Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet Admiral Sam Locklear, head of the United States Pacific Command. The largest of the several US military commands, the Pacific Command stretches from California to India, Alaska to the Antarctica. Read more

One of the striking numbers in the recent US presidential election are the popular vote figures. John McCain was seen as an underdog candidate right from the start of the 2008 election, yet he pulled in 59.9 million votes. Read more

The new Obama administration’s defence strategy came out last week and caused a few ripples. But for the most part there wasn’t anything in it that didn’t strike one as being just common sense. Read more

It’s taken me nearly 50 years to make it to Russia, aka the Evil Empire, aka a Really Cold Place with Lots of Flat Land. Read more

Walking the streets of New York City, the world’s number two financial centre by most indices of such things, helps remind one of how different the world is when seen through the prism of money rather than, say, military clout. Read more

The Barack Obama administration spent its first two years bashing Wall Street and America Inc. This led to some harsh words between the White House and the US Chamber of Commerce. Read more

Why Holbrooke is a model for diplomats of an aspiring power.
What, I am occasionally asked, is so great about Richard Holbrooke? Read more

For much of the first year of the Obama administration, Washington sought a broad accommodation with Beijing. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told US diplomats and officials to keep China happy. Read more

Is Obama going to own the Indian relationship

I don’t know, but I’ve been told that Barack Obama that the India relationship is one of the few foreign policy issues that he thinks his Oval Office predecessor got right. Read more

The nuclear safety summit showed that no one is really interested in foreign policy leadership right now.