The Philippines is significantly upgrading defense ties with Australia and other Western partners amid growing tensions with China in the South China Sea, underscored by large joint exercises and plans for expanded troop access. Yet despite China’s overwhelming military advantage, both Manila and Beijing share responsibility to de-escalate tensions and pursue diplomatic solutions, especially as the Philippines prepares to chair ASEAN next year.

Maintaining peace and stability in Asia and adjacent regions — fostering friendly and cooperative relations — is essential for China’s own security and prosperity. The focus must be on peace, development and building a community with a shared future.

As evidenced by complicity in the Gaza genocide, the U.S.-Israel military symbiosis in the Middle East is increasingly shunned by the international community. What the region needs is aggressive economic development.

The trickiest problem for South Korea’s diplomacy is balancing the country’s relationships with the United States, China and Japan. Success hinges on consistent pragmatism in both domestic and international affairs.

The ROK’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, is attempting to improve relations with Pyongyang. But if Seoul is serious, it will need to take steps that go beyond rhetoric. Conciliatory efforts may not guarantee Pyongyang’s engagement, but they could lower the temperature and create space for negotiation.

The Alaska Summit signals a revival of major power coordination, with Europe determined not to forsake the peace dividends it has accrued over the decades. Seasoned by centuries of geopolitical maneuvering, European powers are poised to actively shape their own destinies rather than succumb to the will of others.

Actual improvement of the bilateral relationship between the United States an Russia should be helpful in ending the war in Ukraine. Virtually any effort that facilitates sustainable peace is worthy of China’s support. So the meeting in Alaska does not need to be interpreted as unproductive.

The summit could mark a turning point in U.S.-Russia relations and lead to a rewriting of the geopolitical playbook. For China, the lesson is that it must hold fast to its principles, maintain strategic composure and pursue its interests on its own terms.

U.S. policy in Latin America has acquired some new characteristics. While it retains the basic shape of the centuries-old Monroe Doctrine, it has now been enhanced with Donald Trump’s peculiar transactional and bullying style.

The stated intentions of France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia may add to Israel’s growing international isolation and could prompt a reassessment — though not a fundamental shift — in support for Israel by the United States.