4 Mar 2019
Four reasons why China supports North Korea
China’s policy on the Korean peninsula is based on geopolitical calculus. Its support of North Korea will stay intact.
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1 Mar 2019
Kim-Trump 2.0: three observations
Hanoi marks the moment when Washington learned to stop worrying about North Korea’s bomb. -
27 Feb 2019
Why North Korea – and Vietnam – can benefit from the Hanoi Summit
A more prosperous North Korea is a best case, as it is always harder to negotiate with someone who has nothing to lose. -
25 Feb 2019
Trump-Kim summit II: North Korea’s superficial modernisation
<p>Needing a bike to deliver medicines but having a TV in most households exemplifies the development paradox.</p> -
22 Feb 2019
Trouble in Munich: the transatlantic breakup
<p>Europe and America read from diverging scripts at the annual strategic confab, the Munich Security Conference.</p> -
21 Feb 2019
The tremendous impact of a US-China investment and technology war
The impending bifurcation of the world internet economy will disrupt many industries, companies and national economies. -
8 Feb 2019
Of “foolish wars, politics … ridiculous partisan investigations”
A Democrat-controlled House and a feisty Republican senate auger meaningful congressional oversight of foreign affairs. -
7 Feb 2019
The Vietnamese venue will shape the second Trump-Kim summit
<p>Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet in Vietnam, a backdrop with history for the US and promise for North Korea.</p> -
7 Feb 2019
Yes, Hillary could have led the world to war with Kim Jong-un
A hoary “what if”, but Trump has helped calm Korean peninsula dangers in a way that may have eluded his 2016 rival. -
5 Feb 2019
Getting a better outcome from the second Trump-Kim summit
Why not start by demanding North Korea finally give us a list or inventory of its weapons? -
1 Feb 2019
US, Taliban, Afghanistan peace talks: timing is critical
<p>Should the US agree to a full pull-out of its troops, Afghanistan may fall into the chaos of the past.</p> -
31 Jan 2019
Pacific collateral from the INF Treaty collapse
Leaving the treaty would allow the US to quickly build up regional arsenal of new nuclear weapons to challenge China. -
22 Jan 2019
The fate of three Canadians may now rest with Donald Trump
Beijing can justifiably be concerned about the detention of a citizen, but not hold foreigners in arbitrary retaliation. -
18 Jan 2019
Book Review: the Clinton fiction
Clinton’s book has nothing new to say about politics but it may offer some insight into his assessment of the world. -
15 Jan 2019
Philippine alliance angst
A call for the Philippines' possible withdrawal from the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty has come as a surprise. -
7 Jan 2019
Book review: Grappling with the legacy of Barack Obama
Ben Rhodes’ memoir of his years in the Obama White House defends his record but is tinged by doubt. -
31 Dec 2018
Best of The Interpreter 2018: The US-China trade war
The two largest economies in the world have spent the year exchanging threats of retaliatory tariffs. -
21 Dec 2018
Was Jim Mattis really the “last adult in the room”?
Mattis said Trump deserves a defense secretary “whose views are better aligned with yours”. Does such a person exist? -
20 Dec 2018
What happens next? Trump’s sudden Syria exit
Exactly what “moving on” means will become apparent in the months ahead but such a rapid exit has obvious ramifications. -
20 Dec 2018
The new US Africa strategy is not about Africa. It’s about China
A US Africa strategy should focus on US-Africa relations, not on China-Africa relations. -
19 Dec 2018
What I missed this year: America pushes back
There has been a clear shift in US thinking regarding China's long term trajectory. -
17 Dec 2018
US-China tensions: is this about economics or security?
