Inflection Points

Inflection Points

A weekly column by Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe, Inflection Points focuses on the global challenges facing the United States and how to best address them.

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Inflection Points

Mar 27, 2022

By doubling down on Putin, Xi is gambling his own power

By Frederick Kempe

If Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II produces Putin’s military withdrawal, failure, or political ouster, it has all the ingredients to pose the biggest threat yet to Xi’s leadership.

China Conflict

Inflection Points

Mar 13, 2022

The Western response to Putin’s war has been remarkable. But it’s not enough.

By Frederick Kempe

Vladimir Putin will continue to escalate if more isn't done to stop him.

Conflict Crisis Management

Inflection Points

Feb 27, 2022

Ukraine has finally prompted the West to shift course on Putin

By Frederick Kempe

The Zelenskyy delegation’s chance to succeed in talks at the Belarus border with a Russian delegation would be far greater if Putin were confident that the West has Ukraine’s back.

Conflict Crisis Management

Inflection Points

Feb 20, 2022

Special dispatch from Munich: Putin provokes dread and resolve

By Frederick Kempe

In every crisis lies opportunity, but it’s anyone’s bet how deep the crisis Putin unleashes will be, or how lasting the Western response.

Conflict Crisis Management

Inflection Points

Feb 6, 2022

The world’s top two authoritarians have teamed up. The US should be on alert.

By Frederick Kempe

It would be a profound mistake to see the Ukraine crisis in isolation at a time when Xi and Putin have provided its disturbing context.

China Conflict

Inflection Points

Jan 23, 2022

Putin is threatening not just Ukraine but post-Cold War principles. And the stakes are generational.

By Frederick Kempe

Unless Biden can shift the tide, Putin will continue his long campaign to reverse the post-Cold War principles under which countries in the world navigate the future together.

Conflict Crisis Management

Inflection Points

Jan 9, 2022

Can the US avoid both appeasement and war? This week’s Russia talks will be revealing.

By Frederick Kempe

By this week’s end, the United States and its allies likely will know whether Vladimir Putin is willing to negotiate or whether he’s determined to escalate.

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

Inflection Points

Dec 19, 2021

Next year’s global challenges are the most daunting in decades. Biden must prepare for them.

By Frederick Kempe

It may be the United States, more than any other actor, whose actions and inactions will drive the plot.

Conflict Nuclear Nonproliferation

Inflection Points

Nov 21, 2021

With the US in ‘strategic contraction,’ allies take a new approach to partnership

By Frederick Kempe

What our partners see now is a less externally confident, more internally focused United States guided by a sober calculation of its leverage and resources, burdened by public weariness with the cost of international leadership and hobbled by domestic political polarization. 

Afghanistan India

Inflection Points

Nov 7, 2021

Special Report: Three lessons from Riyadh and Glasgow, as climate change collides with an energy shock

By Frederick Kempe

The world is experiencing more energy transition than revolution, climate adaptation is critical, and politics will indelibly shape the energy future.

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment
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