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Asia

Pyongyang’s Bet: Nuclear Growth and Great Power Support

OPINION – North Korea is building more nuclear weapons and more sophisticated ballistic missiles to target the region and the U.S., while ensuring [...] More

The Latest

Nuclear Expansion and Conditional Diplomacy: North Korea’s New Strategy

OPINION – At the 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, held every five years, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un left the door open for engagement with [...] More

Xi Jinping Tightens Grip as China’s Military Purge Deepens

OPINION — In China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “commands the gun”, and Chinese President Xi Jinping controls the one million members of the [...] More

The U.S.-China Economic Cold War Is No Longer Silent

OPINION — For decades, the United States (U.S.) operated under a fatal delusion that free trade with China would liberalize its politics and that the [...] More

Export Controls Backfire: The China Innovation Paradox

Export Controls Backfire: The China Innovation Paradox

DEEP DIVE — When the Biden administration rolled out its semiconductor export restrictions in October 2022, the logic seemed airtight: cut off [...] More

The Rise of China's Strategic Soft Power and its Global Impact

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – The United States is currently mired in a cycle of aggressive trade renegotiations and a transactional foreign policy that has [...] More

China’s Stunning Military Purge – and What It Means For Taiwan

China’s Stunning Military Purge – and What It Means For Taiwan

DEEP DIVE – President Xi Jinping’s latest purge of generals has eviscerated China’s military leadership, drawn comparisons to crackdowns carried out [...] More

The Next FATF Test: Can the West Demand Results from Pakistan?

OPINION — In the shadow of Mexico City's historic Palacio de Bellas Artes, global financial watchdogs will convene in February 2026 for the Financial [...] More

What U.S. – China Cooperation Means for the World

OPINION -- China was very critical of the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last week. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign [...] More

How China Built AI Dominance on Stolen American Silicon

How China Built AI Dominance on Stolen American Silicon

DEEP DIVE — Federal prosecutors in Texas, in December, unsealed charges and related details exposing a sprawling scheme that quietly siphoned some of [...] More

A Bold 2025 National Security Strategy

OPINION — Out with a “rules-based international order” and in with “U.S. core national interests”, according to the U.S. National Security Strategy [...] More

The Push and Pull Between Washington and Beijing in the South China Sea

OPINION — China uses a layered approach in the South China Sea that blends military power, paramilitary forces, legal instruments, and political [...] More

What China’s ‘World-Class Navy’ Means for the U.S. and Asia

What China’s ‘World-Class Navy’ Means for the U.S. and Asia

DEEP DIVE — On a Wednesday in November, with Chinese President Xi Jinping looking on, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned the [...] More