The U.S., the Philippines, and Japan recently met in Washington for a trilateral summit, where they discussed security, diplomacy, economics, and more. At the meeting, Manila also exemplified a strategic alignment with Washington and Tokyo, particularly in countering China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and pursuing economic diversification away from Chinese dependency.

The United States has incentives to outsource the production of weapons, as its domestic capacity is insufficient to meet its needs. Co-production benefits others. But it’s also likely to lead to proliferation across borders, create regional security tensions and increase the risk of conflict.

Washington does not want the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to escalate, as that would undermine its “pivot to Asia” strategy. But it doesn’t mind so much when Israel attacks Iran because that serves as a sort of proxy warning to other hostile forces in the Middle East.

The Philippines under Duterte shifted toward a more neutral position between the U.S. and China, but now under the leadership of Marcos Jr, a more U.S. friendly approach has given rise to more flashpoint issues concerning the Philippines accommodations of U.S. military.

Might China try to attack Taiwan by 2027? The outgoing chief of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Philip Davidson, thought so in 2021, and he recently reaffirmed his assessment. But whether the United States and China are destined for war over the island is another question. While the danger is real, such an outcome is not inevitable.

The United States talks the talk but fails to walk the walk. It is angling to create a mini NATO parallel organization in the Asia-Pacific region by enlisting the Philippines and Japan. Its Cold War thinking only creates conflict and confrontation — hyping security threats and sabotaging peace and stability.

While the United States has come through for its allies in Europe, Israel and Ukraine for now, there is reason for concern. Depending on who is elected U.S. president in November, securing further U.S. support could become increasingly difficult. If Donald Trump wins, there could be trouble ahead.

Cooperation between China and the United States in Track II dialogues now can help to avoid potential risks in international security and avoid bumps in bilateral relations. Interactions can also contribute insights useful in the establishment of the international norms and institutions needed for global AI governance.

The attack near Russia’s capital has sounded the alarm, once again, that terrorism is not far away. The U.S. has backed off from its leadership role, which only removes obstacles for international jihadists. Renewed cooperation is needed now more than ever.

The current wave of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States has been building for years. It started in the early 2000s, when US policymakers first raised national-security concerns about Huawei. China’s national technology champion, the market leader in developing new 5G telecommunications equipment, was accused of deploying digital backdoors that could enable Chinese espionage and cyber-attacks. US-led sanctions in 2018-19 stopped Huawei dead in its tracks.