The United States may be running out of time to deter Beijing from subsuming Taiwan. The sooner U.S. policymakers recognize this danger, the better chance America has of forestalling Beijing’s aggression. Doing so will require Washington to clarify the importance of its political relationship with Taipei.
On January 13, 2024, the Republic of China, also known as “Nationalist China” and Taiwan, will hold its next presidential election. This will be the eighth direct election of a president in Taiwan, the first having been held in 1996. It will also be a contest that showcases the island’s changing identity politics, shifting political preferences, and potential security challenges.
For Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran represents both a cardinal security challenge and an existential danger. The country’s current clerical regime is estimated to be connected to some “80 percent” of the contemporary security problems confronting the Jewish state.[1] These include not only Iran’s increasingly mature nuclear program, but also its extensive sponsorship of extremist proxies throughout the Mideast, as well as the radical expansionist ideology that continues to animate the regime in Tehran.
The United States should proactively engage with other nations and initiate a comprehensive program to clean up the space debris problem.
Assessing China’s space program is vital to understanding how investments in space add to a country’s comprehensive national power.