As Ukraine turns back Russian advances, politicians on either side of the ocean are busy drawing battle lines

(Originally published Aug. 15 in “What in the World“) U.S.-supplied M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or Himars, are enabling Ukraine to turn the tables on Russian artillery barrages, destroying bridges and other supply routes and forcing Russia to spread munition depots to minimize losses from pinpointed Ukrainian strikes.

The war may not be confined to Ukraine for long, however. After Ukrainian forces struck a Russian airbase in Crimea, pro-Ukrainian partisans may have struck a base in Belarus. The U.S. is sending 2,400 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to Eastern Europe to shore up NATO’s eastern flank against Russia. The first deployment of the 101st’s “Screaming Eagles” in Europe since World War II comes amid concern Russia my move against the Suwalki gap separating Kaliningrad from Belarus. Others fret that Russian President Vladimir Putin still has Moldova and the breakaway Russian enclave of Transnistria on his to-do list.

Rather than let tempers cool around Taiwan after China’s massive military temper tantrum following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month, a U.S. Congressional delegation landed in Taipei Sunday to poke China in the eye. The U.S. is meanwhile conducting military exercises in Indonesia with allies Australia, Japan, and Singapore. China is countering with a diplomatic effort to outflank U.S. efforts to contain it in Asia, and is sending fighter jets for joint exercises with the air force of U.S. ally Thailand.

Wherever you stand on China’s efforts to achieve a military and diplomatic stature on par with its economic heft, politicians across Western democracies are adding the Beijing bogeyman as a plank in their political platforms. That’s likely to provide further fuel to xenophobes in China who believe Beijing needs to act against a Western campaign to suffocate the country and thwart its rise to great power status.