The Chinese rock band Varihnaz is more likely to sing about pesticides and rice than love and loss. Its part-farmer, part-musician bandmates appeal to young Chinese who dream of a simpler, slower way of life beyond the frenzied cities. Its …
American capitalism is fatally flawed
America’s ability to build is now a matter of survival and recovery. It is a question of building not only factories in the Midwest or whole cities out of the wilderness, but also basic infrastructure in the aftermath of Hurricane …
The danger of copying China
We live in an era in which globalisation and the geopolitical environment have arguably made a certain level of coordination between private corporations and nation-states — i.e. “public-private partnership” — a necessity for achieving the interests of both parties.
Nothing …
The folly of America First
In his 2017 inauguration speech, Donald Trump made a vow to the American people: “A new vision will govern our land, from this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.” Every decision on trade, taxes and foreign affairs, …
Why is a Brit running a Chinese weapons conference?
The city of Xi’an was once famed as the birthplace of the Silk Road, the tortuous trade route along which caravans bore textiles, jade and other luxury products to Persia, Egypt and Europe for more than 1,500 years. Just outside …
The case for a long reset with Russia
As the bold Ukrainian assault into Kursk Oblast enters its third week, the general mood in the West is one of triumph. The offensive, we’re told, vindicates the wisdom of the transatlantic liberal establishment in supporting Kyiv. Suddenly, a Russian …
Will we survive the sex war?
Throughout history, the happy convergence of men and women — and their by-product, children — has driven human civilisation. No less than Freud saw this need for family as intrinsic: “Eros and Ananke [love and necessity],” he writes in Civilisation …
The race to choose the next Dalai Lama
This time next year, the world may find the arcana of Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation taking centre stage in global politics. For the 14th Dalai Lama, who celebrated his 89th birthday a few weeks ago, has long promised to reveal his …
Why Trump is winning outside of America
Across much of the Euro-Atlantic, Donald Trump is an object of derision. The list of his foreign-policy sins is long: He’s callous towards his Nato allies and disdainful towards multilateral institutions and treaties. He introduced a “Muslim ban” and has …
Xi Jinping’s cunning housing crisis
With the imposition of his “three red lines” regulations in 2020, Xi Jinping called time on China’s epic real estate boom. For the previous two decades, real estate had played a huge part in China’s economy, matched only by exports …
China’s plan to defeat the West
In the five-year political cycle of the Chinese Communist Party, the Central Committee’s Third Plenum is often considered the most important for the setting out of transformational and strategic economic goals. In reality, there have only been a couple of …
Why Washington should dump McKinsey
Only the most unflappable CEO or government executive can resist the siren call of a management consultant during a crisis. For about a century now, consulting firms have dangled a tantalising proposition in the face of the wretched and the …
Has Japan given up on pacifism?
“They pay in yen, we pay in blood!” Such was the refrain when, after the Gulf War broke out in 1990, Japan’s leaders decided that under the terms of its American-authored postwar constitution they could not send forces to the …
China is stealing Silicon Valley’s homework
Up until the 16th century, China was the most technologically advanced region in the world. While aristocrats ruled Europe, China’s meritocratic literati made exquisite scientific discoveries: gunpowder, the compass, papermaking and printing, among others. Now, China hopes to return to …
Did Justin Trudeau cover up the Chinese spy scandal?
Did the Chinese Communist Party interfere in the past two Canadian elections? A fantastic series of leaks from Canada’s Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) over the winter of 2022/23 suggests so. The leaks point to a vast CCP campaign of political …