In order to defeat IS, action needs to be taken well beyond Iraq and Syria. The entire campaign will not be measured in months. It needs to be a global, multi-pronged and long-term battle and requires global input and cooperation to extirpate this universal scourge.

A Sino-American joint military exercise on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) to a typhoon-hit country was held in Haikou, Hainan Province. These cooperative exercises are still in the early phases; non-traditional threats such as counter-terrorism, peacekeeping and maritime security, are still institutionally, logistically, and legally lacking.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. Vietnam and China have tried, with some success, to iron out their differences through high-level talks, but far more needs to be done to avert another dramatic and detrimental maritime incident as the world saw play out with the 2014 drilling rig crisis.

Following the attack on Charlie Hebdo, many westerners have rallied around the ideals of free speech. However, as Wu Sike shares, the new tendencies and changes in global terrorism determine that no country is immune to its effects, and that the global society must be more mutually respectful and communicative.

China's rig HYSY 981 can be considered part of China’s Maritime Silk Road strategy – an attempt to strengthen relationships with ASEAN nations through economic opportunity. But as HYSY 981’s deployment drew controversy in the past, it should instead focus on resource development in less controversial waters for the time being.

The international response to the recent Charlie Hebdo incident indicates that there are subtle differences between the U.S. and Europe in their ideological treatment of free speech regarding religion. Shen Dingli suggests the difference between responsible free speech, and abstract instigation of other cultures.

China is both an important contributor to and overall beneficiary of the post-war international order. In facing new challenges, China should take the opportunity offered by the 70th anniversary of World War II, and make an effort to safeguard and improve the post-war international order.

Wu Sike writes that stability in Egypt will hinge on finding a proper solution to the many issues plaguing the region, and that China-U.S. cooperation can help to bring about peace and stability in the Middle East.

Chen Xiangyang provides an overview of the major international power conflicts during 2014, a year marked by “flux” and “reconfiguration.” Western countries will find it hard to dominate international order, institutions, and rules due to the collective emergence of new powers, mostly in Asia.

The U.S. State Department released a study of China’s “nine-dash line” in December, analyzing the legal basis in maritime law. Sourabh Gupta critiques this analysis, stating that as long as China limits these activities to traditional fishing - not resource development or marine scientific research – and exercises them on a non-exclusive basis, the nine-dash line as a perimeter of China’s is not inconsistent with international law.