Confirmed isolationists, and others concerned with United States over-involvement in foreign conflicts, often quote the 1821 admonition of John Quincy Adams that America should "go not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy."
Cuban dictator Raul Castro's alternately affable and defiant denial of human rights violations at his brief "press conference" with President Obama in Havana reminded me of a similar performance by his brother here in the U.S.—probably the only other time a Castro has submitted to even cursory…
Much good news is emanating from Japan, one of America's most important allies, though some of it comes with an unnecessary taint. After decades of economic stagnation and foreign policy reticence stemming from its postwar legacy of pacifism, Japan is back as a strong and confident alliance…
Next month’s meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in China will feature a familiar ritual. American negotiators will face intensified pressure for Washington to lift restrictions on the sale of military and dual-use technology to China. Over time, the perennial drip-drip…
June 4, 1989, was the day China took a huge step backward, a generation of Chinese people lost the chance for democracy, and Deng Xiaoping forfeited an opportunity to share the Nobel Peace Prize with the Dalai Lama.
Disappointing Western hopes that he would put North Korea on a more rational and humane path, Kim Jong-un relishes showing his regime as one of the most odious and dangerous on the planet. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the young new leader is acting the part of a…
Has a quiet military coup taken over China’s foreign policy? Is China’s new president, Xi Jinping, leading the militarization of policy or submitting to it? The questions are not frivolous or far-fetched given recent actions and statements emanating from China’s new leader and other influential…
Asia’s democracies need to get their acts together to address a common danger from the region’s authoritarian/totalitarian powers. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan face rising challenges from China and/or North Korea. All have security arrangements with the United States to deter or confront those…
Kofi Annan's resignation from the United Nations mission charged with negotiating an end to the Syrian carnage confirmed what was obvious from the start: the effort was doomed to failure. Its endless rounds of futile talks were clearly destined to do nothing to stop Bashar al-Assad. The mission’s…
Once again, North Korea flouted international law and disturbed the world with its launch of a rocket that could be used to carry a nuclear warhead. Once again, the United States and the international community denounced the action and mobilized the U.N. Security Council to issue yet another…
Chinese leaders announced that Vice President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s designated successor to Chinese president Hu Jintao, will try to correct “the trust deficit” when he visits Washington this week. Xi told a gathering of Chinese and U.S. officials commemorating the 40th anniversary of…
Beijing and Washington got the result they actively sought in Taiwan’s election: a second four-year term for President Ma Ying-jeou and the defeat of Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party. China and the United States—as well as Taiwan—must now live with the consequences of that outside…
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should follow her successful Burma initiative with a visit to Taiwan before next month’s presidential election.
The Obama administration has moved to assert America’s Asia policy by vigorously engaging Southeast Asian nations concerned about China’s recent posture. On his trip to the region earlier this month, the president affirmed that the United States is, and will remain, a Pacific power. He made the…
Some China-Taiwan specialists and other foreign policy experts have been caught up lately in a declinist narrative that has China overtaking the United States not only economically but also in terms of military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific. They see that power shift as putting democratic Taiwan at…
On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea and immediately dragged the U.S. and China into the bloody conflict. It was the culmination of not a single event, but a series of missteps.
Today is the anniversary of the earthshaking election victory of Solidarity in Poland—and the Tiananmen Square massacre.
A delegation of the People's Liberation Army, the largest group of Chinese military officers ever to visit the United States, recently toured the Pentagon and other U.S. defense facilities. Part of their mission was to further erode and finally end the congressional ban on weapons and technology…
Did James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, utter an inconvenient truth last month when he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that China presents the greatest “mortal threat” to the United States?
Henry Kissinger has proposed a unique solution to the problem of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing: a U.S.-China condominium. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, he called on the two countries “to build an emerging world order as a joint enterprise.”