Executive Summary: Moscow released the draft proposal for Russia’s federal budget for 2025 and 2026–2027, which shows that the national defense budget will increase significantly from previous years, especially in comparison to the period before its war against Ukraine. For 2023 and 2024, Russia’s military... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law legalizing cryptocurrency mining in Russia and inaugurated a pilot project for using cryptocurrencies to pay for international trade as a way to circumvent Western sanctions. Russian banks and private interests have also continued to develop Digital... MORE

Executive Summary: Since early July, at least 115 political prisoners have been released from Belarusian prisons, raising important questions about the reasons for such decisions and how they might pave the way for a potential reopening of Belarus’s relations with the West. The Belarusian opposition... MORE

Executive Summary: Earlier this month, a critical section of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline project was inaugurated on the border between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The pipeline aims to reshape the energy landscape in Central and South Asia. The primary reason behind the project delays has... MORE

Executive Summary: A recently leaked copy of the audit of Volkswagen’s much-criticized joint-venture factory in Xinjiang indicates that claims made by Volkswagen inside the report are misleading or false. These include suggestions that the audit applied the SA8000 social accountability standard, followed International Labor Organization... MORE

Executive Summary: As Russia suffers under Western sanctions, Kremlin propagandists have turned their attention to Iran and advocated studying the Iranian experience of living under sanctions including Iranian scientific innovation and economic development. Russian officials have sung the praises of the Iranian leadership since the... MORE

Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has rapidly turned into a war of attrition. Along with Moscow’s difficulties raising an army and adequately equipping it, Russia is running out of the resource reserves left over from Soviet times. Senior Russian officials are... MORE

Executive Summary: Iran and Turkmenistan are rapidly expanding transit routes, enabling Tehran to expand its trade with Russia in support of Moscow’s effort to circumvent Western sanctions and boost its economic links with other Central Asian countries. This route is increasingly important to Russia because... MORE

Executive Summary: Since the Kremlin began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the West imposed its sanctions against Moscow, Russia has been relying on China to supply materials to maintain its military-industrial complex. China does not wish to see Russia defeated as this would set... MORE

Executive Summary: New Network Data Security Management Regulations approved by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Council will serve as a national-level framework to clarify and enhance the implementation of existing laws, including the Cybersecurity Law (CSL), Data Security Law (DSL), and Personal Information... MORE