
Zhao Minghao, Professor, Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, and China Forum Expert
May 08, 2026
Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 34 percent among the American people, the lowest level of his second term. Given the U.S. war against Iran, the growing internal divisions within his administration and the rising inflationary pressure at home, Trump now has juggle a lot at once.

Aaron Glasserman, Postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania
May 08, 2026
Labeling China as part of an “Axis of Chaos” misrepresents its strategy by overstating its alignment with other U.S. adversaries and wrongly implying that it seeks global instability. China’s power and the challenge it poses to the United States instead stem primarily from its deep integration and central role in the global economy, not from fostering chaos or acting as part of a unified anti-U.S. bloc.

Nicu Popescu, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Co-Director of the European Security Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations
Fredrik Wesslau, Acting Director of the European Policy Institute in Kyiv, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs
May 04, 2026
By Nicu Popescu and Fredrik Wesslau PARIS—For decades, much of Europe viewed military engagement through the lens of NATO or the European Union, since t

Du Lan, Deputy Director at Asia-Pacific Institute, China Institute of International Studies
Apr 27, 2026
The current U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia is generating a range of negative effects. If the United States fails to adjust its competitive, confrontational and self-serving foreign policy, its influence in the region is likely to face further decline.

Sujit Kumar Datta, Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
Apr 21, 2026
For the United States and China, the very concept of a rules-based international order, once a topic of agreement, has turned into disagreement. That is the current distorted reality in their relationship. It is not only power that is at stake but the meaning of order itself.

Da Wei, Director of Center for International Strategy and Security; Professor at Tsinghua University
Apr 10, 2026
China neither seeks nor intends to replace the United States in filling any so-called “vacuum”, nor should it be expected to play such a role, says leading Tsinghua IR scholar Da Wei in the recent interview with The Paper.

Li Yan, Director of President's Office, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations
Apr 09, 2026
Canada and the five Nordic countries have vowed to seek closer “middle power” cooperation, a strategic effort to preserve national sovereignty. The move exposes a rift in the U.S.-led alliance system, which faces multiple uncertainties, including internal coordination challenges and U.S. pressure.

Carla Norrlöf, Professor of Political Science at University of Toronto, non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council
Mar 20, 2026
The messy crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has clarified how power works in the 21st century. It reminds us that the greatest long-term threat to the United States is not China’s military buildup or Russian aggression, but the gradual fragmentation of the alliance system that has underwritten its global leadership since World War II.

Ted Galen Carpenter, Senior Fellow, Randolph Bourne Institute
Mar 13, 2026
Donald Trump has not destroyed a legitimate rules-based international order; rather, his actions have exposed the long-standing hypocrisy of a system in which the United States and its allies have frequently ignored international law while enforcing it selectively against their adversaries.

Xiao Qian, Deputy Director, Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University
Mar 06, 2026
The Munich Security Conference reveals a shift in transatlantic ties as AI security becomes central to global debate. Europe is increasingly linking AI policy to technological autonomy, seeking to balance cooperation with the United States while strengthening its own strategic capabilities.
