Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace provide the latest analysis and perspective on the world’s critical hot spots, U.S. and global security and issues involved in violent conflict, based on the Institute’s work on the ground and with key individuals, governments and organizations. They give interviews and background briefings to journalists and write for news outlets around the world.
A Chinese energy company’s investment of $49 million in Afghanistan’s oil production has helped boost the country's daily crude oil output to more than 1,100 metric tons, but the funding is just one-third of what Beijing originally pledged. One year ago, China’s Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co, or ...
Taiwan’s election results are in, and in a three-way race, voters chose Lai Ching-te as the candidate who best represented what they’re looking for in a leader — the status quo. Lai, the current vice president and head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), declared victory Saturday with just over...
A sweeping purge of Chinese generals has weakened the People's Liberation Army, exposing deep-rooted corruption that could take more time to fix and slow Chinese leader Xi Jinping's military modernization drive amid geopolitical tensions, analysts say. China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported, a step that typically precedes further punishment for...
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on Wednesday to reestablish military-to-military contacts and reaffirmed an open phone line between the commanders in chief – vital steps toward reducing the risk of accidental conflict between the nuclear-armed superpowers. On another key agenda item for the Biden administration, the leaders said they would cooperate to reduce the flow from China of precursor chemicals used to make the illegal...
Breaking a yearlong silence between them, President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday in Silicon Valley and vowed to reduce tensions in the world’s most important bilateral relationship. Among other things, they agreed to resume military communications and impede the flow of deadly fentanyl from China. “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an...
When it comes to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, China is taking a back seat. President Xi Jinping’s first public comments about the course of the conflict, which has captured global attention and diverted the energies and focus of the Biden administration, came almost two weeks after it began. Xi showed more political restraint than his autocratic fellow traveler Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in a recent speech said his “fists clench and eyes tear up” when he sees...
China's Special Envoy Zhai Jun wrapped up his tour of the Middle East this week, but some analysts say Beijing lacks the clout to help bring about a detente in the war between Israel and Hamas, even if it wants to. The U.S. has urged Israel to allow a humanitarian pause in its bombardment of Gaza City. The death toll in the Palestinian enclave has passed 9,000, according the Hamas-run health ministry there. Women and children comprise 70 percent of...
An intensifying dispute in the South China Sea could have significant repercussions for China's attempt to seize territory from the Philippines and even ignite a military standoff between the communist regime and the United States. “We're at the point where [China’s] next step here is use of deadly force or to back off,” American Enterprise Institute nonresident fellow Mike Mazza told the Washington Examiner. “And backing off is possible — it's not like China has...
In his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the start of the Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to visit the Chinese capital for a two-day forum this week marking a decade of China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI). The move signaled how Moscow has increasingly turned to Beijing for trade and political support as it seeks to...
China issued a condemnation of retired Indian military officials over a recent visit to Taiwan, adding to a flaring pattern of disputes between the communist power and India that complicate Beijing's plans to undercut the...