Kelly Grieco on Indo-Pacific Reactions to Trump’s Reelection
“The Trump administration can have a tough-on-China policy, or it can have a tough-on-allies policy, but it probably cannot have both.”
The previous issue of The Diplomat Magazine highlighted some of the ways U.S. policy impacts countries in the Asia-Pacific, from security to economics, even domestic politics. Countries in the region were thus watching closely as the results from the U.S. presidential election rolled in last month.
In this interview, Kelly A. Grieco, a senior fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Security Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., explains the reactions in the Asia-Pacific to Donald Trump’s reelection, after a hiatus of four years.
While the jury is still out on which policy directions the incoming administration will ultimately pursue, Trump himself is now “a known entity – both his policies and personality traits,” Grieco tells The Diplomat. “There is no sense of shock or crisis this time around. U.S. allies are resigned to a second Trump presidency.”
How has Donald Trump’s reelection been received in Asia by U.S. allies versus rivals like China?
After Donald Trump won eight years ago, the world reacted with a mixture of shock, dismay, and anxiety. U.S. allies scrambled, holding emergency meetings to prepare for Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy and trade. Japan and South Korea were rattled by his claims on the campaign trail that the two allies were free riding on U.S. security guarantees and should pay more for the U.S. forces they host. There was a large measure of uncertainty as to what the future would hold.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.