Executive Summary: The Kremlin is developing and spreading sanction evasion tactics to create an alternative international economic system populated by rogue states. Russia’s burgeoning international economic order is characterized by ignoring Western intellectual property rights, circumventing sanctions, and the unconstrained trading of military goods. Türkiye,... MORE

Executive Summary: Azerbaijan has launched the second phase of the Port of Baku’s expansion, aiming to support its growing role in transcontinental trade as the region seeks alternative routes to Europe. Regional instability and Western sanctions on Russia due to its war against Ukraine have... MORE

Executive Summary: Kazakhstan launched a new container rail service linking the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Poland, reinforcing its position as a vital transit hub through Eurasia. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway, a part of the PRC’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, has emerged as... MORE

Executive Summary: Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a strategic hub for critical minerals, leveraging its vast reserves of copper, zinc, lead, and nickel to attract foreign investment and diversify economic partnerships amid growing global demand and geopolitical competition. Deepening cooperation with the People’s Republic of... MORE

Executive Summary: Ingushetia, a republic in Russia’s North Caucasus, is being pacified and kept dependent on Moscow as intentional Kremlin policies, rather than policy failures or Ingush shortcomings, are causing high unemployment.   Moscow has often used Ingushetia to test out policies and if it concludes... MORE

The following is a lightly edited version of testimony delivered by Jamestown Fellow for China Studies Sunny Cheung. The testimony was delivered before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission at a hearing held on February 6, 2025 on the topic “Made in China 2025—Who... MORE

Executive Summary: The Caspian Sea’s declining water levels are reducing the amount of cargo that ships can carry, undermining Russia and the People’s Republic of China’s capability to use the sea for their north-south and east-west trade networks. Both Russia and the People’s Republic of... MORE

Executive Summary: Creative legal strategies have been deployed in recent years to support a justification for a blockade around Taiwan. International law contains the concept of a “long-distance blockade” and the “continuous voyage doctrine” that could both be invoked to restrict access to Taiwan by... MORE

Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Cook Islands signed two agreements in February that extend Beijing’s engagement in the South Pacific to include deep-sea exploration and dual-use maritime infrastructure. Beijing seeks to overcome U.S.-imposed containment in the Pacific. The Cook Islands... MORE

Executive Summary: President Xi Jinping unveiled the “2025 Action Plan to Stabilize Foreign Investment” and met with leading entrepreneurs for the first time in seven years, in an effort to reinvigorate the private sector and court foreign investment. The plan seeks foreign investment in sectors... MORE