Column Archive

One of the first things that clinched my interest in China—and this will inevitably date myself—was its fierce and utterly unique political language, the stuff of endless campaigns of denunciation and ideological warfare. Think the bloodcurdling epithets used to attack enemies during the late Mao period, like “running dog of imperialism” or “capitalist roader,” and, when that long era finally wound to a close, “gang of four.” Language like this has almost entirely disappeared from the rhetorical lexicon of the Chinese state. But there is one important form of it that has remained on the shelf, in two words found […]

In a provocative new book, three scholars from the libertarian Cato Institute—John Glaser, Christopher A. Preble and A. Trevor Thrall—counsel the United States to abandon the pursuit of global primacy for a policy of prudence and restraint. “Fuel to the Fire: How Trump Made America’s Foreign Policy Even Worse (and How We Can Do Better)” is a scalding indictment not only of the 45th U.S. president, but also of a morally bankrupt national security establishment whose addiction to empire has embroiled the nation in misbegotten military misadventures. American foreign policy professionals may cast the United States as a benevolent hegemon, […]

Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is on a roll. In April, he trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko at the polls. Last month, Zelensky’s Servant of the People party won a majority mandate in a snap parliamentary election, so it can press ahead with much-needed reforms. But a bigger challenge looms: finding a path to negotiate an end to the war in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky’s winning streak could be tested when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in September. He is seeking more leverage over Russia in an attempt to resolve the conflict that has raged in eastern Ukraine since Russia […]

AMSTERDAM—It wasn’t long ago that the far right was surging in the Netherlands. Anti-immigrant politicians were dominating the political debate and energizing their followers with an intensity that traditional mainstream politicians appeared incapable of matching. The Dutch seemed on track to move away from their near-legendary penchant for compromise, ready to trade it in for the kind of resurgent nationalism seen in other parts of Europe and across the Atlantic. But then something unexpected happened. The energy suddenly drained out of this far-right populist movement. The Dutch far right has had at least two high points in recent years. In […]

It’s easy to imagine the reaction of Republican critics of former President Barack Obama if tiny, semi-autonomous Gibraltar had released an impounded Iranian oil tanker in direct defiance of his administration’s request to turn it over to American authorities. “No one fears him, not even Gibraltar,” we would have heard. Or perhaps, “Obama lost Britain.” Curiously, there have been no such attacks so far on President Donald Trump, on whose watch this actually happened Sunday. But it has become fashionable to pin all of the world’s current troubles on Trump’s mishandling of U.S. foreign policy. These attacks do echo Republican […]

Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Edward Alden is filling in for Kimberly Ann Elliott this week. The trade war between the United States and China has entered a new and dangerous phase. Both countries have moved from using tariffs and other trade sanctions in a reasonably strategic fashion in order to try and strengthen their negotiating position into a series of punitive measures designed to inflict significant economic harm on the other. As markets signaled last week, with stocks taking a roller coaster ride and bond yields plunging, the risks of an unconstrained economic conflict have risen substantially. Like all wars, […]

This weekend, leaders from the G-7 will convene for their annual summit, this time in Biarritz, France. French President Emmanuel Macron, who is spearheading France’s G-7 presidency this year, bills the meeting as a chance to relaunch multilateralism, promote democracy and tame globalization to ensure it works for everyone. More likely, the gathering will expose the political, economic and ideological fault lines threatening Western solidarity and international cooperation. What a difference five years makes. Back in 2014, the G-7 gained a new and unexpected lease on life after Russia seized Crimea and earned itself an ejection from what was then […]

It’s too early to say what India’s breach of the status quo in Kashmir will mean for long-term stability in South Asia. There are, of course, many fears of where revoking the semiautonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir could lead—from another retaliatory insurgency by militants in Kashmir backed by Pakistan, or worse still a destabilizing war between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Ultimately, though, it is China—not India or Pakistan—that will likely tip the balance in a region teetering yet again on the brink. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party view downgrading Kashmir’s status from […]

