For several weeks now it’s been clear that Putin won’t attend this month’s NATO summit in Chicago. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen recently spoke with Russia’s new/old president and explained that it’s “not possible and not practical” for Putin to participate because of his “busy domestic calendar.”

But few inside Washington think Americans are concerned about sequestration. House Armed Services Committee Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Randy Forbes (R-Va.) wants to change that. He’s embarking on the “Defending Our Defenders” national tour to conduct installation oversight and hold local town-hall meetings to better understand the real impact of sequestration.

The real question hanging over all this is whether there was a quid pro quo for Mr. Chen’s release.

Yet his meetings with America’s top leaders, from President Obama on down, will be just as much a chance for Xi to size up the administration’s new policies toward Asia as they are an opportunity for U.S. officials to get a sense of whom they will be dealing with starting this fall.

Will Xi reassure the White House that he is a leader it can work with both now and in the future? Can he simultaneously reassure his Chinese compatriots that he will not kowtow to the United States? How important is Xi's visit in the bigger picture of U.S.-China relations? On Thursday, February 16, a panel will assess Xi's time in Washington.

Without profound changes in the scientific and regulatory environment, things will remain very tough for the agile disruptor -- relatively good news for established giants, presumably less good news for patients and for progress.

Editor's Note: FMSO’s Operational Environment Watch provides translated selections and analysis from a diverse range of foreign articles and other media that analysts and expert contributors believe will give military and security experts an added dimension to their ...

Sanctions will not persuade the Assad regime to surrender power, and talk about an embargo on luxury goods is a cruel joke.