ISABELLA LEE WRITES — China has been on the rise for the last several decades both in economic and political power. Other countries with shared interests have been trying to conceptualize foreign policy initiatives that can both contain and maintain their relationship with China while preserving their own interests. Recently…
Full Article AMERICA: HOW THE FREE AND OPEN PACIFIC SHAPED U.S. FOREIGN POLICY UNDER DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATIONS
TOM PLATE WRITES — US foreign policy since the September 11 attacks looks rather like an animal caught in the headlights of fast-moving contemporary history that won’t slow down for anyone or anything. If we can agree on this general picture, then we must also agree that no one American, whether…
Full Article UNITED STATES: FOREIGN POLICY NEEDS A SCRIPT REWRITE UNDER ANTONY BLINKEN AND JOE BIDEN
TOM PLATE WRITES — Marvellously, sharp streaks of sunshine are starting to break through America’s Covid-19 cloud cover, but the fog over US foreign policy seems heavy. It involves India, China and Russia. Let’s start with India and employ the British poet W.H. Auden’s words – “the gates of hell are…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: FOREIGN POLICY AIMED AT OBSTRUCTING CHINA WON’T SUCCEED
TOM PLATE WRITES — The late George Kennan became a diplomatic legend for advocating, while stationed in Moscow, a singular foreign policy idea that famously worked. It was called “containment”. Its steadfast observance by the US and its allies undoubtedly helped lead to the welcome collapse of the Soviet Union.…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: POINTILLISM IS THE WAY TO GO
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – In early September, as if the international community needed to be reminded about the alleged capabilities of the North Korean armed forces, the country said that it was prepared to carry out a nuclear attack against (big shocker) the United States and “other hostile forces” for…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: Business as Usual in the Hermit Kingdom
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES– Someone find Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je a public relations specialist pronto! The newly elected official is getting heat from Taiwanese and international media for tone-deaf comments made in the past week. On January 29, Foreign Policy magazine published highlights of a January 20 interview with the former trauma…
Full Article TAIWAN: Words Can HurtAlmost immediately after the reelection of President Barack Obama, the White House announced that he would visit Myanmar (Burma) as his first foreign policy initiative at the start of a three-stop tour of Southeast Asia that will also cover Thailand and Cambodia. The tour excludes the Philippines, a longtime strategic…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: Hey Obama- Call Us Collect, If You Want!The inevitable and historic shifting of global power from the West to the East is the famous central theme of Kishore Mahbubani. Currently dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, Mahbubani has put forth another view of important consequence. It’s that…
Full Article JAPAN: Please Wake Up, Don’t Leave It To China!