Introduction The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has tested the use of unmanned vehicles (UAVs) to perform logistical missions such as transportation and resupply since 2018. In academic explorations of border defense and logistics modernization, PLA logistics officers argue that UAVs can dramatically increase the... MORE

Introduction The Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾) was formally arrested by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in early February after having been detained for six months in Beijing. Her arrest was confirmed by the PRC on February 8, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson... MORE

Last March, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced that his government would post a new tender for the construction of the Anaklia deep-water port (Report.ge March 31; Netgazeti, March 4). This mega-project, originally envisioned by former president Mikhail Saakashvili (in power 2004–2012), is the most... MORE

Introduction The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping has taken multiple measures to consolidate his position as “core for life” of the CCP leadership in the run-up to the centenary of the party’s establishment on July 1. Firstly, he has firmed up his... MORE

One Year After the Death of Abdelmalek Droukdel AQIM Falls into Obscurity Jacob Zenn Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has been considered a stalwart affiliate of al-Qaeda since its predecessor organization, the Salafist Group for Preaching Combat (GSPC), pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda in 2006 (Terrorism... MORE

On April 29, a Long March 5B (长征五号B, Changzheng wuhao B) heavy rocket carrying the Tianhe 1 (天和一号) core module of China’s space station was successfully launched into low earth orbit from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province (Xinhua, April 29). It marks the... MORE

Introduction Located at the crossroads of global shipping lanes, Sri Lanka has become a significant recipient of Chinese economic and military influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). For its part, Sri Lanka has largely welcomed China as a major investor and strategic partner in... MORE

Introduction As part of its broader effort to develop a distant seas capability, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) held an annual Southern Theater Command (STC) far seas training exercise from late January to late February 2021. This event is likely the 2021 iteration of... MORE

Introduction On March 8, a Shanghai court awarded $15,000 to a plaintiff in a sexual harassment lawsuit against her colleague in a rare legal win for the #MeToo movement in China (Sixth Tone, March 10; Washington Post, March 20). Although China has enacted a string... MORE

Introduction This is the second of a three-part series describing the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) growing digital presence in Central Asia—part of a larger project commonly referred to as the Digital Silk Road (DSR, 数字丝绸之路, shuzi sichou zhi lu) that supplements the wide-ranging geo-economic... MORE