In late winter and early spring 1947, Reinhold Niebuhr visited Europe and wrote short editorials for Christianity and Crisis as he traveled. In the following correspondences, the first coming from Scotland and the second coming from somewhere in the United Kingdom, he offers brief reflections on different current events.

The money that China receives from trade with Europe, America, and Japan can help Russia continue its attack on Ukraine. So the West must consider how to impose costs on Beijing so that it stops supporting Russia economically.

To prevent wars from spiraling out of control, an off-ramp is essential. Allowing Vladimir Putin to save face can save lives.

Germany does not love her neighbor when she rejects Ukraine’s plea for defensive weapons.

The “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” (CSP) signed between Iran and China will have profound domestic, regional, and international implications. The more immediate effect of the partnership will be a further decline in human rights and freedom in Iran.

“We have,” said an exuberant campaign orator in the recent campaign, “the moral leadership of the world. The whole world trusts in our devotion to freedom and expects us to save mankind from totalitarianism.” That is how we see ourselves, at least in our more complacent moods. The world does not see us as we see ourselves.

While the Trump administration took on China and the Biden administration continued many of those policies, including investments in Pacific allies to deter Chinese abuses, efforts are falling woefully short.

China-Africa relations is a case in point where Africa has become a prime testing ground for expanding the political outreach of the Communist Party of China.

Beijing aspires to be the new, responsible superpower that can mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and offer the Middle East stability.