Scowcroft Center Commentary, Analysis, & Reports

Trump Goes to Asia: An Opportunity to Assert US Leadership

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On his first full business day as president, Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multilateral trade agreement with eleven other Asia-Pacific nations that was viewed as a pillar of US commitment to Asia. At the height of a nuclear crisis with North Korea, he instructed his advisers to […]

Spain’s Crisis Sharpens

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The crisis in Spain dramatically escalated on October 27 with Catalonia’s regional parliament declaring independence and the Spanish Senate responding with the approval of unprecedented powers for Madrid to seize control of the autonomous region. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called an emergency cabinet meeting and could fire Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his ministers—he […]

The Xi Dynasty?

China’s president re-elected with no clear successor in sight Xi Jinping’s re-election to a second five-year term as China’s president, without a clear successor, cements his grip on the Asian nation and raises questions about the future of economic, political, and social reforms in the country, according to Atlantic Council analysts.   Xi was re-elected […]

The North Korea nuclear threat and homeland missile defense

By Matthew Kroenig

In order to effectively address the growing tensions posed by North Korean nuclear capabilities, Washington needs a comprehensive strategy that will include a range of efforts, including, importantly, strengthened homeland missile defenses. Last week, US President Donald J. Trump, referring to the North Korean missile threat, claimed that “we have missiles that can knock out […]

Another Independence Referendum in Catalonia?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on October 21 announced his government’s intention to remove the leaders of Catalonia’s regional government and called for elections to be held as soon as possible. “By deciding to hold elections in Catalonia, the Spanish government is essentially calling a repeat referendum on independence in an extremely polarized situation,” said […]