The Obama administration is not the first to fail to articulate a post-Cold War strategy for the United States, but the farther this can is kicked down the road the more difficult the challenge becomes. Our ability to secure the Middle East gives us enormous leverage over potential rivals like China, and is equally critical to our Asian allies like Japan and South Korea.

It is in Mahabalipuram that American businesses are finding some of their largest markets. It is also the place where U.S. policy makers may find the greatest opportunities for building the U.S.-India relationship, especially given New Delhi's recent mixed signals about its interest in closer ties with America.

If recent events are any indication, the world's most vigorous nuclear competition may erupt between Asia's two giants: India and China.

The U.S. military should maintain a more defendable presence on the territory of as many U.S. Asian allies as welcomed, until all can be assured that China will be a responsible and democratic great power, uninterested in creating its own exclusive economic or military spheres.

During the past decade, the Asian Maritime Domain has witnessed a host of security-related changes that point to an increasingly complex regional future.

The capacity of the US military is both dangerously small and imperfectly shaped for the coming decades.

An expanded understanding of the "string of pearls" strategy suggests a China that is more expansionist, more mercantilist, and less interested in "peaceful development" than many analysts often contend.

James R. Lilley's review of Stella Dong's Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City.