South China Sea

As the generation that grew up in and saw the collapse of the USSR, Generation X is uniquely positioned to lead the US as it drifts into the second Cold War.

President Joe Biden’s China policy is coming into focus. As some of us predicted before his inauguration, he appears to be continuing the previous administration’s hard-line stance with Beijing—suggesting that the COVID-19 crisis marks a turning point akin to how the communist bloc’s attempt to seize West Berlin and South Korea solidified bipartisan commitment to waging the Cold War.

Much of China may convert to Christianity by 2050. What are the implications of such a projection, and how might it affect US foreign policy toward issues like the South China Sea?

Grey zone conflicts—like those in Ukraine and the South China Sea—are major threats both to a just peace and American security interests. The just war tradition needs to consider them more.

After years of wishful thinking, America and its allies in the Indo-Pacific are returning, finally, to what President Franklin Roosevelt called “armed defense of democratic existence.” Given Beijing’s actions both at home and abroad, one wonders what took them so long.

The National Security Strategy says China’s economic and military actions risk diminishing the sovereignty of many states in the Indo-Pacific. The US Navy has a role in defending these states’ rights.

All in all, American Power and Liberal Order is an excellent book providing a spirited defense of what has largely been a successful American grand strategy for the past 70 years. The big question remains whether the same framework could work for the next 70 years, or whether new external challenges and internal political changes call for a different approach.

America and NATO’s interests in the Arctic—which include territorial integrity, sovereignty, resource exploration and development, trade, and freedom of navigation—are under threat because of Russia’s actions.

With his party’s lopsided victory in October’s snap elections, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is primed to steer Japan into a new era of regional and global leadership. Washington should encourage and applaud Tokyo’s return to the international stage.