Great Power Politics

The 21st century doesn’t belong to China, the United States, or Silicon Valley. It belongs to the internet.

Beijing’s overreaction to the virtual summit is telling.

“Active nonalignment” is on display in a busy week of summits with both Beijing and Washington.

Beijing’s FOBS delivery system could provoke an arms race—or a more stable deterrence relationship.

Nor would they desire to.

Putin’s pursuit of influence, arms sales, and mercenary meddling in the Central African Republic has left Moscow mired in a quagmire.

The White House set clear red lines on cyberwar, but don’t expect much progress in the months to come.

Boris Johnson shouldn’t shy away from global leadership and the morally driven approach that protected Kosovars and Iraqi Kurds in the 1990s.

A new book explains why some nations rise and others don’t.

The latest poorly defined buzzword in Washington is leading pundits and policymakers down a dangerous path.

A misguided theory of great-power competition will only lead to grief.

The United States needs to show it can make a cleaner world than China’s.

Bill Burns, a veteran diplomat, will helm the spy agency in an era of renewed great-power competition.

From Afghanistan to China, the new administration seems likely to hold on to some ideas from the previous one.

What the Cold War policy means for our current moment.

U.S.-China competition isn’t just about great-power rivalry. It’s about the ideological battle between democracy and authoritarianism, too.

U.S. China policy is heavy on rhetoric and light on goals. Articulating a clear set of objectives—from trade to defense—will help policymakers focus their efforts.

The clash between Washington and Beijing could be the start of a new ideological confrontation—or the inevitable fallout from a power transition.

The pandemic will change the world forever. We asked 12 leading global thinkers for their predictions.