"One of the errors of previous administrations in South Asia was the failure to assure Asian allies that America would come to their side in case they were attacked by China, as has been argued by foreign policy experts for quite some-time. Ely Ratner of the Center for American Security, for instance, has been calling for America to abandon its neutrality in the South China Sea region by supplementing diplomacy with military assurances. "In ‘The Stealth Superpower: How China Hid Its [...]

"On a recent flight back from New Delhi to Washington, my seatmate was a typical American success story in the making. The young man, who I'll call Ashok, said he was finishing his master's degree at a top 20 engineering school, where he applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to aeronautical engineering. "'So, where to after graduation?' I asked. 'Lockheed or Boeing? SpaceX? Some startup?' "'Oh, I'm not staying in America,' Ashok said bluntly. 'I'd have to hang around months hoping [...]

"For Trump, the purpose of exerting 'maximum pressure' on Iran through sanctions is 'the belief that he will bring them around and they’ll realize they need to do a deal and the terms will be better,' said Dennis Ross, a former diplomat who negotiated Middle East agreements for Republican and Democratic administrations. “'The point is, he still thinks there’s a deal he can do. . . . I think for him, the real measure, in his mind, is showing he improved over what [...]

"'For some sides of the administration, the purpose of the tariffs was to build leverage so as to pressure China to open its markets to American businesses, thereby deepening the U.S.-China relationship,' said Ely Ratner, director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, who was previously an adviser to former vice president Joe Biden. 'Others see economic interdependence as a huge vulnerability and a problem that needs to be solved. Is the goal a more reciprocal economic relationship [...]

"'What makes it very difficult to see the conference being successful is that the U.S. has canceled all donor assistance to the Palestinians, so it’s asking others to invest where it has chosen to divest,' said former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro." Read the full article here: Full Article

"...While some observers have suggested the US is marching toward war with Iran, others have stressed that this is not the case. Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute and a former member of the National Security Council, argues that the 'risk of inadvertent conflict and escalation is real.' "'This is [especially] the case given the likely poor understanding each side has of the other's intent and red lines, and the poor communications not just between the US and Iran, [...]