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Asia Pacific Europe Security & Conflict

A World Historical Perspective on the War in Ukraine and the China-Taiwan Standoff

As the world faces a protracted war in Ukraine with no clear end in sight and a tense standoff in the Taiwan Strait with potential for catastrophic escalation, the time is ripe for a world historical perspective on these conflicts, which may provide help in formulating effective policy responses. It is important to start by […]

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Asia Pacific Economics Governance & Law North America Policy & Politics

How China’s Political System Discourages Innovation and Encourages IP Theft

Introduction U.S. observers have long complained that Chinese firms steal intellectual property (IP) from American companies, universities, and research institutions.¹ Most of these complaints stress that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) directs this theft. Other analysts focus on military applications of the theft. Both arguments are true, but presume that the […]

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Asia Pacific Economics Energy & Environment Europe

Unveiling Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Challenges: The Potential Dispute Between China and EU

Introduction In December 2022, the European Union (EU) approved a green tax on carbon-intensive commodities called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It aims at reducing carbon leakage, a phenomenon in which manufacturers move carbon-intensive production to countries with laxer climate policies, resulting in decreased carbon emissions in one country but increased emissions in another. […]

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Economics Governance & Law Middle East Policy & Politics Regional Security & Conflict Topical

Book Review: Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers by Yan Xuetong

David B. Kanin is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Review of: Yan Xuetong, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2019, pp. 262). What follows is a reconsideration of Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers by Yan Xuetong, published in 2019. […]

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Asia Pacific North America Policy & Politics Security & Conflict

Will Biden’s New Truman Doctrine Offset the Sino-Russian Pact?

During his maiden trip to Asia as president in late May 2022, Joe Biden implied that the United States would take stronger military action to defend Taiwan against China than his administration has taken to support Ukraine to fight against Russia.[1] While meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in Tokyo, Biden’s robust declaration evidently […]

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Asia Pacific North America Policy & Politics Security & Conflict

How to Weaken the China-Russia Axis: Historical Lessons from Great-Power Competition

Key Judgments Growing ties between Moscow and Beijing threaten US national security. American strategic planners should consider undermining these ties as a strategic imperative. This goal remains achievable if pursued with vigor because Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has exposed differences in worldviews between Moscow and Beijing. While these differences are not necessarily chasmic, […]

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Asia Pacific Policy & Politics

South Korea’s Impending China and Japan Policy: Two Messages to the Yoon Administration

During the 2022 South Korean presidential campaign, President Yoon Suk-yeol and his party, People Power Party, have proclaimed “strategic clarity” in foreign policy.[1] His direction shifts South Korea’s behavior toward China away from “strategic ambiguity,” which the conservatives refer to as the Moon administration’s placated attitude. Moon’s administration tried to take an impartial stance between […]

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Asia Pacific North America Security & Conflict

Clash of the Chips: A Comparison of US-China Semiconductor Production Capacities

Introduction The 2021 National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence identified artificial intelligence (AI) as an inspiring technology, one that will be the most powerful tool for future generations towards benefiting humanity.[1] It also recognized that AI-enhanced capabilities will serve as the tools of first resort in a new era of conflict and cooperation. Semiconductors, the […]

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Asia Pacific Europe Policy & Politics Security & Conflict

Europe’s Borderlands and China’s Challenge: Why War in Ukraine Matters

How are we to understand Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,[1] and how are we to respond? Invoking fabricated grievances,[2],[3] Russia on February 24, 2022 launched an all-out war against Ukraine. Friends and allies have shown solidarity, as Europe, the United States, and others impose sanctions against the aggressor, and an array of countries pledge lethal defensive […]

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Asia Pacific Governance & Law

On Its Pivotal Turning Point: The Prospect of Global Governance Forged by Chinese AI under the Rule of Law

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how states worldwide address their domestic issues. China’s prowess is growing in the AI arena, which the United States currently leads. The utility of Chinese AI technology received further validation during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the bright side, its precision and efficiency proved essential to many public health programs funded […]