Biden Has to Choose: Climate Change or Human Rights in China

A worker at a lithium battery factory in Nanjing, China. (STR/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

President Biden’s ambition to phase out fossil fuels is at odds with his human-rights objectives in China because the technologies that underpin climate-change commitments under the Glasgow Climate Pact depend on Chinese forced and child labor. China aspires to dominate the global electric-vehicle market, and Biden has directed that 50% of American auto sales must be electric by 2030. So the U.S. runs the risk of being locked into Chinese technology for years. America needs to adapt its climate change goals to face moral reality, argues William Schneider in The Wall Street Journal. 

Defense Disruptors Series: A Conversation with General David Berger

Please join Hudson Institute this Thursday at 1:30 p.m. for a conversation with General David Berger and Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Dan Patt. In the second installment of the Defense Disruptors Series, they will discuss how the Pentagon is attempting to create strategies, concepts, and capabilities to help the military regain an advantage in the 21st century. In particular, the U.S. Marine Corps is embarking on dramatic and controversial changes to respond to increasingly capable and robust opponents like China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Iran’s Simmering Discontent in the Caspian Sea

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi during their meeting on the sidelines of the 6th Caspian Summit in Ashgabat on June 29, 2022. (Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev/SPUTNIK / AFP via Getty Images

Last week Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan decided to hold the next Caspian Summit in Iran. Considering that many Iranians believe a deal from a previous summit cheated their country out of their rights in the Caspian Sea, the decision is significant. When the next summit takes place, the issue over Iran’s role in the Caspian will likely remain a feature in the country’s political debate. This region has been, is, and will continue to be an area of geopolitical importance and competition, writes Luke Coffey in Arab News.

Why Are So Many Observers Missing Turkey’s Potential as an Israeli (and American) Ally?

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul on June 14, 2022. (Yasin Akgul/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s relationship to Israel is but a function of its relationship with the American-led order. If the West can find a way to accommodate Turkish security needs, Ankara will be more inclined to get along with Israel, argues Michael Doran in Mosaic Magazine. Washington must relearn the basic rules of being a responsible superpower to be able to keep the peace and maintain a powerful coalition against its serious opponents.

Defending Guam

A military helicopter flies over the waters of Agana Bay in Hagatna, Guam, on Aug. 10, 2015. (Tiffany Tompkins-Condie/McClatchy DC/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Guam is significant for US security. Given its status as a US territory and its proximity to North Korea and the People's Republic of China (PRC), there is a growing concern of possible threats that Chinese long-range missiles pose. In this report, various contributors—including Rebeccah Heinrichs, Bryan Clark, Matthew Costlow, Dr. Peppi Debiaso, Blake Herzinger, Patty-Jane Geller, Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro, and Timothy Walton­—address the importance of strengthening Guam’s defenses and propose priorities that must be taken to meet these challenges and ensure US security.

BEFORE YOU GO...

Mounting evidence indicates that China continues to use prisoners for forced organ harvesting. Hudson’s Nina Shea and Nury Turkel hosted a virtual event with guest speaker Dr. Jessica Russo to discuss this issue and the Chinese Communist Party’s other egregious human rights abuses.