Executive Summary: The National People’s Congress (NPC) actively engages in diplomatic exchanges with foreign legislative bodies as part of the Party’s united front strategy. This work aims to build a favorable international environment for the PRC’s “One Belt One Road” initiative and its concept of... MORE

Executive Summary: The BRICS summit, held in Kazan, was met with great fanfare in Russian propaganda. Propagandists hailed it for its “epochal” significance. Moscow commentators promoted the idea that the BRICS summit demonstrated that Russia is not and cannot be isolated in the international arena.... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) engages in extensive security cooperation with other single-party socialist states. This includes deploying the People’s Armed Police (PAP) to train paramilitary and police forces in these countries, offering cybersecurity support, and assisting with online information control. Policymakers... MORE

Executive Summary: The United States is looking to Latin America to send Soviet-era and Russian weapons to Ukraine in exchange for modern American-made analogs. Many Latin American countries are hesitant to agree to this request because they do not want to break their treaties with... MORE

(Part One) Executive Summary: Russia has launched efforts to gain support for its actions in Ukraine and confrontations with the West among Latin American countries, showing interest in Guatemala despite the country’s previous anti-Russian stance. Guatemala had strained relations with Russia, marked by condemnations against... MORE

Executive Summary: The Kremlin is trying to strengthen ties with Latin American countries amidst political-economic isolation after the invasion of Ukraine.  Russia hosted an inter-parliamentary conference with Latin American delegates to confront Western sanctions and strengthen the Global South. Proposed collaboration areas included legislative exchange,... MORE

In October 2023, Nicaragua signed an agreement with China’s CAMC Engineering Company (中工国际工程) for the reconstruction, expansion, and upgrading of the Punta Huete International Airport (Yicai, October 18). The company is a subsidiary of the conglomerate China National Machinery Industry Corporation (国际集团), also known as... MORE

Executive Summary Along with their clear internal (domestic) needs, Chinese private security companies (PSCs) have been spotted operating in virtually all major regions around the world. These entities currently play a marginal role in the promotion and protection of Chinese interests abroad, though they will... MORE

Observers assessed the outcome of the first round of Argentina’s presidential elections held on October 22 as good news for the Chinese government (VOA, October 26). Against the odds, Sergio Massa, the Peronist candidate and current minister of economy, emerged on top, despite his overseeing... MORE

The low-profile and high-impact meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 5 and 6 was never intended to produce a road map for ending the war in Ukraine; neither was it a summit, since the invitations sent to some 40 countries specified the level of... MORE