In an op-ed in Foreign Affairs, Professor Oriana Skylar Mastro writes that China has continuously assured the world that its ambition is not to become a global hegemon. In doing so, however, China disguises its true aims: complete dominance in the Indo-Pacific region, and enough power to counter Washington when needed.

In The Washington Post‘s Monkey Cage blog, Professor Elizabeth Saunders writes about how Trump’s management of his team is hurting his own foreign policy, as exemplified in the tumultuous events of the past week.

Professor Christine C. Fair writes about the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and whether or not it’s an Islamist organization and how that affects the Rohingya population of Myanmar. While the government of Myanmar claims that ARSA is an Islamist organization, but Fair points out that they do not align themselves enough to Islamism to be considered Islamist. However, this is making it difficult for Myanmar to consider the wishes of Rohingya refugees: to come back home to Myanmar under “government recognition as a distinct ethnic group.” The consensus at this point seems to be that displaced Rohingya refugees will remain in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

In this Washington Post article, Professor Abraham Newman breaks down the “arrest and possible extradition to the United States of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese communications giant Huawei, in Canada for possible sanctions violations.” Abraham explains that the arrest is not “a simple criminal case, or even a crude effort to exert economic pressure on China.” Instead, “it shows how the geostrategic relationship between the Washington and Beijing is changing.”

In this article published on The Island, Ashanee Kottage (SFS ’22) discusses the current ministerial crisis in Sri Lanka. Specifically, Kottage warns against the potential damage to reefs and depletion of resources that the proposed Colombo Port City could cause.

In this op-ed published on War on the Rocks, Professor Michael Green explores Japan’s new defense plan, discussing whether or not it is “ambitious enough.” Green concludes that “under Abe, Japan has significantly increased capabilities to meet the increasing regional security challenges,” adding that “Abe is also increasing the risk Japan accepts by becoming more joint with the United States and being willing to exercise collective self-defense with those with whom it has close security relations. “