Taiwan’s Slow Squeeze, Ukraine’s Long War
America’s complicated relationship with China doesn’t lack for subplots – tariffs, territorial designs, human rights and espionage. But does the superpowers’ Cold War-like competition over artificial intelligence supersede all other U.S.-Sino concerns? On the eve of the year’s second Trump-Xi summit, Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann discusses the state of the superpowers’ rivalry and the possibility of a Chinese move on Taiwan in the near future (Freymann being the author of 2026’s Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China, envisions an “all-domain pressure campaign” that slowly strangles the island nation). After that: Sir Niall recounts his recent visit to Kyiv (his fifth time in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion) and the odds of Vladimir Putin finding an “off-ramp” after a 55-month war of attrition (or, with his back to the wall, will Russia’s leader opt instead for a modern-day
