The lack of a formal military alliance or mutual trust makes the current China-Russia partnership no less threatening to international stability. Key takeaways: As history shows, strategic cooperation between major powers does not require trust or shared ideology; temporary alignment alone can enable rapid and highly disruptive shifts in the international order. A comparable dynamic… Continue reading What the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact teaches us about today’s alignment between Russia and China
The US-China trade war has helped normalize sanctions as a tool of statecraft. In the latest dispute between China and Japan over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, the risks of Beijing’s growing use of economic pressure are back in focus. This article traces the evolution of China’s economic coercion, examines Japan’s diversification strategy,… Continue reading China’s economic coercion: The case of Japan and the lesson for Europe
What explains the attitudes of diasporas toward their ancestral homeland? One answer suggests some pull toward the country of origin (“ancestral homeland”) based on a shared cultural identity. In contrast, another explanation looks at how host country (“contemporary homeland”) politics surrounding the “perpetual foreigners” can push the diaspora toward their ancestral homeland. In this paper,… Continue reading Languages and linkages: Explaining diaspora attitudes toward the ancestral homeland
Taiwan’s relations with Europe have gone through steady development over the past five years. Catalyzed by a series of global disruptions—the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s growing assertiveness, Europe’s growing expectations fatigue towards China, and the U.S. shift toward a more mercantilist and transactional foreign policy—Europe’s relations with Taiwan have moved from the… Continue reading Old partners and new friends: Despite steady growth, Taiwan-Europe relations need ‘futureproofing’
On the opening pages of Taiwan’s national civil defense manual, citizens are confronted with a stark question: “In the event of aggression, are you aware that adversaries will flood the internet with disinformation to undermine public morale and destabilize society?” For the roughly 23 million people living just 180 kilometers from the Chinese coast, the… Continue reading The handbook you hope never to use: What Taiwan’s civil defense manual reveals about democratic resilience
