Asia
China puts its golden goose on notice
In recent years, China’s digital economy has seemed like a house undergoing full-scale renovation. At this moment, it appears to be in the demolition stage.
In a series of…
Commentary
Why the US is quietly outshining China
Xi Jinping likes to say China owns the future and the West is in decline. But appearances can also deceive.
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.
Commentary
China’s communists guard their future from the past
As they celebrate their party’s centenary, China’s leaders remain obsessed with the fate of the Soviet Union and its political reforms. They study history to avoid a repeat.
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India fears a poison harvest from Afghanistan
The takeover of the Afghan government by the hard-line Islamist Taliban was swift and bloodless – at least on the day the group marched into the capital, Kabul. It means a u-turn…
Duterte’s back-down on US forces in Philippines
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has finally put an end to uncertainty regarding the fate of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States…
The world must evacuate women police in Afghanistan
Women police have been among the victims of targeted killings as the Taliban expanded their territorial gains over the last year, along with women judges, journalists and human…
Can the US and China cooperate on climate?
Outlining the Biden administration’s approach to China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that the United States would be “competitive when it should be,…
North Korea calling
Despite protests from North Korea, this week the United States and South Korea kicked off their annual joint military exercise. Korea watchers are worried that the decision to…
Decoding intelligence on Afghanistan
Did the US intelligence community fail by not accurately predicting the speed and scale of the Taliban’s victory?
A familiar blame game is now underway in Washington with…
China’s new silos: Nuclear arms control more urgent than ever
Over the last few weeks, evidence has emerged that China may be expanding its arsenal of nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) on a much larger scale than…