Thanks to the country's favorable location on the map, China's influence is expanding on land and at sea, from Central Asia to the South China Sea and from the Russian Far East to the Indian Ocean.

It is more likely than not that by midcentury, the top Asian universities will stand among the best universities in the world.

As three new books show, defeating the Taliban will require local, bottom-up efforts -- beginning with a deep understanding of tribal and subtribal politics.

The United States' mission in Afghanistan will not be accomplished until a central government exists there that can control the country's territory.

The future of the U.S.-Indian relationship will depend on whether India chooses to align with the United States and whether it sustains its own economic and social changes -- and on what policies Washington pursues in those areas that bear heavily on Indian interests.

The treaty that forms the backbone of postwar relations between Washington and Tokyo is one of the most enduring treaties since the Peace of Westphalia.

As Taipei drifts further into Beijing's sphere of influence, the United States must decide whether to continue arming Taiwan as a bulwark against a rising China or step back to allow the Taiwanese people to determine their own future.

As the Obama administration prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan, what are the problems U.S. forces will face, and what, if anything, can they do to overcome them?

U.S. policymakers can no longer afford to ignore Southeast Asia. The United States should use trade, aid, and education to alleviate poverty and prevent terrorism in the region.

By exposing them to the truth about their impoverishment and about the prosperity of their South Korean cousins, the United States can encourage North Koreans to change the regime in Pyongyang.

The DPJ's rise to power is a historic opportunity for Japan to revise the constitution, loosen the bureaucracy's grip on policymaking, redistribute income, and improve relations with the rest of Asia. But the road will be long and tortuous.

The BJP's Hindu nationalism may have won it votes in the past, but the party now faces an identity crisis that is imperiling its future.

Recent violence in China's western provinces shows that the state's dual policy of migration and development has failed. A political solution for Xinjiang and Tibet, however, could be closer than Beijing may think.

Is a lasting peace in Sri Lanka possible?

For decades, Asian economies used exports to the West as a means of growth. Now, if they hope to weather the global recession, they will have to enact deep structural changes such as higher wages and increased domestic consumption.

The deployment of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is necessary to tip the balance of power against the Taliban. But this military "surge" must be accompanied with a political one designed to persuade insurgents to give up their fight.

After widespread civil unrest, Thailand remains deeply polarized, its economy is contracting, and its king is getting older. Whatever the outcome of the present crisis, the future of Thai democracy does not look good.

Two new books offer insightful analyses of how to succeed in Afghanistan.