Recent Russian efforts to interfere in US elections, track down and eliminate defectors and other ‘disloyal elements’, and plant disinformation using social media are nothing new. Rather, they are the continuation by modern means …
Articles by: "Robert Wihtol"
In recent years, publishers have released a deluge of new books on relations between China and the United States, some predicting conflict and others offering formulas for maintaining peace. Surprisingly, however, there have been few …
How did Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping in just a decade manage to dismantle the collective leadership system carefully crafted by Deng Xiaoping, sour China’s relations with most of its neighbours and set …
Winston Churchill once famously described the Soviet Union as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’. Much the same can be said of today’s North Korea, whose leaders are shrouded in mystery and …
When Russia’s military crossed the Ukrainian border on 24 February 2022 to march on Kyiv, they were expecting an easy victory. Instead, they were held back by Ukraine’s highly motivated defence forces, suffered humiliating tactical …
With a renewed five-year mandate as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping has re-emerged on the international stage. His revamped foreign policy team is headed by the recently …
As the war in Ukraine grinds on with no end in sight, it is increasingly important to understand what drives Russia. Is the war President Vladimir Putin’s personal crusade to restore Russia to some notion …
The ‘Malacca dilemma’ is generally considered to top China’s list of strategic concerns. The narrow strait linking the Indian and Pacific oceans serves as the conduit for around 60% of China’s oil imports. In a …
The prevailing consensus for the past few years has been that an ascendant China is threatening to overtake a slumping America. ‘If we don’t get moving, they [China] are going to eat our lunch,’ US …
Economic sanctions have become the weapon of choice in the United States’ diplomatic and strategic arsenal. Trade tariffs, export controls and other financial penalties offer a quick means to punish ‘bad behaviour’, whether by terrorist …
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been called the most dangerous man in the world. How did he manage to rise from a communal apartment in suburban Leningrad and a mediocre early career in the KGB …
As the Chinese Communist Party’s year-end congress approaches, competition among the party factions is heating up. Not only will the five-yearly party congress, set to begin on 16 October, appoint a new Politburo Standing Committee, …