The Shangri-La Dialogue underscored the importance of military-to-military relations as a stabilizing factor in China-U.S. relations. While they have been the most sensitive and closely watched aspect, they have also been one of the few bright spots.

The notion that America can fight and win all over the world has proved false yet again. The display of panic was an embarrassment that undermined the U.S. military’s reputation for making and executing plans. It should have been clear that this war never was winnable.

In Afghanistan, the withdrawal of American troops is far easier said than done. Overlapping factors complicate the matter so se-verely that it may not be possible for the U.S. to achieve its goals in a few months. A quagmire will be left behind in any case, and who will be responsible for the human toll?

The U.S. strategy of military expansion is as misplaced as it is costly. It siphons resources from other areas of national concern that need to be addressed if the country is going to maintain its superpower status. Not everything boils down to a country’s ability to make war.

In refreshing its competition strategy against China, the U.S. has revealed changed tactics since the Cold War era, embracing an “integrated campaign” that makes use of cooperation, competition below armed conflict, and armed conflict.

The U.S. military said on Wednesday it sent a Navy warship through the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from China, a move likely to anger China during a period of tense relations between Washington and Beijing.

Top American and Chinese defense officials will lay out rival visions for the Indo-Pacific region as they meet in Singapore this week amid a bruising global trade war, tensions over China’s push for technology leadership and the specter of stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks.

Two navy warships sailed near islands claimed by China in South China Sea on Monday.

Whenever the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People’s Congress (NPC) hold their annual sessions in March, the subject of Chinese military spending features prominently in US media as evidence of the growing “China threat.” This year is no exception.