The anticipated defeat of the Islamic State is not likely to mean calm in the region, since thousands of disaffected jihadist fighters will be scattered and looking for new opportunities to spread their ideology. Meanwhile, the newly energized Kurds – key players in the war against IS – will have political demands that will be difficult to satisfy, and may lead to new conflicts.

Both Russian and the West have lost face in this typical lose-lose situation. Moscow and Washington need to rebuild trust, reactivate the process of political resolution and produce a single draft resolution based on full consultation and the most expansive common ground among all parties.

As demands of 9/11 victim families get traction and America’s for imported energy declines, U.S. foreign policy is being dominated by “inward-looking election-year motivation”. If that continues into next year, no matter who is president, U.S. anti-terror strategy is unlikely to continue to enjoy full support from Saudi Arabia. With traditional allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel beginning to engage Russia in private, the U.S. could lose its dominant position in Middle East affairs.

In the wake of the recent embassy attack in Kyrgyzstan, China should not only continue strengthening anti-terror and stability-preservation efforts at home, but also pay greater attention to overseas terrorist threats, and improve its overseas anti-terror capacities.

At this stage, it will be premature to immediately associate the blast at the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek with the larger context of ethnic separatism in China or Islamic radicalism in Central Asia, despite the high likelihood that Uighur separatist groups will be blamed for the attack in Kyrgyzstan. In general, this blast comes as an unpleasant and unexpected surprise both for Kyrgyzstan and China.

Amid changes in global political culture and turbulent relations between powers, it is unprecedentedly difficult to create, readjust and implement rules of global governance. Efforts must be made to resist the populist, nativist and nationalist political culture that is expanding and increasing throughout the world so that major-power relations can be stabilized and improved.

Cyberspace is an open society without national boundaries, in which no one should have special privileges. Equal participation and joint efforts by all governments, particularly China and the US, with support from companies and citizens, is critical if the cyberspace war against terrorism is to be won.

Beijing and Washington have the shared goal of fighting terrorism and extremism in the region despite modest differences on the ways to address the problem. China’s efforts to engage the region economically, not militarily, relieves pressures that lead to extremization, and should therefore be appreciated by the U.S.

Washington needs new thinking must be developed to prevent home-grown extremist threats. Besides treating them as part of the international anti-terror war and further strengthening efforts against violent extremism at home, the US should demonstrate a greater sense of responsibility in eliminating their sources in the world.