Behind the Tensions Over China’s Artificial Islands
There are two useful ways to view the current dispute over the artificial islands China is building atop reefs in much-contested zones of the South China Sea. It’s a mistake to see China’s construction projects in the Spratly Islands as…
China’s New Development Bank: How Obama Blew It in the Pacific (Again)
When China launched a new multilateral lending institution last October amid fanfare in the Great Hall of the People, the Obama administration had already spent many months opposing it. It urged Beijing not to go forward; then it lobbied allies…
Why 2015 Will Make or Break a Spate of Global Alliances
U.S., Russia, Iran, China, Europe all face loyalty tests Call it the “Year of Tenuous Ties” as new alliances take shape Obama has to rethink his approach to both Russia and China Last January this column nominated 2014 as “the…
How China and Russia Out-Maneuvered Obama in Asia
President Obama brought a climate agreement back from his trip to Beijing last week, and Democrats and the media advertise it as a triumphant step in the U.S.-China relationship. At the weekend, he was in Brisbane for a G-20 meeting…
In Hong Kong, the Democrats Will Go Down Swinging
China has unleashed its thugs on the peaceful demonstrators Beijing wants to turn Hong Kong into Singapore—sort of. “You get a refrigerator, a TV, and a small car, but no voice.” It is hard to read the news reports and…
Japan and China Vie for 21st Century Dominance
A specter haunts the great powers of East Asia. It is the specter of ethnic chauvinism and a recrudescent nationalism one would have thought a thing of the past. With this comes the possibility of irrational conflict, and for the…
Japan’s Pivot Away from the West Leads Back to China
Japan-watchers have asked since the “bubble” of the late-1980s, “What are the Japanese going to do?” Now Shinzo Abe, the bluntly nationalist prime minister, is making this clear, prompting a new question: “How will Americans and Japan’s neighbors handle what…
China’s Strategy Has Completely Eluded Washington
The Chinese dragon, awake and alert for some time, is suddenly stretching its arms and embracing what it thinks with conviction is its destiny as a Pacific power. Will the American protectorate in place for 70 years hold, they ask…
“A corrosive dereliction of duty”: Why the New York Times’ America-first journalism is so dangerous
Our foreign affairs columnist explains his problem with American exceptionalism, and with the New York Times Sanctions to the right of them, Sanctions to the left of them, Sanctions in front of them Volley’d and thunder’d; Into the valley of…
Why Obama’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ Will Prove a Non Event
HONG KONG—After two years of dithering and drift in the Pacific, the Obama administration is now trying to give substance to its noted “pivot to Asia.” The White House’s problem simply put: Symbols and gestures do not amount to substance,…
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