The recent launch of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, or iCET, by India and the U.S. is a function of the changing balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, reflecting both sides’ concerns over China’s emergence as a regional and global power. But the direction and end goals of the partnership remain unclear.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western governments realized that they had overestimated the power of the Russian state and underestimated the resilience of Ukraine’s. Governments must examine why certain flawed paradigms proved so persistent, in order to avoid similar miscalculations in the future.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended international politics, and seriously affected China’s strategic calculations. Beijing is now scrambling to limit the fallout of the conflict on its core strategic and economic interests, and with the prospects of a clear Russian victory waning by the day, China faces a dilemma.