Research and analysis on China’s foreign policy and role in the world.

The challenge before the United States is to manage, without illusions, a difficult and combative relationship with Russia.

As the North Korean atomic crisis gathers momentum, the Trump administration is suggesting that the option of letting the East Asian allies acquire nuclear options is on the table.

Both the United States and China have to recognize the reality, if not the legitimacy, of each other’s fears about North Korea and make concessions that indicate their good faith in eventually moving toward a Korean Peninsula that is united.

There is no clear, internationally accepted definition of what activities or technologies constitute a nuclear weapons program. This lack of definition encumbers nuclear energy cooperation and complicates peaceful resolution of proliferation disputes.

The international community has finally started a serious conversation about norms in cyberspace. But reaching a global consensus needs the world’s attention.

Buddhism has become part of a broader soft power rivalry between China and India for greater influence in Asia.

Trump needs to look beyond illusory bargains with Russia and China and instead develop clear-eyed frameworks to manage bilateral disagreements and make progress on common policy objectives based on U.S. national security interests.

North Korea has nuclear weapons, something that won’t change anytime soon. As bad as this is, recognizing that status in a way that paves the road for South Korea to follow suit would be even worse.

With the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action diminishing the near-term prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb, most proliferation prognosticators would likely pick South Korea, Japan, or perhaps Taiwan as the next place that could opt to develop nuclear weapons.

After five years of consolidating power, Xi Jinping will emerge stronger than ever before. For this year at least, Xi will play the role of global leader, and the world will be better for it.

Both China and the United States need to address shared problems such as moderating rising income disparities, designing effective regulatory systems, and promoting innovation.

The only effective way to create a more stable environment in the maritime areas near China is for the United States to lead a serious diplomatic dialogue with Beijing and other claimants aimed at establishing mutually acceptable restraints, accompanied by strong U.S. and allied deterrence signals.

Chinese experts say that the country is beginning to take a more proactive approach to foreign affairs, and shifting from a focus of integrating into the international system to shaping it.

A moral realist approach to China’s rise identifies external and internal challenges for an emerging power competing with a dominant state in the international system.

What can be learned about China’s hypersonic boost-glide weapon program from flight tests, and the implications of the program for the security of the United States and our allies.

Rather than forging an alliance against the third corner of the triangle, China and Russia should join forces in building a new regional system at the time when the global order is in transition.

China’s relationship with Africa is becoming increasingly more complex as the country continues to invest and send workers across 54 countries on the continent.

China might soon start construction of its first big breeder reactor, with questions remaining to answer on plant design, fuel, and the future direction of the country's fast reactor program.

Governments need to adapt traditional concepts and tools of statecraft to the digital age.

While political transitions are always hard, the international landscape today is particularly unforgiving.