"Build Bridges: Others see big opportunities to respond to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 'The EU and the U.S. should create a joint investment fund that would support investment projects abroad and counter China’s BRI,' said Julianne Smith, director of the Asia Program and the Geopolitics Program at the German Marshall Fund — building on work on infrastructure development already underway in the region and welcoming Japan and Australia..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"A major problem, for now, is that Trump is a woeful standard-bearer of human rights and liberal values on the world stage, and his heavy-handed approach to Europe has impaired more substantive cooperation regarding China, said Julie Smith of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "The Trump administration has 'spent far less time engaging European friends and partners on human rights issues, talking about things like Hong Kong, Taiwan and the situation of the Uighurs,' she said. A Democratic [...]

“‘It’s hard to name too many European countries that don’t have a ruptured relationship with the Trump administration. Poland is an exception,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama appointee and top Pentagon official who described the decision to host Duda at the White House days before his election as 'shocking.' "An agreement on Fort Trump or increased U.S. troop presence may be far from certain, as there are some complex issues to settle -- who will foot the bill, for example [...]

"'What Trump will never understand is that this move won’t hurt Merkel at all,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama administration official now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. 'If he’s hoping to hurt her politically, this does nothing. It actually hurts us more. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

"'It all shows just how out of touch Trump is with allies,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama official now with the German Marshall Fund in Washington. 'This is a man isolated at home and abroad. He is trying to find friends in other places, knowing that relations with traditional allies are bad. But there are serious strains even with the authoritarians he admires, like Xi Jinping and even Putin.' "Mr. Trump 'continues to believe allies can be abused and mistreated [...]

"As the world has grappled with COVID-19, China has sought to leverage the crisis for geopolitical advantage. To do so, China isn't relying on the traditional forms of statecraft, such as diplomacy. Instead, it is pairing highly publicized aid with public bullying, bombastic rhetoric and outright coercion. "We have spent the last month closely monitoring Chinese donations to European allies and the messages that have accompanied them. These cases—which involve at least 23 different countries in Europe—tell us a lot about [...]

"'The debates over corona bonds remain fierce, with some countries pushing for these grants (instead of loans) and others, like Germany, strongly opposing the idea,' Julie Smith, senior adviser to the president of the German Marshall Fund and director of their Asia program, told me. "Smith spent 2018 in Germany focused on German foreign policy and relations with Asia. "'Either way, if Germany folds and gives in or if it holds steady and refuses, anti-EU sentiment will likely rise. If German [...]

"Europeans have been watching America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with alarm. Last week’s news that the United States plans to freeze funding for the World Health Organization was seen as yet another piece of evidence that the United States is shedding its traditional, global leadership role. In over one hundred interviews, emails, and texts with policymakers, analysts, and colleagues across the European continent, we have found universal shock and disappointment over both America’s failure to lead in this crisis and [...]