For now and the foreseeable future, gaming will be intensified, making compromise difficult. It will likely remain peaceful and manageable on the whole, but uncertainties are growing.

Any resolution of the nuclear issue must start with the recognition of the DPRK’s deep concerns. While the six-party talks have not yet resumed and risks remain, China will remain critical to the future outcome.

Americans can attempt to shift blame for their troubles onto China, but that won’t solve any of the real problems they face. China’s successes cannot be erased by political rhetoric. Attempting to do so will only bring more trouble.

Two Arab states established relations with Israel in the name of peace, but the likely result will be more turmoil. Palestinians will feel ever more isolated, especially if the United States succeeds in getting more countries in the neighborhood to follow suit.

Already hotly contested, the South China Sea is seeing an uptick in movement since certain European powers have gotten involved. It remains to be seen how far Europe is willing to go in shaping the maritime disputes along its preferences and provisions of international law.

Once again the annual assessment is filled with unfounded suspicion and smears. Nevertheless, with relations at low ebb between China and the United States, relations between the two militaries will be the key to peace.

Washington is sending an unsubtle message to Beijing that U.S. military support for Taiwan is no longer ambiguous or hesitant.

Will the United States fight for the island or forsake it? It’s a central question, as a series of statements by Washington hawks and moves in Congress edge toward confrontation. A protracted war is one possible outcome. Loss of U.S. credibility in the Asia-Pacific is another.

A series of moves by the United States and the words of its high-ranking officials all point in the same direction: The U.S. is doing its utmost to contain China across the board for the 21st century.

With only four countries in the bloc — the United States, Japan, Australia and India — and with dissension in the ranks, it’s unlikely that a NATO-style alliance will ever emerge in the Eastern Hemisphere. It cannot work without consensus.