Foreign Policy

China's first domestically-built polar research vessel and icebreaker "Xuelong 2" prepares to take water at Jiangnan Shipyard in Chongming's Changxing Island in Shanghai, China, 10 September 2018.China's first wholly domestically conceived and built icebreaker Xuelong 2 took to the sea on Monday (10 September 2018) at Jiangnan Shipyard in Chongming's Changxing Island. Construction of the vessel began in December 20, 2016. Xuelong 2 will be put into service in the first half of 2019. It will team up with another icebreaker Xuelong on polar expeditions next year. The vessel is 122.5 meters in length and 22.3 meters wide, with a draught of 7.85 meters and displacement of 13,990 tons. It can reach 15 knots and it has a range of 20,000 nautical miles. Xuelong 2 can break 1.5-meter ice with a thick covering of snow at speeds of 2 to 3 knots. Its combines the requirements of a new-generation research vessel with environmental protection having an azimuthing electric propulsion system. Researchers can make observations of environmental elements like the ocean water, sea ice and polar air from the vessel and take samples from the marine environment in connection with climate change.No Use China. No Use France.

The Polar Silk Road will be cleared with Chinese icebreakers

Jeremy Greenwood

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Handout photo dated December 30, 2020 of USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) conducts routine underway operations in support of stability and security for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Two U.S. warships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday drawing protest from Beijing, the second such mission this month and coming almost two weeks after a Chinese aircraft carrier group used the same waterway. The U.S. Navy said the guided missile destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur had "conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Dec. 31 in accordance with international law". U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Markus Castaneda via ABACAPRESS.COM

The status quo in the Taiwan Strait is edging toward conflict. Here’s how to stop it.

Steven M. Goldstein

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Desalination plant in Israel

Israel, Jordan, and the UAE’s energy deal is good news

Bruce Riedel and Natan Sachs

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits Samjiyon City, North Korea in this undated photo released on November 16, 2021 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA.

North Korea is addressing the pandemic in its ‘style.’ That means leaving a lot of people hungry.

Monday, November 22, 2021

A bevy of smooth coated otters swim towards the city skyline at Marina Bay on November 17, 2021 in Singapore. Wild otters are making a comeback to the urban city state with the increasing numbers of the sea animals sparking concerns about overpopulation. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/NurPhoto)

Biden’s Summit for Democracy should focus on rights, not economics and geopolitics

Thomas Pepinsky

Monday, November 22, 2021

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gesture during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs' Day in Nabatieh, Lebanon, November 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Is Hezbollah overplaying its hand inside Lebanon?

Stephanie T. Williams

Friday, November 19, 2021

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz welcome NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the German government guesthouse Meseberg Palace in Meseberg, Germany, April 10, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Nuclear weapons debate in Germany touches a raw NATO nerve

Constanze Stelzenmüller

Friday, November 19, 2021

Young people marching ahead of the COP26 climate conference

At COP26, leaders got a climate reality check. Here’s what they must do next.

Samantha Gross and María Fernanda Espinosa

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Protesters outside Lloyds Bank at COP 26 in Glasgow

Climate change will pose a huge disruption. Are the world’s banks ready?

David G. Victor and Michael Panfil

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The construction site of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) line is seen along the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia February 22, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture taken February 22, 2018. Antara Foto/Risky Andrianto/via REUTERS

Infrastructure in the developing world is a planetary furnace. Here’s how to cool it.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021