Author: Matt Reisener

  • Understanding and Managing Great Power Competition with China

    Tensions between the United States and China are escalating in what appears to be a renewal of strategic “great power competition.” But policymakers and analysts disagree on whether the two countries are engaged in a situational contest for power and wealth or an existential ideological struggle. What is driving the strategic competition between Beijing and

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  • Secrets and Lies: The Role of Truth in Great Power Information Warfare

    The widely divergent narratives about such incidents as the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny and China’s involvement in unleashing COVID-19 have put a recent spotlight on the role of trust in international affairs.  It is said that truth is the first casualty of war.  In an age of intensifying information warfare, should we

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  • Biden vs. Trump: The Battle for America’s Foreign Policy Direction

    What kinds of foreign policies should we expect from the next presidency, whether Trump or Biden?  Would a re-elected Trump find new ways to advance his America First agenda, this time backed by a team of appointees more united and supportive of his goals?  What would Biden’s pledge to restore competence and normalcy to US foreign policy mean in practice?   The

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  • North Korean Military Modernization: How Should Washington Respond?

    North Korea’s seemingly rapid ascent to de facto nuclear weapons state with long-range missiles that threaten the U.S. homeland was no accident.  Through decades of testing, countless starts and stops, and billions of dollars of research and development spending, Pyongyang has built a military capable of killing millions of people with a variety of weapons of mass

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  • Unrest in Belarus and Russia’s Response

    Protests across Belarus continue unabated in response to the country’s August 9 presidential election. Will Russia be part of the problem or part of the solution in Belarus? John Herbst, director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council and a former US ambassador to Ukraine, posits that Russia is likely to be a big

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