Michael Mazza, AEI
On the same day last month that transatlantic leaders gathered virtually for the Munich Security Conference, eight Chinese fighter jets and an electronic warfare aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone in a robust show of force not far from Taiwanese territory. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait may seem a distant concern to Europe's leaders, but they cannot afford to ignore the consequences that may arise from escalating frictions half a world...
Bill Hayton, Chatham House
It is vital Myanmar's allies around the world rapidly engage with the military leadership. The discussions may be distasteful, but the alternatives are worse.
Andrew Michta, National Review
For decades, our elites pursued with near-religious zeal the fantasy of a ‘liberal global order,' at the expense of the homeland. Have they learned anything?
Neeta Lal, The Diplomat
As India imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns a year ago, ordering 1.34 billion people to stay at home for months, thousands of migrant workers scrambled to return to their native villages. Walking along highways or railway tracks, or packed like cattle into trucks and vans, their images on TV and in newspapers shook the nation's collective conscience.
George Packer, The Atlantic
In 1966, a young American journalist named Frances FitzGerald began publishing articles from South Vietnam in leading magazines, including this one. She was the unlikeliest of war correspondents—born into immense privilege, a daughter of the high-WASP ascendancy. Her father, Desmond FitzGerald, was a top CIA official; her mother, Marietta Tree, a socialite and liberal activist. FitzGerald was raised with servants and horses, and she had to fend off advances from... Читать дальше...
Robert Levinson, WOTR
In 2010, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said, "The most significant threat to our national security is our debt." At the time the national debt was climbing fast. In 2008 it was about 68 percent of GDP, but due to the financial crisis it jumped to 82 percent the next year. Fast forward a decade to December 2020, when the debt was estimated at 108 percent of GDP, and...
Anna Borshchevskaya, Wash. Ins.
The omissions in Moscow's statements on the U.S. operation are as revealing as the predictable hyperbole and hypocrisy.
Paul Goble, Jamestown
Reports claiming that Russia will, within a few weeks, welcome Iran as a new member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) may be premature, but they are still likely to be realized in the not-too-distant future, some Russian analysts argue (RitmEurasia, February 26). These reports are liable to be confirmed, first and foremost, because Iran's accession to the EEU would help both countries to more readily counter Western...
Hiroyuki Akita, Nikkei
First, if the Europeans demonstrate their ability and willingness to project naval power in the Indo-Pacific, China will have no choice but to modify its operations plans with respect to Taiwan and the South China Sea. The Chinese military will have to assume that the U.K., France and Germany, as well as Japan and Australia, will provide some form of support to U.S. forces in the event of a conflict. This would set a higher bar for a Chinese decision on military action.
Christopher Smart, Project Syndicate
After years of the United States and China butting heads over trade and other issues, opportunities for a mutually constructive rapprochement are growing scarce. It will be up to Joe Biden's administration to develop a more cogent strategy for dealing with the most important foreign-policy issue of this century.
James Holmes, 1945
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command supremo Admiral Philip Davidson wittingly or unwittingly fortified deterrence in the Western Pacific this week. Admiral Davidson told a webinar at the American Enterprise Institute that augmenting Guam's defenses is his top priority. "Guam is absolutely critical in maintaining deterrence and stability in the region," he declared. "It is our most critical operating location west of the International Dateline. Funding for the air...
Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs
How Biden Can Learn From History in Real Time
Leo Lewis, Financial Times
Japan's finance ministry has decided to tackle one of the great unanswered questions of innovation and finance. Can $100bn buy a nation back its mojo?
Austin Cooper, The Bulletin
In January, the French historian Benjamin Stora filed a report commissioned by the French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at "reconciliation of memories between France and Algeria," which France ruled as the jewel of its colonial empire for more than 130 years.
William Astore, TomDispatch
Cancel culture is a common, almost viral, term in political and social discourse these days. Basically, somebody expresses views considered to be outrageous or vile or racist or otherwise insensitive and inappropriate. In response, that person is "canceled," perhaps losing a job or otherwise sidelined and silenced. In being deplatformed by Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites,...
Brenda Shaffer, FDD
In late 2020, the Armenian government announced that its Metsamor nuclear power plant would close for five months in 2021 to attempt significant upgrades. Soon after, the EU urged Armenia to make the closure permanent since the plant "cannot be updated to fully meet internationally accepted safety standards." A major nuclear or radiation accident at Metsamor would not only affect the people of Armenia, but citizens in neighboring...
Manyin Li, National Review
hat does the Chinese Communist Party actually want? Sometimes, the regime's plans can seem inscrutable. Other times, they are more blunt. The latter is certainly the case for one high-profile Chinese scholar serving the Party: Jin Canrong, the Chinese "State Master," a professor at the Chinese People's University in Beijing, a U.S. expert, and an adviser to the Chinese Communist Party's Organization...
