Biden's Afghan Best-Case Scenario

U.S. Air Force loadmasters and pilots load passengers aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III (Getty Images)

As the Biden administration struggles to contain the fallout at home and abroad from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the president and his team still seem to hope that over time the benefits of withdrawal will bolster their political position, writes Walter Russell Mead in The Wall Street Journal. Both the Biden administration and the U.S. will pay a price for the mix of strategic fecklessness and tactical bungling that brought a 20-year stalemate to this inglorious end.

Let Lawyers Hunt for COVID's Origin

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) investigate the origins of COVID-19. (Getty Images)

Will we ever know where COVID-19 came from? Not if the last word comes from the U.S. intelligence community, which reported to the White House last week that China’s fault is plausible but unprovable, writes Mike Pompeo in The Wall Street Journal. Fortunately, we have an institution dedicated to getting to the bottom of factual disputes: the U.S. judicial system. Lawmakers should enact an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to permit lawsuits against nations that fail to inform, or deliberately misinform, the global community of the nature and scope of a local epidemic that becomes a global pandemic—a step that would enable open adjudication of China’s culpability for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanctioning the Taliban Will Hurt Afghan Citizens. Here's How To Fix That. 

Taliban fighters on a pickup truck move around a market flocked with local Afghan people at the Kote Sangi area of Kabul on August 17, 2021. (Getty Images)

The United States and its allies first imposed sanctions on the Taliban decades ago—but now that the Taliban controls nearly all of Afghanistan, the effects will reach far beyond its leaders, argues Husain Haqqani in The Washington Post. The international community now faces the challenge of limiting the impact of sanctions on ordinary Afghans without giving a free hand to either the Taliban or terrorist groups operating in territory the Taliban controls. 

How China Overreached in Australia

President Xi Jinping addresses the Australian Government in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on November 17, 2014 in Canberra, Australia. (Getty Images)

China’s attempted economic coercion of Australia shows signs of overreach, writes John Lee in National Interest. Australia is not the first, and will not be the last, economy to endure Chinese displeasure—but Australia’s fortitude in the face of Beijing’s intimidation tactics shows that smaller nations still have agency and options, and that it is no easy matter for China to cow liberal democracies into subservience.

Japan's Bold New Taiwan Policy

Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi attends a press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan. (Getty Images)

Over the past year, Japan has pursued a policy of vocal support for Taiwan—a direct consequence of Beijing’s increasing turn toward intimidation and belligerence, writes Riley Walters for Hudson Institute. If this policy is to survive the test of time, it is crucial for the U.S., Japan, and other partners to enhance their engagement with Taiwan and reaffirm their commitment to its security.

BEFORE YOU GO...

Seth Cropsey, director of Hudson Institute’s Center for American Seapower, and Congressman Jared Golden will discuss the role of the Navy and Marine Corps amid rising great power competition. The abrupt departure of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan promises that adversaries will test the U.S. resolve in the near future. How will America respond to such provocations? Are the Navy and Marine Corps equipped for success? Please join the Hudson Institute for this timely event.