China

The United States is bogged down in what appears to be an unwinnable war in Iraq; it is facing very unpleasant options in regard to neighboring Iran’s nuclear program; senior NATO officers say that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating fast; in the former Soviet Union, Georgia and Russia are moving toward military confrontation, with the U.S. seemingly unable to restrain either; in large swaths of Latin America, new nationalist and populist movements are challenging U.S. interests.

And now the totalitarian… more

As the world watches the political maneuvering over restarting nuclear talks with Iran -- this time with American participation -- few are paying attention to a broader strategic competition that has started between the United States, Russia and China. Ultimately, this competition will decide not only the direction of Iran's nuclear activities but also its economic, political and military role in the Middle East and beyond. The outcome hinges on which countries will assume dominance in developing Iran's enormous oil… more

Steven Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, which aims to promote a new American internationalism that combines a tough-minded realism about America's interests in the world with a pragmatic idealism about the kind of world order best suited to America's democratic way of life. He… more

There are sensible and foolish arguments against the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal. The foolish ones are those based on a theological approach to nuclear nonproliferation. The serious ones relate to the nature of the new U.S.-Indian "strategic partnership," and to wider U.S. strategies in the region.

The argument that India must not be rewarded for developing nuclear weapons is a foolish one. In the real world, there is no more chance of India giving up its nuclear deterrent than there is… more

The White House will soon start lobbying Congress to approve its recent nuclear deal with India. Even before President Bush returned home, his foreign policy team was touting the economic payoffs from access to the Indian market, India's democratic credentials and the common interest India and the United States have in checking China's influence.

The problem is that key members of Congress and the vocal nonproliferation pundits don't buy these arguments. They're already gearing up for a fight, claiming… more

When he served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Harvard President Lawrence Summers frequently stitched into his opening remarks an excessively hubris-laden assessment of American power. At one such speech, he asserted that the "world has never seen a nation such as the United States that possesses such unrivaled economic might...that the world has never seen a country such as the United States of America that had such a degree of global military power and global reach that a… more

The history of the United States is the history of confrontation, even conflict, with the other great powers of the earth.

At the dawn of the 19th century, the young Republic found itself confronted with the two great powers of that world, Britain and France. We fought them both. Everyone knows about the War of 1812, but perhaps we've forgotten the quasi-war with France from 1798 to 1800; during those years the U.S. Navy seized some 80 French vessels.

By the… more

In today's global economy, any job can be performed anywhere. In order to compete in a global labour market, all students in advanced industrial countries need to be highly trained in science and mathematics. In order to compete in the global economy, the advanced industrial nations must downsize generous welfare states.

The above represents something like the conventional wisdom about the global economy, the future job market and the welfare state. There is only one problem: every assertion… more