Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
The Lianyungang Conference and Beijing’s Attempts to Reshape Global Security
Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has trained 2,700 foreign police officers in the past year and pledged to train an additional 3,000 in the coming 12 months, as part of its growing involvement in global security governance. The Global Public Security Cooperation... MORE
NATO’s Outgoing Leader Stoltenberg Reflects on Missed Opportunities in Ukraine (Part Two)
(Part One) Executive Summary: NATO’s outgoing Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has called for maximizing military assistance to Ukraine to change Russia’s calculus and bring Moscow to the negotiating table. This scenario spells, however, a territorial compromise at Ukraine’s expense rather than victory in war. Stoltenberg... MORE
Moscow Focusing on Åland Islands as Target in Event of War With NATO
Executive Summary: Moscow is focusing on the Åland Islands as a potential target in the event of war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) now that the West has taken new steps to boost the defense of Gotland and the Svalbard islands. This Russian... MORE
Russia’s Disinformation Campaign in North America Becomes Smarter and More Flexible
Executive Summary: Russian state-run media outlets, such as RT, have transformed their disinformation campaigns in the West to adapt to local situations, exerting subtle influence on domestic media to conduct a more covert operation. Moscow is increasingly utilizing embedded propaganda by funding foreign media voices,... MORE
Legacy of Putin’s War on Terror Weighs Heavily on Modern Russia
Executive Summary: Russian President Vladimir Putin was propelled into power amid a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Russia in the 1990s. His tactics to combat this “war on terror” are being used today against Ukraine. In the 1990s, Russian propaganda and a boost to... MORE
NATO’s Outgoing Leader Stoltenberg Reflects on Missed Opportunities in Ukraine (Part One)
Executive Summary: NATO’s outgoing Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, recently offered his first retrospective assessment of the Alliance’s Ukraine policy. Retrospective assessments recognize that the United States and its major allies failed to deter Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While member states may have... MORE
Beijing’s Soft Power Push with African Nations
Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has successfully used its hosting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to burnish its soft power and its credentials to be seen as the leader of the Global South. Close political alignment on core issues, including African... MORE
PRC Partnership Diplomacy in the New Era
Executive Summary: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has an extensive taxonomy of diplomatic relations, with at least 42 unique combinations of adjectives for different partnerships. The PRC has never delineated the ranking of these partnerships explicitly, though there is enough available information to determine... MORE
Zangezur Transit Now at Center of Conflicts in South Caucasus
Executive Summary: The Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute has always been about both Karabakh and regional transit routes, which now center on Zangezur. Addressing this problem is far more difficult than Karabakh because it directly involves not just Baku and Yerevan but all outside powers—including Russia, Iran, Türkiye,... MORE
Russia Strengthens Ties With Iran to Solidify Position in Middle East
Executive Summary: Russia and Iran’s strategic partnership has strengthened steadily since the beginning of Moscow’s war against Ukraine and has progressed as tensions in the Middle East are rising, largely due to the war in Gaza. The Kremlin’s growing reliance on an uninterrupted flow of... MORE