• China Is a Threat Not Because It is Ascendant, but Because It Is on a Downward Trajectory

    The prevailing consensus for the past few years has been that an ascendant China is threatening to overtake a slumping America. Because research suggests that a geopolitical power transition is most likely to take place when a surging challenger overtakes an exhausted hegemon, many believe that a turbo-charged China has increased the likelihood of conflict with America. In their book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, Hal Brands and Michael Beckley challenge this notion and offer a more nuanced view.

  • What Does China's Arctic Presence Mean to the United States?

    Researchers looked at where China is operating in the Arctic, what it wants, and what that could mean for regional security. They concluded that China has made only limited inroads in the Arctic, but that’s not for lack of trying.

  • Makiivka and Bakhmut: The Impact of Russian Casualties

    When we step back from the daily news the underlying trends of this war favor Ukraine. It is learning to cope with the repeated Russian attacks on its critical infrastructure, and once spring comes the impact will decline, while it has been getting bolder in its attacks on facilities on Russian territory. Here lies the biggest danger for Putin - more retreats rather than more casualties - and a developing aura of futility. The question of what it takes to get Russia to abandon its war of conquest remains unanswered but that does not mean that no answer will ever be found.

  • All Talk, but Not a Lot of Walk: Few Western Extremists Made It to Ukraine in 2022

    In the weeks following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, up to 20,000 foreigners expressing an interest in joining the Ukrainian war effort. Precise numbers of foreign fighters having traveled to Ukraine and involved in combat since the end of February 2022 are currently difficult to establish, but given the available information, it is reasonable to deduce that only a fraction of those who indicated an interest in traveling to Ukraine after February 2022 actually did so.

  • Scholars at Western Universities Rethink Russian Studies in Wake of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

    In Ukraine, Moscow’s unprovoked war has killed tens of thousands of people and laid cities and towns to waste. At universities across the West, it has thrust Russia’s history of imperialism and colonialism to the forefront of Slavic and Eurasian academic discussion — from history and political science to art and literature.

  • Europe Faces a Chilling Couple of Years, but Russia Will Lose the Energy Showdown

    In the European Union this winter, fears of rolling blackouts triggered by Russian energy export cuts amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine have subsided thanks to good luck, good weather, and quick action. “In the long run, Russia simply can’t win this energy war,” says an expert.

  • ‘Beijing’s Plan to Crush Taiwan Under the “Wheels of History”’

    The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ideological commitment to the unification of Taiwan is presented as the ultimate demonstration of China’s development under the CCP leadership, what party chairman Xi Jinping calls the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’.

  • U.S. Military Expert: “Ukraine's Position on the Battlefield Is Very Strong”

    John Spencer says Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine anytime soon but he predicts Ukraine will ultimately prevail. He says the recent decision by Washington to deliver a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine may not be a game-changing move, but it could trigger other Western allies to donate similar systems, bolstering Kyiv’s defenses.

  • Who Can Guarantee Russian Security?

    What Makes Putin Insecure? Putin’s insecurity might start with anxiety about his personal future, but he has extended this into a vision for Russia that involves a permanent struggle with the West and its liberalism. In the end the biggest threats to Russian security do not lie outside its borders but inside its capital.

  • Ten Most Significant World Events in 2022

    Future historians may come to regard 2022 as a hinge in history, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. Major war returned to Europe, with the attendant threats of nuclear strikes, and the door closed firmly shut on the U.S. policy of strategic engagement with China. As 2022 comes to a close, here are the top ten most notable world events of the past year.

  • To Quit Russian Gas, EU Invests Billions in LNG

    The European Union is investing billions in infrastructure in its effort to replace Russian fuels with liquefied natural gas. This could prove to be a dead end — both for taxpayers and for the climate.

  • The Global Race to Secure Critical Minerals Heats Up

    The World Trade Organization last week ruled that Indonesia had no right to ban the export of nickel or to require that raw nickel ore be refined in Indonesia. Handing a comprehensive victory to the complainant, the European Union, the WTO decision highlights the clash between national security and global trade rules over critical minerals.

  • Schengen States Extend Border Checks, Ignoring EU Court

    Though the top EU court recently ruled that Germany, Denmark and other Schengen states have no legal basis for extending border checks reimposed in 2015, the European Commission is not initiating infringement procedures.

  • Anticipating Chinese Reactions to U.S. Posture Enhancements

    What are the key factors that U.S. policymakers and military planners should consider when assessing how China is likely to react to planned or proposed U.S. posture enhancements in the Indo-Pacific region?

  • U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Network Supplying Russia with Weapons Tech

    The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of entities and individuals that it says are involved in supplying Russia with military technology to use in its war against Ukraine.