Headlines

Europe’s consummate systemic rival: Ursula von der Leyen

The most consequential threat to Europe in the past decade has not arrived from Moscow, Beijing or Washington. It has been manufactured, word by word, policy reversal by policy reversal, on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont building in Brussels. Ursula von der Leyen has achieved

Asia •

Thailand seizes on Hormuz fears to push land bridge dream

BANGKOK – While Asia suffers from Strait of Hormuz blockades, Bangkok is offering Beijing, Singapore and others a planned multi-billion dollar “land bridge” across Thailand’s thin peninsula, to link shipping between the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand instead of south through

Asia •

Indonesian president’s ties to personal aide go viral

Out came the cake, while the president applauded. The surroundings were palatial, but what else could you expect from the Four Seasons George V in Paris, whose most expensive rooms run to US$30,000 a night. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was visiting France in April on

Asia •

West Asia’s old security order is dead and gone

West Asia is not returning to the old regional order. Too many assumptions have failed, and too many actors have discovered the limits of their power. For years, security in the region was treated as something that could be imposed: by American military presence, Israeli

Asia •

Global fragmentation is rewiring Asia’s economic future

Asia became prosperous in an era of predictable globalization. Open markets, cheap energy, integrated supply chains and export-led manufacturing transformed once-poor economies into the world’s most dynamic growth centers. But the very interdependence that powered Asia’s rise

Asia •

UAE-Israel ties useful but nowhere near a Middle East reset

When the Abraham Accords were signed on the South Lawn of the White House five and a half years ago, the inevitable triumphalism that accompanies American diplomatic ceremonies obscured a more sober reality. The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was

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US vs China: two armies, two theories of the body

In the same week that China’s People’s Liberation Army quietly continued its annual mass immunization drills, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that American service members would no longer be required to receive the flu vaccine — a break from a practice in place

Asia •

Price wars, tech wars: China’s auto bloodbath rages on

I’m in love with my car Gotta feel for my automobile Get a grip on my boy racer rollbar Such a thrill when your radials squeal – Queen After attending the Auto China 2024 exhibition in Beijing, this writer declared that “industrial blood-sport had returned – this time in a far

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