermit kingdom, according to Chinese state media. Ahead of the visit, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily has suggested, via its social media account, that restoring bilateral economic relations would be on the agenda. Read Here – South China Morning […]

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The ‘Xi Doctrine’: Proclaiming And Rationalizing China’s Aggression

Empirical evidence of China’s aggression is increasingly common, from its attempt to dominate the South China Sea, the neo-imperialist effort to gain control of states through the Belt and Road Initiative, to its technological imperialism to control 5G and artificial intelligence technologies. What is rather less frequent are statements from high-level Chinese officials proclaiming the […]

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The Self-Destruction Of American Power

Sometime in the last two years, American hegemony died. The age of U.S. dominance was a brief, heady era, about three decades marked by two moments, each a breakdown of sorts. It was born amid the collapse of the Berlin Wall, in 1989. The end, or really the beginning of the end, was another collapse, […]

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Jokowi’s Global Maritime Fulcrum: 5 More Years?

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is set to assume office for another half-decade, giving a sigh of relief to patrons counting on the continuity of his policies…His second term brings immediate questions over whether he will employ the same strategic frameworks in driving the country’s development, and whether the concept of the Global Maritime Fulcrum […]

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The Perfect Storm Confronting Xi Jinping

Whether it was confidence due to his growing domestic strength, a belief that the balance of economic power in the U.S.-China relationship had already shifted, or a concern about appearing weak in front of Trump, Xi seems to have reached the conclusion that China, under his leadership, can successfully challenge the United States. This appears […]

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US, China War Drums Put SE Asia On New Edge

Did the recently concluded Shangri-La Dialogue talk shop, long a gauge of the Indo-Pacific’s geo-strategic temperature, presage a coming conflict between China and the United States, and potential end to decades of relative peace and stability in the region? Read Here – Asia Times

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Trump, Trade And Trust

United States President Donald Trump’s trade policy action against India suggests the narrative of a Rising India may well have met its comeuppance. The action has been explained away by some as collateral damage with the main targets being China and the trade-surplus enjoying OECD economies, especially Germany and Japan. Read Here – The Indian […]

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A Tale Of Two State Visits

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” Thus Charles Dickens begins “A Tale of Two Cities.” Would that the greatest of all novelists could return to […]

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Views From The Capitals: European Elections

Though the biggest headlines of election night may have been of the Le Pen and Salvini victories, the story across Europe is that voters have mobilised in favour of change.  A high turn-out in the European Parliament elections has resulted in a surge for smaller parties, notably greens and liberals, which has effectively countered the rise of […]

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Beware The Decline Of U.S. Influence In South Asia

The United States does have important interests in the region which range from cultivating peace in Afghanistan to reigning in Chinese ambitions in Asia-Pacific. Realizing these objectives will require greater participation in regional affairs particularly between India and Pakistan, this for the sake of the United States and the region itself. Read Here – The […]

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