The challenge might seem to be China’s economic behaviour rather than old-fashioned power rivalry. -
11 Dec 2018
US killing by drone: continuity and escalation
<p>The US use of drones in “targeted killings” has grown under Donald Trump, continuing Barack Obama’s legacy.</p> -
7 Dec 2018
US-China competition is all about us
Everybody else will be the objects of China-US competition, called upon to make choices in favour of one or the other. -
5 Dec 2018
How the US can prevent a China-dominated Asia
America should stop spreading itself far and wide in the pursuit of improbable power balances. -
3 Dec 2018
Xi and Trump at G20: A tariff truce
The risk of damage to the global economy is just as real as last week. -
1 Dec 2018
George H W Bush: the internationalist president
Marshalling an international force to turn back the illegal invasion of Kuwait proved the high point of his career. -
30 Nov 2018
North Korea’s emerging blackmail strategy
A deadlock in negotiation between the US and South Korea leaves Pyongyang to make all the gains. -
29 Nov 2018
Russia-Ukraine: soggy response to Kerch aggression
It is not tensions that are escalating but the relentless Russian acts of aggression against Ukraine. -
15 Nov 2018
Chipping away at trust in democracy
<p>Without a greater level of political care, threats to the brittle foundations of democracy will grow.</p> -
15 Nov 2018
More than words needed to meet the China challenge
There appears to be little evidence of the US preparing itself for a whole-of-nation competition with China. -
14 Nov 2018
The prospect of a “Trumpier” foreign policy
There is every chance the president will be bolder abroad, in search of wins he believes will help him at home. -
9 Nov 2018
The new normal: a close naval encounter in the South China Sea
The Chinese commander’s handling of the situation was less than adept. -
7 Nov 2018
US midterms: the no-joke elections
<p>Is anything short of a punishing defeat for Republicans actually an endorsement of Donald Trump?</p> -
5 Nov 2018
The cliché is true: this is the most important US midterm, ever
The midterm elections this week may change the balance of power in Washington and re-define Donald Trump’s presidency. -
31 Oct 2018
Trump scores a win over Russia
Ribald nuclear threats by Vladimir Putin show that Washington’s decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty was right. -
30 Oct 2018
Disinformation campaigns and US elections
Alerted and (hopefully) alarmed, the new US tactic to scare off Russian interference won’t stop online trolls at home. -
29 Oct 2018
With Trump in Mind, China Realigns
<p>America's anti-China trade policies are compelling China to realign.</p> -
29 Oct 2018
Jamal Khashoggi: shifting law in a deadly turf war
The journalist’s death illustrates broader anxieties for the international rule of law and the fate of the global order. -
26 Oct 2018
The one Iran deal the US should keep
The 1955 Treaty of Amity has offered a chance to resolve disputes between the US and Iran. Abandoning it carries a cost. -
23 Oct 2018
America builds on development aid
Thanks to China, US development financing gets a facelift. -
23 Oct 2018
Friends like these … allies and the Pence speech
The US may have to adjust its goals and means to obtain full allied support for its China policy, and what about Trump? -
19 Oct 2018
Killing Chimerica
“Decoupling” the deep economic entwinement with China is increasingly seen as vital to US security. -
18 Oct 2018
Is the second Trump-Kim summit necessary?
The more attention the world pays Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, the less incentive it has to actually surrender weapons. -
17 Oct 2018
Beware of fighter pilots bearing gifts
A “dog fight” between a Russian and US jet, apparently over Syria, looks to be fake news. -
16 Oct 2018
Decoding the bombshell story for China
Right or wrong, claims Beijing hacked computer chips has accelerated a push to cut out China from US supply chains. -
12 Oct 2018
Courting supreme mistrust
Where India’s Supreme Court has grown in stature, partisan bickering may undermine the US Supreme Court for years. -
9 Oct 2018
Will geopolitics trump trade?
Ships and chips and an adversarial strategy exacerbate the likelihood of a Sino-American trade war. -
8 Oct 2018
A slap in the face for diverse diplomacy
Unmarried, same-sex partners of foreign diplomats have 30 days to get married or face deportation from the US. -
8 Oct 2018
Pence on China: reviving a neoconservative dream
What amounts to bringing about the “end of history” by repetition has been a persistent temptation for neocons.