My new Foreign Policy FDD essay introduces a concept I call Mutually Assured Disruption. The Cold War’s deterrence logic was about destruction. Today’s U.S.–China rivalry is about disruption. 👇 foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

Behold, the era of mutually assured disruption: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

The Cold War’s logic of deterrence prized patience and permanence. Today’s contest rewards speed and shock. foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

The tenuous trade truce between Washington and Beijing has collapsed. What follows is not a conventional trade war, but a prolonged struggle where both powers weaponize their economic statecraft and interdependence as a source of leverage—Craig Singleton foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

If the Cold War’s nuclear balance imposed mutual restraint, then today’s economic contest seems to reward escalation, writes Craig Singleton. foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

Cold War deterrence was about surviving destruction; deterrence now is about mastering instability, with both Washington and Beijing convinced that they could outlast, outmaneuver, and outperform the other, writes Craig Singleton. foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/17/us-…

Beijing’s not rushing an invasion — it’s waging a war of patience, conditioning Taiwan into submission. Senior Director of FDD's China Program Craig Singleton discusses China's use of psychological warfare on Taiwan in his testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"The question is whether Washington can turn Beijing’s short-term leverage into long-term liability by accelerating efforts to build secure, diversified supply chains." -Craig Singleton FDD in Wall Street Journal Opinion Beijing’s Minerals Brinkmanship May Backfire wsj.com/opinion/beijin…

Join VOC's annual China Forum in DC next week, with panels on Transnational Repression, Uyghur forced labor, countering China's global aggression, and techno-authoritarianism. Featuring Select Committee on China heads, Rush Doshi, Craig Singleton, Mike Gallagher, Sam Brownback etc. Link👇

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call for a coordinated response to Beijing’s coercion is long overdue. But Xi Jinping’s latest moves suggest something deeper than strategy—a sign of strain. Read here from Craig Singleton in The Wall Street Journal: fdd.org/analysis/2025/…

While China is testing different narratives to justify their escalatory move to control the flow of rare earths, the reality is that China wants to exert economic control over the world.

Michael R. Gordon Joyu Wang “Asian allies are experiencing strategic whiplash,” said Craig Singleton FDD. “Their central concern now is whether Trump’s transactional instincts could lead to a grand bargain with Xi, especially one that sidelines Taiwan or dilutes allied leverage.” wsj.com/world/asia/tru…

Timely & excellent from Ray Powell on China’s #GrayZone Warfare in the #SouthChinaSea thedispatch.com/article/south-…

“Human rights and open markets aren’t ornaments of power — they’re multipliers of it.” Grateful to @VOC for hosting today’s discussion on countering PRC coercion and the future of U.S. strategy, along with Dr. Eric Patterson, Sam Brownback , and Taiwan in the US's Andrea Yang.

Trump 1.0 didn’t kill engagement with China — it killed engagement without reciprocity. Meetings were held on defined terms, not Beijing's. China may think it's near strategic stalemate; history suggests otherwise. Every "breakthrough" has unraveled. Busan will likely join

Trading soybeans for advanced semiconductors isn’t deal-making—it’s superpower suicide. We’ll see soon whether the rumors hold. Smart pre-summit read from Financial Times’s Demetri 👇 ft.com/content/7d7691…

Scoop: US has organized a military operation in South China Sea meant to send a signal pushing back against China's expanding presence in region, sources told CBS News. Plans involve a precision strike demonstration with HIMARS rockets launched near Scarborough Shoal, a reef the

Today’s veneer of stability won’t last. Busan, like Geneva, Madrid, and London before it, will go down as another waypoint in a rivalry without resolution—where every truce is just the start of the next round.

Behold, mutually assured disruption: confrontation managed through choreography rather than compromise. Each side calibrating tension to avoid collapse while keeping escalation on the table. Nothing fundamental changed, and the cycle of coercion will resume when one side feels

Trump and Xi: "Each side is calibrating tension to avoid collapse while keeping escalation on the table. Nothing fundamental changed, and the cycle of coercion will resume the moment one side feels shortchanged." -Craig Singleton FDD reuters.com/world/china/lo…