Ben Bland
London
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Director, Asia-Pacific @ChathamHouse. Ex 🇦🇺 🇮🇩 🇻🇳 🇭🇰 🇨🇳. Author:📘Man of Contradictions & 📕Generation HK. Brentford FC fan. Board member @BeesUnited
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Articles by Ben Bland
View / How China can muddle through to superpower status Original
Ben’s view Analysis of China is often so polarized that a casual observer might get the impression that Beijing is both an unstoppable force on the verge of global domination and a precarious dictatorship on the brink of collapse. That is not an impossible combination, of course. The Soviet Union was an archetypal fragile superpower, its red star burning bright before its dramatic final implosion.
The Australian model: Navigating the US–China divide with Malcolm Turnbull
Panel Recording Chatham House welcomes Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia, to draw on his experience managing the full arc of Australia’s complex foreign relations.
A Taiwan crisis would cause far more global economic damage than Strait of Hormuz disruption
A man stands before Taiwanese Navy ships anchored at the harbour in Keelung on 11 December 2024. Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the start of the Iran war has had huge consequences for the global economy. It has cut off essential supply lines for oil and gas, fertilizer and industrial chemicals, prompting the IMF to warn of a possible global recession if the war does not abate.
A Taiwan crisis would cause far more global economic damage than Strait of Hormuz disruption
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What lessons will China, India and other Asian nations draw from the Iran war? Independent Thinking Podcast
China prepared in advance for a US attack on Iran. But many of its Asian neighbours have been hit hard because their economies were heavily reliant on energy imports from the Gulf. In the short-term, the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered rationing, and shortages of diesel, gas and fertiliser. Does that set a negative precedent for other choke points across the world?
Why a resurgent Japan is good for Asia
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on 9 February 2026. (Photo by Franck Robichon / Pool / EPA/Anadolu via Getty Images) Last weekend’s landslide election victory by Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, prompted China to warn Tokyo to ‘follow the path of peaceful development rather than return to militarism’.
Why a resurgent Japan is good for Asia
Skip to main content Beijing will be displeased by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s election triumph, but most Asian leaders will welcome a strong Japanese government. Expert comment Published 12 February 2026 — 3 minute READ Image — Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on 9 February 2026.
What is China's vision for a new world order?
Panel Recording As America retreats from its dominant role on the global stage changes, experts debate Beijing’s international ambitions and how it aims to remake the world order.
Trump’s only goal is self-promotion – now he’s discussing another term
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With U.S. leadership in doubt, can its allies chart their own course?
Ben Bland is the director of the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House, an international policy think tank based in London. He is also the author of two books on Asian politics. Even before President Trump returned to the White House earlier this year, conversations with diplomatic and security officials across Europe and Asia revealed a deep contradiction. On the one hand, U.S. allies fear the breakdown of the international order that has underpinned their stability in recent decades.
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