South East Asia

Despite the West’s growing suspicions about China, its role in the Western Balkans is likely to become even more central in the post-COVID-19 era. The global public has never talked as much about China as it has during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 struck China first, causing mayhem in Hubei Province. …

Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, stands between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Faced with the fact that the United States has lost patience with the Afghan government’s dithering negotiations with the Taliban, Ghani now has little choice but to orchestrate a deal that will likely end his presidency—and almost …

President Joe Biden faces a slew of important foreign policy challenges. But with India, he has a historic opportunity to forge a strategic alliance to help build a stable balance of power in Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region. India has been a bright spot in U.S. foreign policy over …

Turkey is reportedly gearing up to partner with China in the construction of an artificial waterway parallel to the Bosporus, a project with likely implications for Russia and the United States in the Black Sea. While Turkey remains stuck between the West and Russia on a number of strategic issues, …

In their book Blood and Oil, Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck reveal a side to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that loves all things American. From the popular video game Call of Duty, to Apple products, to an old-fashioned Big Mac burger from McDonald’s, he is known to have …

Western trade and investment interests in China are facing new threats as sanctions trigger retaliation, heightening tensions over human rights, national security and territorial control. Since the start of President Joseph R. Biden’s term in office on Jan. 20, there have been several exchanges of new sanctions announced by the …

China’s increasing incursions in the contested South China Sea in defiance of global norms has heightened tensions in the region. In view of its massive military muscle and economic power that China has accumulated in the recent decades emboldens it to ignore and violate the sensitivities of other small claimants …

Russia’s Novatek and China’s Shenergy signed a new gas deal in February 2021, highlighting the primacy of energy ties in China–Russia relations. Under the provisions of the agreement, Novatek will ship around 3 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Shenergy’s Shanghai terminals over the next 15 …

In recent years, the dual factors of anti-globalization movement and intensifying geopolitical frictions have presented China’s economy a very different external environment compares with that in the past. In response to such change, China has begun to adjust its development priorities and strategies, with the “internal circulation” being the result …

The recent escalation in diplomatic tensions between the U.S., EU, China, and Russia is an unwelcome development for Central Asia. With the recent complicated visit to Moscow by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell marred by aggressive bilateral rhetoric, the White …