Tag U.S. foreign policy

From RAND Study to National Security Strategy

The U.S. National Security Strategy of November 2025 pivots to the Pacific, declares Russia irrelevant, and effectively designates the EU as an adversary. What appears to be Trump's whim is the verbatim implementation of RAND studies from 2016 and 2017. America's most influential think tank war-gamed a conflict with China and defined a "window until 2035" for military superiority. Today, these recommendations appear word-for-word in official U.S. doctrine. RAND plans – Washington executes.

China’s Silent Victory

China’s influence in Southeast Asia is not advancing through military force or open confrontation, but through infrastructure, trade, technology, and strategic patience. Thailand—long considered a neutral buffer and a formal U.S. ally—has become a case study in how power quietly shifts in a multipolar world. While the West clings to symbolic partnerships and moral rhetoric, China builds facts on the ground. This analysis explains why Thailand is not “switching sides,” yet increasingly operating within China’s orbit—and what this silent realignment reveals about the broader decline of Western influence in the region.