As BRIC countries prepare for a summit in China next week, trade skirmishes and disagreements within the bloc persist in casting doubt on its future relevance as a global entity.

Reforming the UN Security Council stands as a key barometer for assessing the international system`s transition from a post-Cold War US hegemony to a more multipolar distribution of economic and military power.

Despite a brief period of time last year that suggested otherwise, it seems that the United States will continue to view its foreign policy towards Myanmar through the lens of human rights and not realpolitik.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the disputed Kurile Islands off the north coast of Japan will surely set alarm bells off within the Japanese defense establishment.

The US Department of Defense has submitted its annual report on Chinese military power to Congress.

It seems that the days of a Chinese foreign policy based on not ‘rocking the boat’ are over. Over the next few years, expect Beijing to increasingly assert itself as a global power.