How dependent is China on foreign military technology? Despite enormous progress over the past two decades, the answer remains “a lot.” But the reasons for this dependence are complicated, and in any case the situation appears to be changing fast. Much discussion of the competition between the United States and China concentrates on American vulnerabilities. Analysts have conclusively established that …

The very strange U.S. presidential election bears some surprising similarities to the 1996 campaign in Russia — a momentous event that undermined a fragile democracy and led to the emergence of Vladimir Putin’s dictatorial regime. This precedent could be especially telling if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump end up their parties’ nominees in the general election. The electoral systems in …

As its governing council prepares to meet in Frankfurt on Thursday, the European Central Bank finds its scope for action influenced not just by regional issues but also by the world’s other systemically important central banks. The ECB is wedged uncomfortably between, on one side, the Federal Reserve — which is able but unwilling to venture deeper into unconventional monetary …