Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The U.S.-China relationship, which has wavered between cooperation and competition, has, over the past few years, veered more sharply towards confrontation – possibly because of China’s own more assertive stance. Now, Beijing’s confidence is under test, not only by these fractious relations, but also COVID-19 and an economic slowdown. Will these factors reveal its weaknesses?
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Countries in the Middle East, such as Iran, Israel or Saudi Arabia, do not want a military confrontation. Yet, current circumstances conduce to the breaking out of just such a war
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Although China does not want to usurp the United States’ position as the leader of a global order, its actual aim is nearly as consequential. As one Chinese official put it, “Being a great power means you get to do what you want, and no one can say anything about it.” In other words, China is trying to displace, rather than replace, the United States.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
Experts estimate the likelihood of a U.S.-Chinese nuclear crisis as “somewhere between nil and zero.” This assurance is misguided. The United States' signature approach to conventional warfare would be a potential recipe for nuclear escalation.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The immediate threat is more corrosive than explosive. States are using the tools of cyberwarfare to undermine the very foundation of the Internet: trust. The result is that an arena that the world relies on for economic and informational exchange has turned into an active battlefield.
Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
The psychology of Putin, the ideology of his regime, and the machinery received exhaustive attention in the West. The Russian people, however, remain poorly understood.