A Nation Must Think Before it Acts
China & Taiwan
A nation must think before it acts.
China & Taiwan
Connecting the Dots: Will Xi Stay the Course?
Distinguishing trend lines from temporary phenomena in Chinese policies has never been easy, but recent events have made it even harder to connect the dots. Simply put, the public face that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership has heretofore...
Read more »
Surviving Taiwan’s Lame Duck Period
The interval between the election and inauguration of Taiwan’s new president has yielded both worrying developments and encouraging signs. Ambiguous signals, competing agendas, mixed messages and complex incentives make it hard to interpret these events, and the high stakes/low...
Read more »
Why Russia Sanctions?
The Obama administration’s current Russia policy needs a stronger dose of realpolitik. In particular Washington and its G-7 partners should re-evaluate the impact of economic sanctions, imposed on Russia in the wake of its 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Plainly,...
Read more »
Donald Trump Folds the Nuclear Umbrella: Is American Extended Deterrence Passé?
It might be said that among foreign policy and national security watchers, Donald Trump is a gift that keeps giving....
Read more »
China’s Military Reorganization – and America’s Window of Opportunity
In September 2015, as part of the festivities marking the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would cut 300,000 troops. ...
Read more »
China’s “Win-Win” Development Bargain: China, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the International Order
Fifty-seven countries, led by China, will launch the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on June 29 in Beijing. As its name suggests, the bank will provide financing for infrastructure development across Asia. Two months ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping...
Read more »The Race for Drones
Over the last two decades, the United States has been the world’s pre-eminent user and supplier of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In 2013, the United States was estimated to have approximately 7,500 drones in operation, ranging from relatively small...
Read more »The Revenge of Great Power Politics
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A week makes. A week ago Tom Ricks of the New American Foundation wrote about the non-military nature of today’s news, and then Russia conducts an invasion of the Crimea. This isn’t to be critical of Tom at all (full disclosure:...
Read more »Making Waves: Debates Behind China’s First Aircraft Carrier
China commissioned its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, on September 25, 2012. It was a milestone that owes much to the vision of Admiral Liu Huaqing, who commanded the Chinese navy—formally the People’s Liberation Army Navy—from 1982 to 1988...
Read more »The Far East Between Russia, China, and America
Overview Moscow’s relations with its eastern territories, especially the nine provinces of the Russian Far East (RFE), have significant security implications for Russia and for the Asia-Pacific community generally. With 36 percent of the national territory and 25,000 km...
Read more »