China & Taiwan

India has long prided itself on its strategically independent or non-aligned foreign policy.  But the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian War has put India’s approach to strategic independence under an international spotlight.  Although Indian leaders have often stated that their country’s strategic...

Military bases are no rarity in the Asia-Pacific.  That is hardly a surprise given the frequency and length of conflicts that were waged across the region for much of the twentieth century.  But, in the decade-and-a-half after the Cold...

In a speech on Chinese threats to U.S. national security on January 31, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Wray emphasized ongoing attempts by the People’s Republic of China to spy on American companies and steal...

Abstract This article examines the claim that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) promotes its commercial interests in building 5G network infrastructure abroad to advance digital authoritarianism. Critics view China’s actions as part of a well-coordinated, strategic effort to...

Abstract The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is rapidly building a blue-water force structure, but little is known about how the service intends to use these new platforms in operations outside of East Asia. This article answers key questions...

We expect during this year (2022) that the Biden/Harris administration will promulgate its national security strategy and related documents.  These strategic missives signal the commitments and priorities of the administration and are intended to guide the development and procurement...

Abstract With tensions over Ukraine growing, the Biden administration finds itself confronting a similar charge to one that dogged the Obama administration in the run-up to and aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea: namely, that it is exhibiting weakness that could...

    Executive Summary  In the early years of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Central Asian countries (roughly 1992-1999), bilateral security discussions strictly focused on the then-looming influence of a Uyghur-led independence movement in Xinjiang....

Alerted to their vulnerability on rare earths (REEs) when China threatened to withhold supplies to Japan in September 2010, industrialized countries began to be concerned with developing alternate sources.  For Japan in particular, REEs are indispensable to the production...

During the early 2010s, developing countries were keen to get in on the global trade boom that brought prosperity to many countries, most famously China, over the prior quarter century.  At the Asian-African Conference in 2015, Chinese General Secretary...