In their two decade “War against Terror”, Western governments have bombed, invaded and occupied Muslim-majority countries in pursuit of Al Qaeda and Daesh, along with sanctioning and outlawing what they perceive to be militant Islamist political parties, and then freezing assets and denying migrant visas to those with ties to Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood […]
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will this month become the first world leader to meet face to face with Joe Biden, highlighting the Asia-Pacific foreign focus of the new US president. It is that vast geography that will probably be the critical theater consuming much of Biden’s time. Top of the agenda for Biden at the […]
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold the Biden administration’s first meeting with China in Alaska on March 18. The policies he advances, the tone he sets, and lines in the sand that he draws at this momentous event will impact America’s safety and security for the next four years and beyond. While Blinken has laudably called […]
The leaders of Australia, Japan, India, and the US came together for a virtual summit for the first time on 12 March, 2021. This not-so-new grouping is being called the Quadrilateral Security Dialog or Quad. Though this Quad name is relatively new, the idea had originated in the post-Tsunami period in December 2004, when the […]
On March 18, senior American and Chinese officials will meet in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the tense state of U.S.-China relations. Bilateral relations spiraled precipitously during the Trump years. Many keen observers thought that the new Biden administration might reflexively adopt an anti-Trump stance, and urgently adopt cooperation with China on global challenges, such as […]
Recent statements made by US officials suggest that Washington will continue to pursue a hardline policy on Venezuela. The new Biden Administration, however, may need to rethink its approach. US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, remarked on February 3 that he “certainly” does not “expect this administration to be engaging directly with (President) Maduro.” Namely, […]
The Biden administration is off to a fast start resetting relations with Japan and putting China on notice by forming a US Department of Defense China task force. Japan is a key US security partner in East Asia. Amid a geostrategic shift to east, the two countries are renewing ties and looking at a much […]
Since the commencement of trade liberalization in the 1970s, the relationship between the US and China has never been more tumultuous. The ever-augmenting diplomatic conflict between the two countries revolves around a number of issues including, but not limited to, the Covid-19 pandemic, trade and tariffs, human rights and intellectual property rights. Navigating around such […]
In Vladimir Putin, the Biden administration faces the most aggressive anti-American Russian regime since Nikita Khrushchev. An effective response will require the new U.S. president and his national security team to confront Putin’s ongoing anti-Western strategy — while looking for areas to engage Russia on areas of common interest. The Biden administration has two Putin-related problems […]
For a brief moment, the assassination of Qasem Soleimani a year ago was “the story” of 2020. Analysts were frenzied in their alarmist predictions that not only was war with Iran on the horizon, but a broader conflict across the region was also imminent. Instead, 2020 proved to be noteworthy for how little the assassination […]