United States

From founding order to utopian drift: How America lost its centre

Tracing the US’s shift from its founding constitutional order to a period of ideological experimentation and internal fragmentation, Chinese commentator Jun Ma examines how competing visions of society have reshaped its political centre.

Jun Ma

25 May 2026

How China sustains the illusion of equality with Russia

Amid its meetings with US and Russian leaders, academic Marcin Kaczmarski observes that China holds a firm upper hand in its relations with Russia, while continuing to massage Russia’s great-power ego.

Marcin Kaczmarski

22 May 2026

Trump-Xi summit: Why China scored the bigger strategic win

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “constructive strategic stability” framework and carefully choreographed optics defined the Trump-Xi summit, yielding modest gains for both sides, but a broader strategic advantage for China in setting the terms of future US-China relations. Academic Dylan Loh examines the details.

Dylan Loh

19 May 2026

Unravelled: How the Iran war triggers a global realignment

Beyond immediate economic chaos and regional instability, the US-Israeli conflict with Iran is catalysing a historic global realignment. From a fractured Middle East and a widening transatlantic rift to China’s burgeoning influence over energy and diplomacy, the war is forcing allies and rivals alike to redraw the map of 21st-century power, observes US commentator Ian Bremmer.

Ian Bremmer

06 May 2026

Cold reality: China’s Arctic push stalls in Finland

The era of Finland as China’s “Arctic gateway” has given way to a narrow, de-risked partnership. Academic Monique Taylor observes that amid NATO commitments and a fractured geopolitical landscape, Helsinki is trading grand strategic ambitions for pragmatic, low-risk cooperation in trade and green technology. 

Monique Taylor

04 May 2026

Can the Gulf-South Asia corridor rewire global trade and energy flows?

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has driven alternative routes, strengthening energy supply chains and boosting cooperation across the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, while expanding cross-border trade — so the outlook is not entirely bleak despite disruption at Hormuz, says Chinese academic Peng Nian.

Peng Nian

24 Apr 2026

Britain can no longer treat China as optional

As US instability grows, Britain must rethink its China posture. Neither ally nor adversary, Beijing demands engagement with clarity, pragmatism and a strategy that reflects shifting global power, says UK academic Kerry Brown.

Kerry Brown

17 Apr 2026

Why Beijing can’t repeat America’s Maduro raid in Taiwan

America’s 2026 raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro relied on months of intelligence, air dominance and regional deployment. China’s PLA lacks the operational conditions needed to attempt a similar decapitation strike against Taiwan, says Japanese academic Sugiura Yasuyuki.

Sugiura Yasuyuki

10 Mar 2026

China’s diplomatic blitz in Trump’s backyard — who will dominate the western hemisphere?

The high frequency of foreign dignitaries from Asia, Europe and South America visiting China at the start of 2026 indicates a strong focus and urgency behind Beijing’s effort to draw US allies closer and counter America’s efforts to restore preeminence in the western hemisphere, observes ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook.

Lye Liang Fook

27 Feb 2026

China’s power in the Middle East has hard limits

China is becoming harder to ignore in the Middle East. Yet the gap between economic presence and strategic power remains wide, even as American policy swings, argues US academic John Calabrese.

John Calabrese

19 Feb 2026

A G2 moment for Southeast Asia?

From online scams to the fragile Thai-Cambodian ceasefire, the US and China face shared challenges in Southeast Asia. Cooperation could secure regional stability — and boost both leaders’ global standing, says ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook.

Lye Liang Fook

23 Jan 2026

[Big read] The world recarved under the Donroe Doctrine

US President Donald Trump’s revival of hemispheric dominance and the dramatic Venezuela intervention signal a rupture in global norms, as global powers weigh their next moves and NATO faces uncertainty. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Zhou Yifei reports.

Zhou Yifei

21 Jan 2026