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.
Gina Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, has headed to Beijing in an attempt to find common economic ground with China while navigating an increasingly acrimonious geopolitical competition. “The plan and the hope is that our commercial relationship, if done right, can stabilize the political relationship...
American analysts have been exploring the possible ways the West Philippine Sea conflict will play out primarily with the so-called “gray zone” maneuvers by China in the disputed waters in which non-military activities are employed for coercion. The United States Institute of Peace, or USIP, a federal body...
Hi, China Watchers. Today we trace the ongoing fallout from now-former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s mysterious downfall and unpack the efforts of former U.S. Ambassador to China, Max Baucus, to replicate the success of the U.S.-China ice-breaking “ping pong diplomacy” of the 1970s...
Sweeping “exit bans” and arbitrary detentions in China are having a chilling effect, among not just the Chinese diaspora with ties to their homeland but also international businesses increasingly anxious about operating there, Western experts and human rights watchdogs say. Under President Xi Jinping’s...
A worst-case Taiwan scenario for Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a major military operation in which the People’s Liberation Army fails spectacularly or displays shocking incompetence akin to Russia’s in Ukraine. Could this happen? The good news is that while China’s military has undergone major...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s offer to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine is a high-risk mission that looks to offer Beijing a most-valued prize — significant prestige and influence in its best efforts to challenge the U.S. as a global leader. The offer comes on the heels of Beijing achieving a nascent...
What explains the mismatch between China’s vast economic presence, significant diplomatic engagement around the world, and its miniscule global military posture? China’s global defense footprint – as measured by overseas deployments and basing – is extremely modest compared to that of many other great powers...
China's decision to fly a surveillance balloon over the United States led Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his trip to Beijing at a time when U.S.-China relations are at a historic low point. But neither the balloon incident nor other recent controversies, such as Covid or the trade war, are solely responsible...
Washington’s decision to postpone the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to Beijing in five years jeopardizes momentum toward stabilizing ties amid concerns over the trajectory of the two powers’ relationship. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken put the hotly anticipated visit on ice after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was tracked flying over the U.S. in what Washington called a “clear violation” of...
At their meeting in Bali in November, the leaders of China and the United States raised hopes that the world’s two superpowers would find ways to prevent their rapidly deteriorating relationship from descending into open conflict. Yet, as neither side appears willing to compromise on contentious issues...