"We talk about China's rise, its surging wealth and power, but the U.S. has been Number One for so long it's hard to really picture what it means, or will mean. Hard to really know what to think.

Lee Kwan Yew knows. Asia's most senior statesman. A longtime friend of the US. A grand master of global strategy out of little Singapore. And here's what he sees.

Does China want to be Number One? Of course. Will they be? Pretty likely. Will we fight? We'd better not."

Tom Ashbrook speaks with Robert Blackwill and Graham Allison about the collected wisdom of grand master Lee Kuan Yew during this February 13 broadcast of NPR's On Point.

Lee Kuan Yew hails from a very small country, but, for decades, he has been a very big man — at home and on the world stage. During more than a half-century of public life, including some 30 years as Prime Minister, Lee transformed Singapore from a simple trader of commodities into a sophisticated hub of finance and technology — The Little Red Dot, as many of its people affectionately call it.

A stern, patriarchal figure, Lee realized his ambitions for Singapore through the sheer force of his personality, buttressed by an...(Source: Time Magazine)

Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of modern Singapore, is currently one of the world's most sought-after elder statesmen. Widely praised for helping make Singapore the economic powerhouse it is today, Lee, who was the citystate's PM from 1959 to 1990, has also been criticised for leaving a distinctly authoritarian stamp on its polity. Now, a new book, 'Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World' , by Graham Allison, Robert D Blackwill and Ali Wyne, features the statesman's views on a range of global issues. (Source: Times of India Crest Edition)

While the United States and Russia are exactly on the same accord on a number of foreign policy issues, including Missile Defense System in Eastern Europe and the International community's handling of violent situations in Libya and Syria, the Obama administration touts a reset of relations with Russia amongst its foreign policy achievements. The Task Force on Russia and US interest have released a report detailing why Americans still need to care about Russia... (Source: Voice of Russia)

By Nathan Guttman

A new study from a Washington think tank supportive of ties between America and Israel is seeking to rebut growing sentiment among military experts who question Israel's value as a U.S. strategic asset. (Source: Jewish Daily Forward)

Written after a telephone interview with Ambassador Blackwill regarding his November 2011 report Israel: A Strategic Asset for the United States, coauthored with Walter B. Slocombe and published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Contrary to Washington wisdom, Israel is a clear strategic asset to the United States, says a new study by a bipartisan pair of veteran diplomats (Source: Tablet)

By David Ignatius

"The statesman finds opportunity," even in adversity, notes Robert Blackwill, a Republican foreign policy expert who worked for Kissinger and both Bushes. That's a good prescription for Obama. He's in damage-limitation mode — sensible enough in a time of uncertainty but not really a strategy. What's the opportunity — in Pakistan, in India, in Turkey, in Syria — and yes, in the Palestinian state that inevitably will be declared? (Source: Washington Post)

By Rich Lowry

As former Bush administration Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill wrote in 2007, "the alignment between India and the United States is now an enduring part of the international landscape." It is cemented, Blackwill notes, by our democratic systems, by the growing, highly successful community of Indian-Americans in this country and by a wary eye on China.

The last factor will never be explicit. "There is no way to clear a drawing room in India quite like saying we're going to 'contain' China," Blackwill says. But no one knows how China will evolve. If the US has strong relationships with Japan, South Korea, Australia and India, it can raise a barrier to China's seaward expansion. Source: (New York Post)

By Laura Rozen

"I don't have any doubt that President Obama is going to wow the Indian masses," former Bush-era U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill told journalists on a call organized by the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday. "He is in Indian eyes an extraordinary example of the diversity and pluralism of American democracy, being the first African-American president. At the most basic level, the Indian people are going to find him extremely attractive and charismatic and so forth." (Source: Politico)

By Ajai Shukla

Robert Blackwill, former US ambassador to India and later New Delhi's lobbyist in Washington, has stirred up a heated debate with his now famous Plan B for Afghanistan. This involves effectively partitioning the country, with Pashtun-predominant southern Afghanistan ceded to the Taliban and, by proxy, to Pakistan. (Source: Business Standard)