A nation must think before it acts.
Asia
A Surprising Find in the Belly of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
On a recent research to Taiwan, I made several visits to one of the premiere tourist attractions in Taipei: the Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall, which memorializes the “Generalissimo” who ruled (in various forms) the Republic of China from...
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The Not At All Autonomous Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region: An International Human Rights Embarrassment and Pothole on China’s Belt and Road
The northwestern-most area of the People’s Republic of China has fit uneasily into the PRC since the day its leaders bowed to the inevitable and declared their allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Then mostly populated by Turkic...
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Yes, Hanoi Ended Pretty Badly. But Trump and Kim Are Not Done.
Among the range of possible outcomes discussed before the summit, ending with nothing at all was something few, if any, had bet on. It seemed much more likely that Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un would agree to measures that...
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Of Course North Korea Wants Sanctions Relief, But What Kind?
In only a few days, President Trump and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, will meet in Hanoi. Both need to bring home concrete results. North Korea is under the strictest sanctions regime it has ever faced, and, with some...
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A Valentine’s Day Massacre in Kashmir: Weighing the Risks of Escalation
Dusk was falling as I finished my tea with a young Indian Army officer at an army camp not far from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. I knew that I had to take his leave soon because my...
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Royal Drama in Thailand
Recent news reports from Thailand revealed that Royal Princess Ubolratana—a sister of King Vajiralongkorn—had accepted the nomination of a political party to be its candidate for Prime Minister in upcoming elections. A few hours later, the candidacy was terminated...
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Japan’s New(ish) Aircraft Carriers: Reviving Japanese Naval Aviation
With remarkably little fuss, the Japanese Diet approved the latest iteration of Japan’s National Defense Program Guidelines in December 2018. The new guidelines pave the way for the conversion of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s two largest warships, the...
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South Asia’s Changing Geopolitical Landscape
Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, several geopolitical developments in Asia have changed the way India and Pakistan—the two main South Asian states—interact with other major powers. With the rise of an assertive China, growing extremism and terrorism in...
Read more »Reflections on China’s Need for a ‘Chinese World Order’
Abstract China’s existing political and economic structure is too weak to resist the stress of the globalization that is being imposed by the contemporary international trade and diplomatic regime. Left unchecked, the pressures of the global system would destroy much of China’s state-owned...
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The Belt, the Road, and Latin America
China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) project was late in coming to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). First announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, OBOR, later renamed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), did not arrive in...
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