War on the Rocks

“For Our Enemies, We Have Shotguns”: Explaining China’s New Assertiveness

07 | 2020
South China Morning Post

Whether Pakistan can play the China card

08 | 2017
The Print

After CPEC tilted priorities, China is now happy with a second-tier role in Afghanistan

08 | 2017
The Herald

CPEC: Road to the Future?

…on misconceptions around CPEC

10 | 2016
The Wire

As Indo-Pak Tensions Simmer, China Adopts Diplomatic Balancing Act

09 | 2016
RÆSON

China’s Role in Afghanistan

Andrew Small discussed China’s role in neighboring Afghanistan with the Danish political news magazine RÆSON.

01 | 2012
Indian Express

All-Weather concerns: how much can Pakistan expect from China?

The last few months have been rife with speculation about Beijing’s willingness to fill the void if American financial and military support for Pakistan were to be curtailed. Far from brimming with strategic potential, the China-Pakistan relationship is now increasingly pushing up against its limits.

10 | 2011
Council on Foreign Relations

Intensifying China-Pakistan ties

On Wednesday, China and Pakistan signed pacts on cooperation in agriculture, healthcare, justice, media, economy, and technology. Both sides also vowed to step up joint efforts against terrorism. But while the relationship between the two countries is strong, it’s shadowed by Beijing’s concerns about Pakistan’s security threat and its impact on Chinese investment and personnel in Pakistan.

07 | 2010
Real Clear World

Afghanistan: the consequences of a „conceptual withdrawal“

„We have moved from a narrative, which lasted for years, that everything was fine when it wasn’t to a narrative that everything is going wrong when it isn’t.” This lament from a former Western official, who, like others quoted in this piece, did not speak for attribution, summed up the frustrations of many in Kabul about the growing disconnect between the political timetables inside and outside the country. The concern is not only that the various transition deadlines are unrealistic, but that their very existence is creating counterproductive pressures that will make them even harder to achieve.

06 | 2010
New York Times

Fidel’s choice

It was once said of Fidel Castro that his „stomach is in Moscow but his heart is in Beijing.“ Now the opposite seems to be true.

11 | 2008
Foreign Affairs

China’s new dictatorship diplomacy (with Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt)

China is often accused of supporting a string of despots, nuclear proliferators, and genocidal regimes, shielding them from international pressure and thus reversing progress on human rights and humanitarian principles. But over the last two years, Beijing has been quietly overhauling its policies toward pariah states.

02 | 2008
New York Times

Beijing cools on Mugabe (with Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt)

China, which once perceived the West’s condemnation of Mugabe and sanctions against his regime as an economic opportunity, now views its involvement in Zimbabwe as a liability both for its investments and its international reputation.

05 | 2007
New York Times

China jumps in (with Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt)

We are getting used to seeing new faces of Chinese diplomacy and on President Hu Jintao’s latest trip to Africa we will see the unlikeliest of all. In making his most visible push for the settlement of the Darfur crisis, Hu will signal a quiet revolution in Chinese attitudes to sovereignty and noninterference, and position China as the protector of the repressed citizens of the region.

02 | 2007