Geopolitical Competition

Why Foreign Policy is Difficult

Foreign policy is difficult because of the interactive and interconnected nature of diplomacy.

Countries have leaders, who have ideas about how to advance or preserve what they believe to be in the interests of their country and/or their country’s…

What to read to figure out North Korea

North Korea launched what was likely to be an inter-continental ballistic missile. If it was fitted with nuclear warheads, it would be able to cause tremendous destruction in this part of the world. It will provide more information for North Korean missile…

Thinking the Unthinkable: Conflict in the Korean Peninsula

Note: This piece is meant to highlight the risks involved, and is deliberately speculative.

Originally written in July 2017

Can China dominate the techno-industrial landscape?

Chinese companies are increasingly taking up global market share for a variety of products. Will this continue? The answer is yes. If China continues on a growth trajectory, as people earn more money, then yes, Chinese companies can…

Is China strong or is China weak?

I think it’s both. That might be a cop-out, but I hope what will follow will also convince you of this dynamic. I will also provide a couple of frameworks to help people think through this for themselves. I use Paul Kennedy’s Rise and Fall of the Great Powers to think…