Biden's Only Honorable Course on Ukraine and Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet for talks at the Villa La Grange on June 16, 2021. (Getty Images)

As President Biden tries to prevent a Russian attack on Ukraine, his administration continues to wrestle with a world that has refused to conform to its expectations, writes Walter Russell Mead in The Wall Street Journal. From a position of strength, the U.S. can and should offer Russia face-saving ways out of the crisis, but Mr. Biden should stand firm on substance. After encouraging Ukraine to cast its lot with the West for three decades, America’s only honorable course is to sustain Kyiv in this hour of trial.

The US Needs a Hypersonic Capability Now

The DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle is displayed during a military parade at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Getty Images)

Eighty years ago, imperial Japan used technology first developed by the U.S. to cripple the American Navy at Pearl Harbor. Today, China may be preparing to attack American forces using another U.S.-pioneered technology: hypersonic missiles. In The Wall Street Journal, Arthur Herman argues that the U.S. must work with allies to develop a hypersonic capability to take the initiative away from China and Russia. An agreement between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan, and India on hypersonics would send the proper signal to Beijing and stimulate innovation and strategic thinking on both sides of the Pacific.

The Diminishing Path to Growth: Can Xi Jinping Avoid Crisis During China's Economic Transition?

A worker at a construction site of a new bridge project on June 20, 2009, in Guiyang of Guizhou Province, China. (Getty Images)

The hopes that China’s integration into the global market would transform it into a responsible stakeholder have foundered on the reality of China’s increasingly mercantilist economic policies; its aggressive expansion of political power; the resurgent dominance of state-owned enterprises; and an economy driven by debt and real estate. Could this lead to a financial catastrophe? Hudson Senior Fellow Thomas Duesterberg assesses these key questions in a new policy memo. 

The Realistic Path to Deterring China

Ships belonging to the Chinese naval fleet pass through a naval mine threat area during the Joint Sea-2021 China-Russia military drill near Vladivostok, Russia on October 15, 2021. (Getty Images)

China’s accelerating military modernization has spurred a growing fatalism among some defense experts, some of whom maintain that Taiwan is undefendable and the United States should save face by competing elsewhere with Beijing. But as the Pentagon completes its new defense strategy, it should ensure that the U.S. military focuses more on reducing Chinese confidence and less on building a wall across the Taiwan Strait, Bryan Clark and Dan Patt write in National Review. The path to effective deterrence will require the U.S. military to create uncertainty, lower the benefits of aggression, and demonstrate its willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Virtual Event | Targeting Kleptocracy: A Conversation with Sen. Whitehouse

Dark clouds roll past the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

2021 may prove to be a turning point in the United States’ struggle against global kleptocracy. President Biden has identified fighting corruption as a core U.S. national security interest, released an extensive anti-corruption strategy earlier this week, and made it a central theme of this week’s Summit for Democracy. What’s next for the U.S. in the fight against transnational corruption? Join Hudson Institute for a discussion on this timely subject with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Hudson Research Fellow Nate Sibley.

BEFORE YOU GO...

How is Saudi Arabia reacting to the shifting strategic terrain in the Middle East? What steps should the U.S. and Saudi Arabia take to advance their interests and promote stability in the region? Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Michael Doran, Visiting Fellow Mohammed Khalid Alyahya, and Princeton University Professor of Near Eastern Studies Bernard Haykel for a discussion on this important topic.