Beijing and Moscow have enhanced their cooperation in recent years, both bilaterally and on multilateral platforms, in what some observers have suggested is a united effort to change the global order now dominated by the West. Read Here – South China Morning Post
Up until recently, the two nations’ economic ties had served as an effective brake on escalating strategic distrust. A China less constrained by and invested in economic ties with the United States could pose a substantially greater challenge to U.S. foreign policy. For all the Trump administration’s frustrations with managing interdependence, the consequences of decoupling […]
U.S. foreign policy toward Iran is approaching a “back to the future” moment, with the Trump White House resurrecting the strategy pursued by President George W. Bush (and, for a while, President Barack Obama) of pressuring Iran economically into abandoning its nuclear pursuits. Read Here – The National Interest
As the first wave of renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran goes into effect Tuesday amid rising street protests over the country’s disastrous economy, analysts are divided about whether popular anger over runaway inflation and unemployment will be directed at the government in Tehran—or at the United States. Read Here – Foreign Policy
US companies in China are bracing for more retaliatory pain from Beijing as the trade row between the two countries shows no sign of abating. Observers said some American firms had reported higher costs and much greater regulatory scrutiny, and feared a major drop-off in business from rising nationalism. The fallout follows a decision by Washington […]
Governing Pakistan is an unenviable task in the best of times, not least when the country is faced with an economic meltdown and a diplomatic squeeze. The solution to both is intrinsically linked — with the US holding one of the keys to relieving the pain. Incoming prime minister Imran Khan isn’t going to have […]
US President Donald Trump says Beijing “is talking to” Washington about their trade dispute, claiming his tariffs strategy is working against China and other trade partners. But Chinese analysts are cautious, saying there could be more tit-for-tat trade measures to come before the two sides get back to the negotiating table. Read Here – South China […]
The reaction to this week’s announcement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of a US$113 million infrastructure fund is that it was more than a tad underwhelming. When set against potentially upwards of US$1 trillion in financing for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – to which the new US fund is a thinly veiled response – that […]
Is US President Donald Trump really going to amp up trade tariffs against China? And with its back against the wall, will Asia’s biggest, most influential economy use a sharp currency devaluation as a form of retaliation? In Southeast Asia, home to some of the world’s most China-dependent economies, astute market watchers say they are as clueless […]
Having withdrawn from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), literally rattled a few sabers, and approved record-breaking weapons sales to the Gulf monarchies, President Donald Trump is now pronouncing himself happy to meet with Iran’s leaders without preconditions. While such a meeting would be as unprecedented as June’s summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, it would also be […]
looking beyond borders 