Complex infrastructure plays a key role in international relations today, writes Mary Bridges. U.S. policymakers must now work with a new set of power brokers, from multinational banks to satellite operators, to solve global problems.
How power flows from the systems that connect the world.
Matthew Levitt discusses Hamas’s long-term goals—and urges Israel, the United States, and their Arab and Western allies to keep Hamas out of whatever Palestinian governance structure is built in Gaza after the war.
The power to fight without the burden of governing.
To deter Chinese aggression in the Taiwan Strait, the world’s democracies must make long-term investments in Taiwan’s future—and demonstrate to Beijing that military provocations have consequences, writes Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu.
The interconnected fates of the world’s democracies.
“Putin’s re-election in March has reinforced among many Russians the belief that change is impossible, fostering a sense of both powerlessness and dependency. In this situation, all one can do is accept reality: a Russia that is repressive, aggressive, and merciless.”
How the dictator recruited them to his anti-Western agenda.
Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries are inflicting pain inside Russia—without threatening the global energy supply or driving up oil prices for the rest of the world, write Michael Liebreich, Lauri Myllyvirta, and Sam Winter-Levy.
Washington’s fears about energy markets are misplaced.
“In the decades ahead, depopulation will disadvantage East Asia’s states in ways that will become increasingly difficult to overcome. Demography is not destiny, but the power of demography means the long-heralded ‘Asian century’ may never truly arrive.”
And how it will reshape world politics.
“Japan and South Korea are innovation and tech powerhouses. To get to where they are today, both countries harnessed the combined power of their public and private sectors for decades.”
How Tokyo and Seoul partner with startups—and what Silicon Valley can learn.
Moving forward, the United States must work to enhance the credibility of its threat to impose swift and severe sanctions on China if Beijing crosses certain redlines, argues Emily Kilcrease.
A muddled approach to economic sanctions won’t deter Beijing.
A unilateral cease-fire in Gaza lasting four to six weeks would offer Israel many strategic benefits—including the creation of the conditions necessary for a Israeli-Saudi normalization deal, write Dennis Ross and David Makovsky.
A chance to turn the tables on Hamas and Iran—and advance normalization with Saudi Arabia.
Read Daniel Byman, Doreen Horschig, and Elizabeth Kos on Saudi Arabia’s proposed civilian nuclear program—and how Washington can prevent Riyadh from moving toward military nuclearization in the future:
How to rein in Riyadh’s nuclear ambitions.