It is truly extraordinary: the still-new Trump administration keeps appointing people whose common priority is the destruction of the agency they head.  Their mission is therefore the opposite of their…

Note to Readers: This post expands the previous APB.  It was published Nov. 17 in China-US Focus, https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/trump-and-xi-in-beijing-a-snapshot. Donald Trump gave Xi Jinping endorsements; Xi gave Trump face. Trump heaped praise…

Who Makes War? As Donald Trump maintains a high-velocity assault on North Korea’s leader, its political system, and its weapons tests, members of Congress are reportedly getting increasingly agitated about…

Note: As Donald Trump makes his way to Beijing, the following article—just published in China-US Focus (https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/2017/1101/15635.html) —may help put the trip in perspective. Trump will be dealing with a…

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he didn’t know.  Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and minority leader Chuck Schumer say they didn’t know either. Nor did several other US senators say they…

So here is the state of US foreign policy today: Donald Trump pulls the US out of the Paris climate change accord and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, and makes…

The epic Ken Burns-Lynn Novick series, “The Vietnam War,” ends with the Beatles’ classic  “Let It Be” in the background.  Burns explains that the music is meant to convey the…

“We’re dealing with somebody that we’ll figure out.  He may be smart, he may be strategic—and he may be totally crazy.”  That was President Trump speaking of Kim Jong-un at…

Small powers often have leverage well above their size and capabilities.  North Korea is the example par excellence today: It has a primitive economy by all the usual standards, no…