Sino-US Relations

The relationship between China and the United States is rich and of vital importance to the world. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton puts it quite aptly:

We are two of the world’s three largest economies, two of the world’s largest populations, two of the world’s largest militaries, the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of carbon emissions. For these reasons and so many more, our respective priorities and policies have a global impact, and therefore we have a responsibility to ourselves and others to work as effectively as we can to meet the threats and seize the opportunities of the 21st century

-Hilary Clinton

There are several interesting facts to consider about recent Sino-US relations. In no particular order: The US was the 240th confirmed participant to the World EXPO in Shanghai in 2010, though its pavilion is slated to be one of the larger such pavilions. What this has meant for China is a delicate dance of promoting an event that I personally heard government officials announce as significantly bigger and more important to the country than the Olympic games in Beijing, while at the same time deftly ignoring American reticence to fully participate.

Also, the recent trade disputes between the current administration in the US and Chinese tire manufacturing is worrisome. As the NYT puts it "An all-out trade war between the world’s two largest economies would wreak havoc on the global economy just as it is struggling to come back." While it seems clear from both Hilary Clinton and the head of China's Congress, Wu Bangguo's words that this current trade dispute will not spin out of control, this issue will need remediation at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

Thirdly, global challenges like non-proliferation, global climate change, and pandemic threats all require delicate and long-term conversation between both nations. Iran is perched at the edge of having nuclear capabilities, the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012, and the H1N1 virus is on the move.

It will be up to Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama to ensure that all of the many competing forces in the Sino-US relationship are balanced. With their combined political acumen, there is a substantial enough amount of skill and intelligence that this is surely possible.

Realistic Missile Defense

Barack Obama's announcement today that the US would no longer be pursuing single-location ground based missile defense in Eastern Europe was a well though out and well articulated announcement. As has been the case for decades, ICBM "Star Wars" type defense is exciting in concept, but fails to ever match its potential.

To put it simply, the plan to stop long range missiles was not going to work, and replacing a costly and ineffective system with one of the best functioning missile defense systems makes sense. Obama's decision also overturns a strange decision of the previous administration to actively antagonize Russia and local citizens by insisting on installing missile defense systems in former USSR states.

Another way of saying it:

Poking Russia and Iran in the eye isn’t worth the hassle.

McCahill

Instead, how about a US foreign policy balance practical and useful military technology with diplomacy. Wouldn't it be best if the US made use of its vastly superior resources and technology to provide safe and realistic missile defense?

BP's New Find

Today BP announced it had found a "Giant" oil find in the Gulf of Mexico. After drilling deeper than Mt Everest is tall, BP found what it estimates will provide 600,000 bpd by 2020.

By that time it would be nice if refining and extraction technology were more able to resist shutdown or damage from hurricanes in the Gulf. After the damage wreaked by hurricanes Katrina and Ike, it would be foolish not to prepare years in advance for possible hurricane damage.