Alliances

The fact that President Joe Biden chose South Korea as the first stop of his first Asian tour since his inauguration is significant. Washington and Seoul are seeking to upgrade their military alliance into a “comprehensive global strategic alliance.”

In the Free World’s multifaceted response to Putin’s war, a blueprint for a global alliance of democracies is emerging.

With Ukraine languishing outside the safety of the NATO alliance, the consensus seems to be that there is little the alliance can do as Putin enforces his latter-day Brezhnev Doctrine. That consensus view is wrong.

In response to the astonishing fall of Kabul and sudden capitulation of the Afghan government, President Joe Biden ordered Operation Allies Welcome. But did it follow international law?

One adjective that should never be used to describe the US retreat from Afghanistan is “surprising.” In fact, what happened in Kabul in 2021 was the natural next step on the inward-turning path Americans began walking in 2009.

The People’s Republic of China not only has the intent to build a new world order, but it also has the resources and capabilities to do so—which helps explain why those who designed and uphold the existing world order are answering China’s challenge.

Few have discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s formative early years of public service prior to joining Biden’s staff, years when our paths crossed.

While the Trump administration has distanced itself from multilateralism with an “America First” approach, the Chinese communist regime has sought to promote and exploit multilateralism in pursuit of a “China First” policy, one that is at variance not only with America’s national interests, but with those of the rest of the world’s sovereign states as well.

Will the accelerating growth in China’s power—a dynamic focused and amplified by President Xi Jinping’s ambitious dream of a rejuvenated, globally dominant PRC—result in a hegemonic war with the United States?