David Ignatius's Blog, page 39

Biden maneuvers to avoid the unintended conflict with China

Maybe the Chinese leader is playing the president, but it was still good news that Xi Jinping welcomed the invitation to talk about how to avoid accidental hostilities.

A great-power game is already underway in space

Space is the new high ground of great-power conflict.

Xi’s heavy-handed reforms of China’s tech sector could have an upside for the U.S.

There's a risk in imposing change with the iron fist of a police state.

The attempted assassination of Iraq’s prime minister backfired spectacularly

The drone attack on Mustafa al-Kadhimi's life has only strengthened his political standing.

No one wants a war over Taiwan. But that won’t last forever.

The problem with Taiwan is that the real world keeps intervening in all sides' tacit agreement to suspend disbelief.

MBS’s campaign against a former Saudi spymaster hits a roadblock

Mohammed bin Salman's legal feud with a former senior intelligence official takes a bad turn for him.

Dealing with ‘Havana Syndrome’ is a policymaker’s nightmare

The damage to U.S. employees overseas is probably from directed energy, but who is directing it? Russia is an obvious suspect, but the proof is lacking.

The State Department gets serious about the global technology race

Tech policy is the new trade policy, and the Biden administration is taking important steps to compete with China.

As the anti-Facebook frenzy accelerates, remember: The problem isn’t just a single platform

Regulation of social media ultimately is on us — the users.

Joe Manchin is wrong about spending on climate change. It would be good for his state.

It would be nuts to drop climate change provisions from the spending bill. Yes, even for West Virginia.