China wants to retain access to Kachin State’s rare earths, the US wants to poach them, and their escalating competition over this part of Myanmar could make it the next New Cold War flashpoint. Reuters reported that the US’ Myanmar policy might shift towards more diplomatic engagement with either the ruling junta or the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in an […]

Afghanistan is hosting a key trilateral meeting today, bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China for discussions on counter-terrorism, regional trade, and connectivity. According to the Afghan foreign ministry, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Kabul on Tuesday to join Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi […]

India has always earned appreciation for maintaining a balanced, well calibrated foreign policy that has historically allowed New Delhi to safeguard its interests. Even in highly volatile geopolitical environment, India has relatively done well in managing its policy of non-alignment. This widely regarded foreign policy, however, is currently in acute crisis. Under Narendra Modi’s government, India has entrapped itself in […]

Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid on Tuesday urged regional and global powers not to pursue “ill intentions” toward Afghanistan, saying the Taliban “government” seeks good relations based on Islamic principles. Speaking at a ceremony marking Afghanistan’s Independence Day, Yaqoob said the Taliban do not want Afghanistan to become an arena for confrontation between major powers such as the United […]

Taliban are set to host a trilateral meeting with China and Pakistan in Kabul on Wednesday, August 20, sources familiar with the matter said. The sources told Amu that Pakistan’s foreign minister has accepted the Taliban’s invitation and will attend the talks, accompanied by Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq. Pakistani media outlet The Nation also reported that the […]

In the past 25 years, India and the United States have become closer than ever before, building strong economic and strategic ties. Their partnership has rested on shared values and shared interests: they are the two largest democracies in the world, home to vast multicultural populations, and both have been concerned about the rise of India’s northern neighbor, China. But […]

American companies are world leaders in technology—be it innovative software, cloud services, artificial intelligence, or cybersecurity products. Yet beginning as many as three years ago, hackers believed to be backed by the Chinese government did something the United States, the tech powerhouse, could not adequately defend against: they gained and maintained access to major U.S. telecommunications networks, copying conversations and […]

Two certainties have emerged after seven months of Donald Trump’s control of America’s national security policy. First of all, there is no comprehensive national security policy and no likely candidate in the administration for formulating and managing a comprehensive policy. Second, the greatest challenge in the national security arena is China—the most important bilateral policy in the entire global arena—and […]

Executive Summary This report examines the Taliban-led Afghan government’s decision to launch a $10 billion energy infrastructure project with Azizi Energy. The initiative seeks to build 10,000 megawatts of electricity capacity in the next ten years to lessen reliance on imported energy and meet domestic needs. It also has political aims, such as increasing control within the country and seeking […]

For more than a decade, Chinese politics has been defined by one man: Xi Jinping. Since Xi assumed leadership of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, he has made himself into a strongman ruler. He has remade the CCP elite through a wide-ranging purge and corruption crackdown. He has curbed civil society and suppressed dissent. He has reorganized and modernized […]