Challenge at Sea
At the end of August, the Royal Navy gave the UK Telegraph a rare glimpse of what’s going on today in the arcane world of the submariner, under the Northern Atlantic’s restless surface. The report...
View ArticleWhat Real Diplomacy Looks Like
Americans seldom think of Israel in the conventional terms of “alliance,” but Israelis must, perforce, think of America that way. In the most fundamental sense, alliances are formed for security...
View ArticleThe Rising Dragon and “Smart” Diplomacy
For years we have been hearing about how effective Chinese diplomacy is — a supposed contrast with a ham-handed, distracted Uncle Sam who was letting the rising dragon take over East Asia while we...
View ArticleDouble-Talk from Moscow on Iran
The White House has been crowing that Russia’s decision last week not to sell advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran represents a big triumph of its attempt to “reset” relationships with Moscow....
View ArticleFlashpoint Senkakus
There is reason to be concerned about the spat between China and Japan, which erupted over a Chinese fishing trawler that entered the disputed waters of the Senkaku Island chain on September 7 and then...
View ArticleJapan: Russia Piling On
As Americans turn their attention inward, China and Russia are beginning to make geopolitical moves that evoke nothing so much as the environment of the 1930s. I have written elsewhere about China’s...
View ArticleA Better Choice for the Peace Prize
Aside from giving it to Richard Goldstone (you think I jest, but he was on the short list), the Nobelians could hardly have done worse than last year’s choice for the Peace Prize. In fact, they did a...
View ArticleA Human-Rights Forum Gone Awry
As the third Forum on Human Rights in Beijing wraps up today, other news shows just how serious the Chinese Communist Party is about protecting the rights of its citizens. The Associated Press reports...
View ArticleGoogle’s Moral Triumph — Part II
Google continued its moral stand against censorship this week, releasing a white paper linking free speech and free exchange of information to free trade and economic growth. This isn’t the first time...
View ArticleFlotsam and Jetsam
This isn’t going to win over the critics who say she lacks political judgment. “Sarah Palin dismissed Barbara Bush’s recent criticism as a matter of class privilege. … ‘I don’t want to concede that we...
View ArticleFlotsam and Jetsam
More European nations in trouble. “The debt crisis in Europe escalated sharply Friday as investors dumped Spanish and Portuguese bonds in panicked selling, substantially heightening the prospect that...
View ArticleNOW, We’re (Not) Talking
Perhaps the Obama administration has finally lost its infatuation with engagement. This marks a step in the right direction and a departure from the Bush administration and the first two years of this...
View ArticleAmerica Is Powerful, After All
The headlines claim that China was “scared to death of Nancy Pelosi,” but the real story is far more important: China was “scared to death” over a visit by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is outspoken on...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
Assange arrested in London, but extradition to Sweden “could take months,” reports the BBC. Despite the development, a WikiLeaks spokesman says the site will continue to release cables. During nuclear...
View ArticleObama Congratulates China on Human Rights
Did Barack Obama flaunt the famous presidential ego again? Some are criticizing the opening of his written statement congratulating jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo on winning the Nobel Peace Prize....
View ArticleWe Get It — They’re Just Like Us
Why do apologists for authoritarian regimes always cite the diversity of the impacted people as evidence of the regime’s moderate governance and of the reader’s ignorance? “[I]n China as a whole,...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
Concern is growing over China’s advancing military capabilities. As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates met with civilian leaders in Beijing today, Chinese bloggers and news agencies produced photos that...
View ArticleThe China Show
According to the New York Times, Barack Obama is about to get tough on China. Helene Cooper quotes Clinton administration national-security expert David Rothkopf, who says, “There’s been this...
View ArticleChina and Those Tensions that Remain
Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington has been accompanied by the usual swooning. The New York Times, for instance, finds “Subtle Signs of Progress in U.S.-China Relations.” Very subtle indeed: In a joint...
View ArticleObama’s New Anti-Satellite Weapons Push to Cede Space to the Chinese?
In 2006, the Chinese reportedly used an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) to blind one of our satellites. In 2007, they definitely used an ASAT to shoot down one of their own satellites. Incidents like...
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