US – China Competition: Food Security and the FAO
The United States had a rude awakening when China secured the head job at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is an important outpost of Chinese influence in the multilateral system and now China seeks to extend its influence there. In 2019, the Chinese government candidate for director general of the FAO, former vice […]
Ukraine in a Second Trump Administration: The Case for Optimism
Since the US presidential election, friends and supporters have asked us at Razom for Ukraine how we feel about the future of Ukraine. Razom for Ukraine is an American aid and advocacy organization that has delivered more than $100 million in humanitarian assistance since 2022. Razom employs dozens of staff in Ukraine currently on the […]
Rethinking American-Chinese Competition in the Global South
Imagine a world where China buys all the mines in Africa, further solidifying its dominance over the production of rare earth minerals. Imagine if the entire Global South’s telecommunication networks were controlled by Huawei, subsea fiber-optic cables are nearly exclusively built or repaired by China’s HMN Technologies. Imagine the bulk of maritime trade passes through […]
Trump II Will Inherit a Divisive Political Scene in Israel
Most Israelis supported President Trump in this election, believing he would fully support Israel in its ongoing war against Iranian proxies. Prime Minister Netanyahu was among the first world leaders to congratulate him But the future Trump administration’s specific policies towards the Middle East remain unclear. During his campaign, Trump expressed interest in promoting peace […]
Africa in the Second Trump Administration
The Republican Party’s 2024 Platform did not mention Africa. Yet this does not mean that a coherent and potentially transformative American approach towards the “continent of tomorrow” cannot be found in the foreign policy vision articulated by President Trump and in the record of his first term. Here are three general guiding principles: First, America […]
The Future of the US-China Relationship
The US-China relationship faces certain tension and rising competition over the next four years. While it is impossible in general to predict specific new administration policies, there are likely to be wide swings between efforts to engage China and seek compromise, with efforts to compete, confront, or even contain Beijing. President Trump will be surrounded by […]
A South Asia Roadmap
As the incoming Trump administration turns its gaze outward, it will find a world that is rudderless in many places, often stagnant and bereft, in no small measure owing to the abdication of any meaningful leadership from the United States that began under Barack Obama. In large parts of the world—Latin America, for instance, and […]
Trump Administration Faces a Suddenly Promising Middle East
BACKGROUND The second Trump administration will face immediate foreign policy dilemmas in all three Eurasian fronts. This paper concentrates on the Middle East, but the competing demands of Europe and East Asia, and the links among all of them, influence decisions everywhere. The dramatic events of the past year open the door to a regional […]
Rethinking America’s Ukraine Policy
Kicking the can down the road has characterized America’s Ukraine policy for the last two decades. The can is about to stop at the doorstep of incoming President Donald Trump. The assumptions that have guided US policy, crafted under far different geopolitical and geoeconomic circumstances, are simply no longer valid. The new Trump national security […]
Germany Heads Toward Elections
Germany is facing unexpected headwinds. As Ukraine struggles to fend off Russia, the Middle East erupts, and China menaces Taiwan, it is struggling to meet a welter of domestic and foreign challenges. The recent collapse of Social Democratic chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition has coincided with the election of Donald Trump, creating a sense of […]
The Impact of Trump’s Election on The Middle East
The landslide election of Donald Trump’s holds out real promise of encouraging peace in the Middle East. Unlike President Biden, who demanded caution from Israel in exchange for providing arms, Trump seems to be sending a message that he will support Israel’s policy of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if that requires military […]
Trump II Will Be Different
Donald Trump’s resounding victory has potentially tectonic implications for allies, friends and the world. People are drawing conclusions by extrapolating from Trump’s actions in his first term. I think it could be a bit different this time. First, despite Trump’s campaign style as performance art, there was more structure and substance to his campaign this time. He […]
