Chas W. Freeman Jr spoke to the Global Strategy Forum on 20 January 2010 on the mounting speculation about China’s emergence as a global hegemon to rival and, perhaps in time, surpass the United States.  This is the thrust of what he said:
The US – which spends more on its military than the rest of [...]

President Obama did the EU a favour by deciding not to attend the scheduled 24-25 May EU-US summit in Madrid, for two reasons.  First, because he prevents Spain from ignoring the spirit of Lisbon.  Second, it will force the EU to rethink the whole issue of third country summits.  Athough originally apparently a US practice, [...]

TO ALL CHINESE READERS 
This last year was an extremely difficult one for all of us.   China has performed extraordinarily well economically in the global recession, which has helped see the acceleration of the trend of economic and financial gravity away from the West and to Asia . 
Barack Obama entering the White House was perhaps the [...]

France and Germany sought the lifting of the EU arms embargo in 2004 but Washington insisted on the embargo being maintained.  The embargo was lifted against Uzbekistan last October, despite continuing concerns about human rights in the central Asian nation.  This leaves China in the company of a handful of countries, including  Congo, North Korea, [...]

Everyone agrees that the European Union must get its act together.  The wrangling over the next EU-US summit shows that the EU won’t get it’s act together until the egotism of Member State leaders is brought under control. 
Now it’s the turn of Spain, the current EU Presidency, which insists on hosting the summit and, thus, [...]

Criticism of Catherine Ashton not going to Haiti shows why a Commission not directly answerable to the electorate has its advantages.  Most national politicians fly to disaster areas for domestic political reasons.  The last thing Haiti wants is herds of VIPs using valuable airport space and requiring attention, but with nothing to offer solely because [...]

The new treaty entered into force on 1 December; Hermann van Rompuy took office on 1 January; Cathleen Ashton, while already High Representative for Foreign & Security Policy, had to face her Europêan Parliament Hearing on 11 January; and the new Commission does not come into being until February. 
And yet, to read the media, and [...]

A casual reader of the European and American media might be forgiven for thinking that many people see the West losing out to China over trade. It is understandable that many, including of course those who have lost their jobs to China, see a rising trade deficit (EU €169 billion and US $268 billion in [...]

The following letter will appear in European Voice on 21 January:
Your report of Catherine Ashton’s hearing gave her two stars out of five (“Commissioners’ hearings”, 14-20 January).  You found her performance “uninspired and uninspiring” and stated that some members of the European Parliament were “exasperated” at “her evasive replies”. These views seem to echo those [...]

Lisbon Treaty and a new EU hierarchy point to greater stability and a resurgent dynamism” by Stanley Crossick, published in the Beijing Review 24 December 2009.
“The year 2009 was a difficult one for the European Union (EU). The European Parliament elections, held in June, are always disruptive. The results were disappointing with a low turnout [...]