"China seldom explicitly links its sanctions to foreign-policy goals. This provides 'deniability and the flexibility to escalate and de-escalate at will,' Ely Ratner, executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security, told Congress in 2018. China said its tariffs on Australian barley were the result of an anti-dumping investigation..." Read the full article here: Full Article
"Russel noted that Trump’s reelection campaign has made China-bashing a centerpiece of its appeal to American voters. Yang, meanwhile, answers to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who, like Trump, has a political interest in looking tough on a rival... “‘Perhaps the best we can hope for is a meeting in which the two sides take soundings on the other’s intentions and agree to stop short of actions that would blow up the trade deal,' Russel said..." Read the full article here: Full [...]
"Daniel Russel, vice president at Asia Society Policy Institute, discusses the rising tensions between China and India, the 7-week standoff in the Himalayas and the tensions between North and South Korea..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview
"'This is going to be a new long-term feature of the U.S.-Israel relationship,' said Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. 'Israel adjusting to the strategic competitive relationship, while trying to sustain its close partnership and take advantage of opportunities with China...'” Read the full article here: Full Article
"'Great power competition' has, at least on paper, become the orienting principle for American strategy. That competition is usually defined as being between the United States and China as well as between the United States and the Russian Federation. Or it lumps them together in the vague category of 'great powers,' without much additional context. But a critical and underexamined factor in the current global geopolitical landscape is the relationship between Beijing and Moscow and how their ties affect US strategy [...]
“‘There is a moral imperative to look closely at this issue. The need in Venezuela is growing and the scale of the corruption is industrial,' said Michael Camilleri, who is writing a report on the forfeiture funds for the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, D.C., group that promotes democracy in Latin America. "He estimated that more than $1 billion in looted money is currently held in the United States, either in frozen banks accounts or being held by in government forfeiture funds. [...]
"North Korea is likely to try to increase pressure on the United States ahead of the upcoming election, said Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia until early in the Trump administration. “‘Trump’s claim to have ‘solved’ the North Korea problem gives them leverage,' he said..." Read the full article here: Full Article
"Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Obama administration, said the current moment reminds him of the challenges he faced talking about the inability of the U.S. to confront gun violence and the epidemic of school shootings. “‘It really was — humiliating is an accurate phrase but doesn’t fully capture it. It’s more a feeling of shame, of our inability to address our own problems,' he said. "Shapiro noted that the protests actually show instances of hope and inspiration, [...]
"One late night, while I sat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of negotiating what would become the Hebron protocol, he told me 'I will do what Ben-Gurion did.' I knew he was a disciple of the 'revisionist' movement, bitter enemies of David Ben-Gurion, so I said 'you mean Menachem Begin.' And he shot back: 'No, not Begin, Ben-Gurion — he did the big stuff.' "As I wrestled to understand why Netanyahu seems so determined to press ahead with [...]
"'What Trump will never understand is that this move won’t hurt Merkel at all,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama administration official now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. 'If he’s hoping to hurt her politically, this does nothing. It actually hurts us more. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face...'" Read the full article here: Full Article