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Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***IranAs tensions simmer between the United States and Iran, attempts to resume negotiations and avert a military showdown face an uphill battle. Uncertainty over the location and format of talks between the United States and Iran underscores the massive gaps that any talks will have to narrow on substance. Tehran wants to focus discussions on a nuclear agreement, while the White House is aiming for far broader concessions on Iran’s uranium enrichment, ballistic missile program, and support for regional proxies. On Feb. 3, a U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was nearing the USS Abraham Lincoln, and Iranian naval forces harassed a U.S.-flagged tanker — highlighting the fraught atmosphere as Washington continues its military buildup in the region and Iran threatens an all-out response if attacked. Both sides say they prefer a deal that would avoid a conflict, but given the divide on issues they failed to resolve in past negotiations and the addition of new demands, finding a diplomatic resolution looks increasingly difficult.The USS Abraham Lincoln which was moved with its strike group to the Arabian Sea in January. Image: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clint Davis via Wikimedia CommonsChinaOn Jan. 24, in a surprise move, the Chinese government announced the removal of the vice chair of the Central Military Commission, Gen. Zhang Youxia, and the chief of the Chinese military’s Joint Staff, Gen. Liu Zhenli. The move marked the purge of the most senior uniformed military leader since the death of Former Vice Premier Lin Biao in 1971. At this time, the Central Military Commission, China’s supreme military decision-making organ, has only one member left — other than its chair, General Chairman Xi