Antony Blinken Visited the South-East Asian Region Yet Again

Antony Blinken Visited the South-East Asian Region Yet Again

Another tour, started on December 9 by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may have been unprecedented since he took office, both in terms of the number of countries visited and the breadth of topics that were supposed to be discussed with foreign colleagues. The plan was for the trip to include three phases: a stop…

Encircling China and Praising India: The US Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific

Encircling China and Praising India: The US Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific

The feeling from Rory Medcalf of the Australian National University was one of breathless wonder.  “The US government,” he wrote in The Strategist, “has just classified one of its most secretive national security documents – its 2018 strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific, which was formally classified SECRET and not for release to foreign nationals.” Washington’s…

Indian-Pacific Region against the Backdrop of Ongoing Transition of Power in the US

Indian-Pacific Region against the Backdrop of Ongoing Transition of Power in the US

At this time, when the transfer of power in the United States is proving to be unprecedentedly difficult, two things draw the attention of the expert community: what the departing administration of a leading world power will manage to pull off, and what changes the global political landscape, shifting towards the Indian-Pacific region, may undergo…

Europe Marks Distance from Indo-Pacific Strategy

Europe Marks Distance from Indo-Pacific Strategy

The European Council special meeting in Brussels on 1st October had Turkey, Belarus, Russia and China on its agenda. The foreign-policy decisions of the summit — comprising the heads of state or government of all EU countries, the European Council President, and the European Commission President —show a moderate line, which broadly conforms to the…