The pace of change amid the perplexity of the Trump administration is proving overwhelming to many in DC, as elsewhere. Alarm about how badly it is handling North Korea—widening the divide in how to deal with that country—and the shock of an ominously looming trade war with China are but two of the pressing issues in daily news coverage. Yet, stepping back from this frenzy leaves some contemplating the old standby of the Sino-Russian-US triangle and how it is being affected by such developments. In this summer 2018 edition of Washington Insights, we approach the “strategic triangle” from four angles: 1) the way grand designs for Asia, Eurasia, and the Indo-Pacific are beginning to take clear shape; 2) the search for combining security, economic, and national identity views of the triangle; 3) the rising centrality of the North Korean issue in assessing how this triangle is shifting; and 4) the struggle to find a strategy in Washington that deals well with both Beijing and Moscow. Confusion at the top of the US government leaves recent debate more detached than usual from the give-and-take of officials reviewing their options, audiences challenging their assumptions, and exchanges fruitful to all.

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