In The News

UN Credibility on Trial in Cambodia

John D. Ciorciari May 14, 2015
The Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, killing more than two million, displacing and ruining the lives of millions more. A hybrid tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, organized by the United Nations, was established for trying those most responsible for atrocities committed during the China-backed Pol Pot era. Cambodia's Hun Sen embraced the hybrid...

Calls to Punish China Grow

Josh Rogin May 13, 2015
Some in US Congress and the military expect President Barack Obama to rescind an invitation to China on participating in the 2016 Rim of the Pacific military exercises, known as RIMPAC. China’s critics warn “about its military buildup in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, which includes a rapid plan to build military-friendly infrastructure on new islands in waters where at least six...

Future of Two Unions, the EU and the UK, Hangs in Balance

Alistair Burnett May 12, 2015
Voters in the United Kingdom surprised the world by re-electing Prime Minister David Cameron, whose ability to win concessions from the European Union could affect Britain’s influence abroad. “The Conservatives went into the election promising to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU and then hold a referendum on continuing membership by the end of 2017,” explains Alistair Burnett,...

An Uneasy Friendship

May 11, 2015
Chinese-Russian ties have become closer since the West imposed sanctions on Russia for its interventions in Ukraine. Both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council: “Both, for different reasons, resent America’s ‘hegemony’ and share a desire for a more multipolar world order,” notes the Economist. “Russia, a declining great power, is looking for ways to recover at least...

Doubtful Result Will Endanger UK's Global Role

Catherine Field May 8, 2015
Belying forecasts Prime Minister David Cameron won reelection and is set to form a new cabinet. During the campaign Cameron promised to stage a referendum on British membership in the EU. Catherine Field, writing for the New Zealand Herald, points out that such ballot measures divide the electorate. If the referendum is held as planned and the electorate supports British exit from the EU, the...

China, Pursuing Strategic Interests, Builds Presence in Antarctica

Jane Perlez May 7, 2015
China is extending its global reach under President Xi Jinping, and that includes Antarctica. “He signed a five-year accord with the Australian government that allows Chinese vessels and, in the future, aircraft to resupply for fuel and food before heading south,” reports Jane Perlez for the New York Times. “That will help secure easier access to a region that is believed to have vast oil and...

Xi Jinping’s High-Risk Policy Needs a National Security Commission

David M. Lampton May 5, 2015
Governments tend to rely on national security apparatuses to protect those in power as much as the country at large. President Xi Jinping assumed leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in late 2012, and since then, indicated an expectation for increasing the nation’s global influence. Such influence “requires a broadly conceived central foreign and security policy coordination mechanism of...