Competition—specifically that between so-called great powers—is an inescapable concept in present-day Washington. Recent versions of the U.S. National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and National Military Strategy all declared the era of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency dead in favor of America’s new focus on defeating China and Russia in great power competition. The Trump administration’s 2017...
Russian artillery rocket launchers said to be abandoned in Ukraine as Russia stalls its advance. Photo from the Ukrainian General Staff’s Twitter. Low morale has historically plagued the Russian military. Yet, during the current invasion of Ukraine, Russian resolve is especially weak. [1] When faced with resistance, Russians have abandoned their expensive equipment, fled to...
In October 1935, Italian armies descended on Ethiopia. Over the next two years of war, Ethiopian courage and international condemnation upset Mussolini’s folie de grandeur. Eventually, though, the fascists’ industrialized brutality would crush Ethiopian resistance. Italy’s aggression not only cost Ethiopia its freedom but undermined the international order and emboldened Nazi Germany. In June 1950, North...
McDonald’s, Apple, Mastercard, and Coca-Cola are just a few of the thousands of companies that have recently closed shop in Russia. These corporate actions come as the United States, its partners, and other nations have imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Through coordinated effort, sanctions are targeting every aspect of Russian...
Russian embassies have been the site of passionate protests the world over, as citizens from Madrid to Berlin to Washington have gathered to express their outrage at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In Taiwan’s capital Taipei, however, demonstrations against Russian aggression have a local resonance: the slogan “today, Ukraine, tomorrow Taiwan!” now pervades Taiwanese media. If...
In 2017, the National Security Strategy identified China as a strategic rival to the United States, explaining that China challenges “American power, influence, and interests.” This view replaced a longstanding consensus that diplomatic and economic engagement would convert China into a “responsible stakeholder” of the international order, even into a democracy. Those who view China...
Ongoing Russian aggression towards Ukraine underscores the importance of solidarity in the transatlantic relationship. The last decade, however, has exposed fissures between the United States and its European partners, as well as uncertainty over Washington’s long-term commitment to Europe. Disagreements last year over the Anglo-American sale of submarines to Australia, German support for a Russian-financed...
The Olympic Games are often an outlet for political tension, and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing are no exception. The United States, along with its allies like the United Kingdom and Australia, are participating in a diplomatic boycott of the games in protest of China’s human rights violations in Hong Kong, the Xinjiang Uyghur...
In January, Julianne Smith became U.S. ambassador to NATO. She represents one of 30 allied nations, compared to the original 12 that signed the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Whether NATO enlargement was successful in its aim of consolidating peace and democracy after the Cold War, or a “policy error of historic proportions” as George Kennan...
Richard Nephew, U.S. deputy special envoy for Iran, left the administration this weekend as negotiations between the United States and Iran reach a critical point. Nephew’s departure suggests trouble for the Biden team’s effort to restore a nuclear agreement with Iran. Doing so is a pillar of President Biden’s foreign policy, reversing his predecessor’s decision...
