Matt Pottinger: “We are now in the foothills of a great-power hot war”
The former US security official on what a second Trump presidency would mean for China, Taiwan and the West.
ByThe West
The rise of a new axis
China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are all deeply hostile to the US and its allies – and they could…
By
The age of danger
Order is breaking down as the great powers take sides in multiple wars.
By
Putin’s fractured world
The Russian president is using the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to divide the West and the Global South.
By
The myth of “the West”
Our simplistic attitude to Western civilisation overlooks the global trade and culture that created it.
By
The West underestimated Russia
There will be no total victory for Ukraine, but Kyiv’s allies can help halt the Russian advance.
By
The West’s magical thinking is sinking in the Red Sea
The US and its allies cannot change reality with air strikes.
By
The West’s rivals everywhere are exploiting its vulnerabilities
From Africa to Latin America, competing power blocs are gaining from liberal democracies’ stalled growth and lack of focus.
By
The new world disorder
A new binary of opposing powers has emerged, with the forces of chaos ranged against the West.
By
The West’s dominance is a dangerous delusion
Hubris and ignorance might prove decisive in its proxy wars in Ukraine and Israel, and in its economic contest with…
By
Countries can bear the West’s sanctions – but not its moralising
Even Australia pulled out of trade talks with the EU because it could not subject itself to European finger-wagging.
By
The great unravelling
The Hamas pogrom against Israeli citizens was the day when the Western-led international order expired.
By
The West is emulating China
Instead of the People’s Republic becoming more liberal, we have become more authoritarian.
By
The last days of Pax Americana
The Second Cold War is underway – can the US prevail?
By
The realists were right
As the much-hyped counteroffensive against Russian forces stalls, the West is asking hard questions about the war in Ukraine.
By
The world ended in 1973
In the West, five decades of economic stagnation have scrambled politics.
By
Anarchy unbound: the new scramble for Africa
Caught between climate change, migration and social upheaval, Niger and the Sahel are the crucible of Western failure.
By
Ukraine must go to war with itself
Now is the time to confront oligarchs and cultural conservatives, and ask what sort of country Ukraine will become.
By
The West can no longer make war
Defence planners in Washington dream of a conflict with China – it’s not one the US can fight.
By
Zelensky is fighting two wars – against Russia and to win over the West
Ukraine’s coming counter-offensive is the best chance to prove to its supporters it can still win.
By