Joel Wong

The view that the United States, by acting as a global hegemon and overreaching, is promoting its own downfall has significant support in both academic analysis and current geopolitical commentary. Key points include: – Hegemonic Overreach and Military Overstretch: Scholars note that the U.S. has a historical pattern of “hegemonic… Read More »Is the US Overreaching?

Triangle of Perspectives on U.S.–China Relations 1. Keyu Jin (Economic Pragmatist) Core View: U.S. and China cannot decouple — economic interdependence is too deep. Why: Supply chains, complementary strengths, and global market integration make separation impossible. Tone: Pragmatic, cautious — stresses business and economic logic. Policy Implication: Allow selective de-risking… Read More »Triangle of Perspectives on China – Jin, Sachs, and Mearsheimer

The phrase “China is playing Go, America is playing checkers” is a metaphor for the difference in strategic thinking between the two countries, with Go representing patient, long-term, multi-front strategy and checkers representing short-term, linear, and more tactical moves. Here’s an expanded breakdown: 1. Nature of the Games Go 🪨… Read More »China is playing Go (圍棋, Mandarin: wéiqí), America is playing checkers

Over the past 40 years, the United States and China have followed markedly different trajectories in reducing poverty—each achieving notable successes while still facing persistent challenges. In the United States, the poverty rate has generally trended downward since the early 1980s, when it hovered between 13% and 15%. Social safety… Read More »Poverty Trends in the US and China: Four Decades of Diverging Paths

Trump’s America First policy is doing what the US has always done, only more obvious The “America First” policy, while a relatively modern slogan, can be seen as a more explicit and overt expression of themes that have long been present in U.S. foreign policy. The argument is that the… Read More »“America First” policy is not really new!

The United States and the European Union often present themselves as champions of a “rules-based international order” and “free trade,” citing shared history and common geopolitical goals. Yet, for many in the Global South, these narratives carry a different meaning—less as universal principles and more as tools for preserving an… Read More »The US–EU “Rules-Based Order” and the Global South’s Skepticism

  The U.S. Strategy to Curb China’s Rise: Space Exclusion and Semiconductor Restrictions Compared The United States’ exclusion of China from the International Space Station (ISS) and its more recent restrictions on China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology represent two distinct yet strategically aligned efforts in the broader U.S.-China technological… Read More »The U.S. Strategy to Curb China’s Rise: Space Exclusion and Semiconductor Restrictions Compared