Has EU-China Deal Isolated the US?
The deal has come as a surprise as well as a blow to the US and the advocates of transatlantic cooperation. It has baffled the US to see the EU sign an investment pact with China just weeks before Joe-Biden officially sworn in as the President of the US. This sudden step by the EU might result in a number of things. It can compel the new US President to rethink its relationship with the EU. The country will find it hard to trust the EU and its offers in the future. Many contend that, by signing the deal with China, the EU wanted to imply that it is independent of the US.
Is Iran’s Future Contingent on US’s Decisions?
In his election campaign, Biden declared that they would renew the deal with more compliances and counterbalances. The administration of Biden will not have much time to make initial progress. For Biden, it’s not just a matter of resuming the nuclear deal. Trump dramatically increased sanctions, Iran engaged in several violations of the nuclear agreement that expanded its production of an arsenal of uranium enrichment, the material used by both peaceful nuclear energy and the world’s deadliest weapon.
Biden’s Presidency and South Asia
The election of President-elect Joe Biden and his Vice-President Kamala Harris is most likely to end this vacuum of American policy for the region and engage with the region with strategic insight and assertiveness. Joe Biden was awarded Hilal-e-Pakistan, the second-highest civil-award of the country, and Kamal Harris has ancestral roots in India. The personalized nature of their relationships to both of these countries will indeed influence the interaction once the Biden administration leads the White House. However, in the spirit of previous American interactions with the region, the Biden administration’s interaction with South Asia will be clouded by two mega strategic matters: The rise of China and the Conflict in Afghanistan.
What Can Biden Do To Undo What Trump Did?
Former vice president Joe Biden has been victorious in his election as the 46th US president, defeating his opponent, the former US President Donald Trump, in a heated electoral race. While the president-elect is yet to be officially sworn to office, a difficult presidency awaits him. Joe Biden’s precedent has left the country in an arduous corner in terms of both internal as well as foreign affairs.
How Can US & China Come Closer Under Biden?
As the United States electoral race comes to an end, the world holds its breath and focuses its attention on the 46th American president. The new Joe Biden administration not only inherits a pandemic ridden battered economy but also a repugnant foreign policy with the world’s second-largest economy. The multi-year assault that was launched under the Trump administration on Beijing completely changed the dynamics of bilateral relations between the United States and China. Now all eyes are on Biden contemplating the nature of the foreign policy that will take shape during his tenure.
Daunting Unions For China
The latest military agreements between India and the USA are being seen as a possible threat to the Chinese hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region. China is already losing support and cooperation from the countries which are in conflict with China over the South China Sea. Pompeo’s visit has given an even graver threat to China that China has a long way to go before it can dominate the regional politics.
QUAD Group: A Substance or A Formality?
Analysts doubt that China can be a strategic challenge for multinational cooperation in the region. But the question is that is QUAD really the best platform for handling the growing Chinese capacity. Two members of the QUAD are too unreliable to serve this purpose, which are Australia and Japan. This leaves QUAD with two certain members India and America; whose growing strategic partnership is a threat to China anyways. There is no need for a QUAD for this purpose.
Regional Security Balance in the Context of QUAD & BECA
According to Regional Security Complex Theory, securitization is more intense between the countries inside of the regional security complex, patterned to the security interdependence of the region, a security cluster. Great outside power can penetrate it. RSCT leads to positive security interdependence by making shared security community or negative, including securitization, which leads to conflict formation. The defense pacts and agreements will undoubtedly lead to negative security interdependence by considering the region’s states’ dynamics.
Srilanka on Crossroads: US or China?
Situated at the heart of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is grappling with the world’s two superpowers: China and the US. The keen interest of the two countries has been a source of competition between them and a source of worry for Sri Lanka, which is struggling with its own economic woes. Sri Lanka was able to navigate the Cold War by taking a stance of neutrality and non-alignment. When a second economic Cold War is building up globally, it is attractive and convenient to adopt similar policies. However, this recent rivalry may be novel in nature, and Sri Lanka’s continued economic woes, mean that the country will be forced to choose between the two, the US or China.
Opportunities Amid Instability: China in Africa
Multiple measures by the UN, ICRC, and other international organizations have taken to mitigate the African crises. As China indubitably seems to be a potential power juxtapose to the western presence in the region, westerners have done very little to manage the crises. Beijing must take the lead, collaborate with domestic armed groups, encourage dialogue and conflict management mechanisms to the parties, at least propose them, as a mediator, to minimize the instability factors and encourage them to collective growth. Chinese economic diplomacy can be used to compel African policymakers to conflict resolution. Other conflicting parties must be taken on board to develop confidence-building, and some serious interest must be shown in African affairs.