Search Content

With each passing year, the number of international summits seems to expand. During 2019, globetrotting leaders will need to choose among a daunting array of meetings vying for their attention. Some of the most important will deal not with traditional security challenges or macroeconomic coordination, but with what is arguably the greatest dilemma facing humanity in the twenty-first century—namely, how to advance economic prosperity and social welfare without destroying the planet and prospects of future generations in the process.

For most of the post–Second World War era, growth in trade was about double the rate of growth in income. This is no longer the case. For the past two years, global trade volumes have plateaued, a trend associated with recession, not recovery.

The demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty poses a substantial challenge to the security and cohesion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The defense alliance once again faces the difficult task of balancing deterrence and arms control. The INF Treaty—a pillar of the post–Cold War European security architecture—was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 to prohibit possessing, flight-testing, and producing ground-launched cruise (GLCM) and ballistic missiles (GLBM) with ranges of 500–5,500 kilometers (311–3,420 miles).

As the second decade of this century comes to a close, effective multilateral cooperation seems to be on the ropes. The Donald J. Trump administration has abandoned U.S. global leadership, brazen geopolitics have returned with a vengeance, and populist leaders have exploited public dissatisfaction with globalization to chip away at European and broader global integration.

Is “America First” compatible with international cooperation? That question will get even louder in 2018, as world leaders gather for ten pivotal meetings. Collectively, they will reveal whether President Donald J. Trump’s first year was an aberration—or the start of the post-American world.

The future of international trade, at least in the short and medium term, depends heavily on the outcome of the regional talks. The Transpacific Partnership (TPP) stands out for its economic and strategic importance.

Two simultaneous conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have brought the international order into flux. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine have deeply undermined European security. Meanwhile, the self-declared Islamic State’s proclamation of a caliphate in western Iraq and eastern Syria has unsettled the Middle East. While it may be tempting for foreign policymakers to consider "Syraq" and "Rukraine" as unrelated crises, the tensions in Eastern Europe have strong implications for the situation in the Middle East, and vice versa.

In recent decades, the once-clear divide between domestic politics and foreign policy has blurred. Historically, foreign policy was seen as the domain of elites, distant from the concerns of everyday voters. However, globalization and the rise of populist movements have shifted this dynamic, bringing foreign policy to the forefront of electoral politics.

Japan is playing a leading role this year at a number of important multilateral forums. It will join the United Nations Security Council as a nonpermanent member in July, chair the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Kenya in August, and chair the Japan-China-South Korea Trilateral Summit in the fall.

The Arctic has become a subject of greater strategic interest over the past few years, due in part to the overwhelming evidence of climate change and growing access to the region's natural resources. Scientists have long suspected that warming would be more pronounced closer to the poles, but until recently, the extent of this was unclear. According to the U.S.