Ted Snider

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?”

On February 24, China published its “Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” It pledged that China is willing to assume “a constructive role in this regard.” Rather than accepting a powerful partner with influence and a recent track record of brokering agreements, the US unequivocally rejected China’s efforts to help broker a … Continue reading “So, You Think the US Wouldn’t Pass Up on a Peace Plan?”

Is it time to put Freedom Fries back on the menu? Back in 2003, french fries became freedom fries in the US in disgust with "our so-called ally, France" who took an independent "self-serving" course and refused to support US policy on Iraq. Having finally become popular on American menus again, is it time, once … Continue reading “Is France Beginning To Steer an Independent Course?”

In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where they not only “reaffirm[ed] the special nature of the Russia-China partnership,” but "signed a statement on deepening the strategic partnership and bilateral ties which are entering a new era." As XI was leaving the Kremlin, he told Putin that "Together, we should … Continue reading “China: The Rock Upon Which the US-Led Alliance Breaks”

On March 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow. The meeting, at which the two leaders “reaffirm[ed] the special nature of the Russia-China partnership" may be a crucial moment in the emergence of the new multipolar world that is challenging US hegemony. But while the US and its European … Continue reading “The War in Ukraine and How Africa Surprised the West”