Asia & the Pacific

5 Items

Transport through the South China Sea

Flickr Creative Commons

Analysis & Opinions - The Oregonian

Can a rebuked China manage its anger?

| July 27, 2016

China suffered a significant setback this month in its bid for dominance in the South China Sea, and its leaders are following a familiar script after such reversals: They’re making angry statements but taking little action while they assess the situation. David Ignatius, Senior Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project, dives into the backlash of the Permanent Court of Arbitration decision against China's dominance of the waters.

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Maddox, which was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes and gunfire off Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, August 1964.

(AP Photo/DOD)

Analysis & Opinions - The Boston Globe

Learn, But Don't Overlearn, Vietnam's Lessons

| August 3, 2014

A half century after the Gulf of Tonkin resolution catapulted the United States head first into the tragedy of Vietnam, three lessons stand out, writes Nicholas Burns.

First, the memory of over 58,000 American soldiers lost in that long, tortuous war compels our presidents to set the bar very high when contemplating the use of force....Second, presidents can too often see the military as a quick fix for complex international problems....But, third, we can also misinterpret or overlearn the lessons of bitter wars such as Vietnam and Iraq.

A view of one of the displaced camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, Sep. 14, 2011. A massive aid operation is currently underway to help millions of Somalis affected by the fighting and a famine caused by severe drought.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Daily Nation

Africa Must Wake Up to the Reality That Hunger is Now a National Security Issue

| August 14, 2012

"The tools available to India in the 1960s are not sufficient to address the challenges that African agriculture now faces. These include a rapidly-growing population, productivity loss due to ecological disruption, environmental decay, droughts, climate change, and conflict. Biotechnology offers additional tools that can help Africa address some of these challenges. It is another moment that calls for the kind of political courage that led to the adoption of the Green Revolution."