Rarely has the world seen a single-day market crash like the one in Argentina this week. Investors stampeded for the exits Monday, devastating markets for Argentina’s stocks, bonds and currency, following the outcome of a primary election that strongly suggested President Mauricio Macri will lose his reelection bid. At one point, Argentina’s Merval index had dropped a staggering 48 percent, the second-biggest single-day loss anywhere in the past 70 years. When the day was over, the Merval had lost more than a third of its value, bonds had fallen 20 percent and the peso had crashed to new record lows. […]

A drive to the airport in Shanghai from an outlying suburb earlier this week revealed an entirely new city to me. Brand new high-rise apartments rose in thick clusters in the near distance, as new access roads zigged, zagged and looped around new train and subway stations. Mine was not the usual surprise of newcomers to this city, but rather that of someone who had lived there for six years, up until 2009. Shanghai was already plenty big and new and physically impressive then. But to look at the way entirely new zones—from Pudong in the east to the southwestern […]

Newly installed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is eager to negotiate a trade deal with the United States. But should he be? And what price is he willing to pay? Other countries—China, Japan and the U.K.’s neighbors in the European Union—are all negotiating with the U.S. under duress. They seem to be doing their best to stall things for as long as possible in the hope that President Donald Trump won’t be reelected next year. By contrast, British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab came to Washington last week to push for trade negotiations to start […]

As vacation photos from exotic locales pile up in Facebook and Instagram feeds this summer, it’s easy to take far-flung tourism for granted. Well-heeled friends riding elephants in Thailand or camels in Giza might as well be at the Jersey shore or beside a lake in the Adirondacks. Mass international tourism, like the free flow of goods, services, money and data, has become a hallmark of globalization. This is neither accidental nor trivial. The ability of those with means and passports to travel the world is a function of international cooperation. It is also a force for global understanding, a […]

When the history of Myanmar’s genocide against the Rohingya people is finally written, it may read a lot like the cases of Rwanda and Yugoslavia. The International Criminal Court could eventually prosecute a few of the military officers responsible for killing and torturing thousands of Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority long persecuted in Myanmar. Chances are, though, that justice will be lumbering and uneven. Like others before them, most of the perpetrators will likely evade prosecution altogether. History could turn out differently, however, if calls are heeded from the United Nations independent fact-finding mission in Myanmar to sanction the […]

Before being elected president, Donald Trump had already disparaged many American allies during the 2016 campaign, questioning the point of NATO and suggesting he might abandon defense treaties with countries like Japan and South Korea, among other criticisms of longstanding U.S. foreign policy. So there were immediate questions, and lots of angst, about what effect his presidency would have on U.S. relations around the world. Three years later, Trump’s often boorish behavior has had an undeniable impact on America’s relationships with its allies. Yet America’s alliances have not fallen apart, and many far-flung friends still have good relations with Washington. […]

Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Richard Gowan is filling in for Judah Grunstein this week. Will Kelly Knight Craft make much of a diplomatic impact on the United Nations? The new U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. has already endured hefty criticism. Craft has little diplomatic experience other than a recent spell as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Canada, though she spent unusually long parts of her posting to Ottawa back in America. Environmental groups have also argued that her marriage to a senior coal industry executive means that she should not participate in U.N. climate talks. Democratic members of the […]

The truce in the U.S.-China trade war didn’t last long. Just a month after agreeing to restart negotiations on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, President Donald Trump announced another escalation last week. Unless something happens, or Trump changes his mind—which is always a possibility—U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin collecting an additional 10 percent tariff on the remaining $300 billion in imports from China on Sept. 1. And this time, consumers would feel the pain because the tariffs will hit clothing, shoes, electronics and other everyday items that had previously been spared. To top it […]

Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Neil Bhatiya is filling in for Stewart Patrick this week.After a long delay, the Trump administration finally took the first steps in a legally mandated effort to punish Russia for its use of chemical weapons in the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy living in the United Kingdom. On Aug. 1, the administration issued an executive order outlining the nature of sanctions it could impose on Russia, focused on restrictions on lending to Russian government or government-affiliated entities. Because Moscow continues to deny its role in the attack and has taken no steps […]