Deterring China Demands Unambiguous Support for Taiwan

Written by: Pranav Krishnan The American-led, liberal-world order has ushered in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity around the globe. It can not subsist, however, without free and democratic states knowing that they need not take exorbitant measures to arm themselves or align with autocratic powers to preserve their sovereignty. Thus, the United States…

Yuan Some Dollars With That?

Written by: Christopher Ploudimis The Chinese yuan is becoming stronger and more widely accepted as a currency. Morgan Stanley predicts that in the next ten years the Chinese yuan will be the world’s third-largest reserve currency, behind the euro and the U.S. dollar. Analysts have been projecting that the yuan will account for five to…

Winter Olympics 2022: Soft Power in the Contemporary International System

Written by: Ken Wang  The Olympics, whether held in summer or winter, have always been a symbol of athleticism, friendly competition, a time for peace, a chance to improve diplomatic relationships, and an opportunity to promote the image of the host country. China recently hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, and it was a great success…

The Rise of China: a Comprehensive Review 

Written by: Ken Wang Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes up, she will move the world.” Many foreign powers have oppressed China and exploited its people during the colonial period, especially during the Qing dynasty and the aftermath of the Opium Wars. Even shortly…

Geopolitics of Climate Change: Race for the Arctic

Written by: Calvin Floyd The United States, China and Russia are competing in a race for the Arctic that is driven by anthropogenic climate change and profit. Seeing economic opportunities in resource extraction and shipping routes made available by melting Arctic ice, China has been driven to stake claims in the region in the last…

A New Prime Minister, a New Czech-Chinese Relationship?

Written by: Audrey McGrory Few countries have been as successful in promoting authoritarian ideals abroad as Russia and China. The two nations have framed themselves as rising global superpowers, eager to spread their brand of capitalism, which lies in state control. Bashing western democracies and their capitalistic economic systems, Russia and China have sought to…

Involution: China’s Hyper-Competitive Education System

Written by: Wenzhe Teng Involution, or “Nei Juan ” in Chinese, is one of the most discussed terms in 2020 China, commonly referred to by both citizens and the state media. To better understand the term, imagine you are in a movie theater, and suddenly, people in the front row stand up. In order to…

The Jakarta Game

Written by: Nils Peterson As the United States completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific began to loom ever larger in American geopolitical strategy. War is a two-sided game, however, and military conflict with terrorist groups like al-Qaeda will not end simply because the United States took its ball and went home from Afghanistan….