Ted Snider

On March 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In his article in the Russian media preceding the meeting, XI enthused that "China-Russia trade exceeded 190 billion U.S. dollars last year, up by 116 percent from ten years ago." Though it has reached 190 billion US dollars, it is … Continue reading “The Flight From the US Dollar”

Joe Biden promised, while campaigning for the presidency, to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah." He didn’t. He promised to isolate Russia. He hasn’t. The US has experienced a recent deficit in its ability to enact its promises to isolate enemies. Its confidence is proving greater than its capacity. The US promised to sanction and isolate … Continue reading “Coming in From the Cold: Escaping Isolation”

American government and media statements have led the public to believe that the Russian military has been shockingly ineffective and that there is confident optimism for a Ukrainian victory. Ukrainians have fought courageously and performed above expectation. But there has been a vast gulf between private and public assessments. Recent leaks have confirmed what that … Continue reading “Russia’s Military Performance Doesn’t Match the Propaganda”

While the US labors to maintain the unipolar world it leads, a multipolar world is springing up all around it. Africa and Brazil cry for it. China and India support it. Germany has whispered it, and France has called for it. Iran and Saudi Arabia are joining the multipolar Shanghai Cooperation Organization. But the most … Continue reading “How Big Is BRICS?”

The US has made much of its success in isolating Russia internationally. But that boast is hard to take too seriously when Russia is growing ever closer to the two largest countries in the world. While the world has been watching the "no limits" partnership between Russia and China grow into “a relationship that probably … Continue reading “The Growing Russia-India Relationship”

Recent statements by two Biden administration officials hint that the US is finally noticing that the world around them is changing On April 11, CIA Director William Burns spoke at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. In a somewhat stunning statement that has, perhaps, not been so clearly and publicly articulated before, Burns said … Continue reading “The World Is Changing. Is the US Finally Noticing?”

On April 14, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since their meeting, Lula, who is the leader of the largest economy and most powerful country in Latin America, has made statements, both with XI and alone, that have surprised and angered the US. Though … Continue reading “Lula Goes to China: Three Takeaways”

After decades of stewardship of the Middle East, during which the US pursued the absurd policy of not talking to its enemies and creating and enforcing blocs to oppose and isolate those enemies, the predictable outcome occurred. The region was left with blocs and enemies who were not talking to each other. The result was … Continue reading “What Happens When You Talk? Peace Breaks Out!”

"We do not believe in polarization or selecting between one partner and another," Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said, asserting the Kingdom’s right to act "based on its own interests" and to have "strategic partnerships with [many] countries." But in a world upon which the Biden administration has … Continue reading “Saudi Arabia: When Being Neutral Isn’t Neutral Anymore”

After three days and many hours of talks, French President Emmanuel Macron emerged from Beijing and made a number of statements that, presumably to the alarm of the US, seemed to align several key foreign policy positions more closely with Beijing than with Washington. Macron arrived in China with a call to Chinese President Xi … Continue reading “Macron Goes to China: Whose Side Is He On?”